ANDY TAYLOR, HOST: We are very, very pleased to have a special guest joining us in the studio this morning, Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese. Prime Minister, good morning.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Wonderful to be here in the studio.
TAYLOR: Well for starters, I better put your microphone on.
PRIME MINISTER: I reckon the interview will go better if it’s two way rather than just one.
TAYLOR: If you can talk.
KAREN MCMULLEN, HOST: I'm the learner in this room.
TAYLOR: To be fair Prime Minister, I've only been on this side operating the panel for a couple of weeks now and that's the first time I've mucked up and with the biggest name in Australia.
PRIME MINISTER: The little light there is the key.
TAYLOR: Certainly helps, doesn't it? You've been visiting the workers down at Tassal and in the Huon region the last couple of hours. I say hours because you've only been here about a day. What brings you to Tassie?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I wanted to go down there with Julie Collins, and with Brian Mitchell, and Senator Urquhart yesterday to meet the workers and to acknowledge the important role that the salmon industry plays in employing around about 5000 people in good, well paid jobs. Was fantastic to have a chat with them yesterday and to see the work that they do. Years ago, in 2007 I went down to the Huon there and we promised a water infrastructure project to add to the water supply, and that's all happened, up and running now. That's made a difference to the region. And it was good to be here in Tasmania. I was keen to get here early in the year, I love coming to Tasmania. I was here so many times last year and it's important, I think, to get out of Canberra and to be where people are.
TAYLOR: The Liberals are saying that you're not guaranteeing salmon farming in Macquarie Harbour and the Greens are furious that you've appeared alongside Tassal in an industry they are saying is threatening the Maugean skate. No fence sitting here, will you guarantee farming in Macquarie Harbour or could it actually be banned if it's the only way to save that stingray?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we're doing the right thing, aren't we if you've got the Liberals from one end and the Greens from another? What I've said is those jobs are absolutely critical and we want to support the industry. We want to work on a win-win, not either-or. And that's one of the problems I reckon with politics today is that the Liberal party are so negative in the way that they approach things federally in particular. Jeremy Rockliff and I have had a chat about the issues. We agree that you want a sustainable industry and you want the industry to continue. But you need to have proper environmental assessments according to the law, is what Tanya Plibersek needs to do. She's required to do it, it's not an option, the consideration of the EPBC Act and she'll do that. But I'm very confident that we can work through ways in which the sustainability of the industry can be enhanced. That's something that the salmon industry want to do themselves. And when I was meeting with them yesterday, they're very confident that they can do so.
TAYLOR: How do you balance economy and sustainability?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, you look for both because the truth is that when we have bred cattle to eat, sheep, when we grow vegetables, all of it has an impact on aquaculture, all of it has an impact on the environment. What we need to do, so you can't just say, well look we'll just shut everything down, because then we have no industry, we have no jobs, and by the way, we have nothing to eat either. What you need to do is to make sure that industries are sustainable, work on these issues, follow the science. And that's precisely what my position is - that you can do that and achieve good outcomes. There's already been major improvements in the sustainable practices of the salmon industry. But it's an important industry not just for Tasmania, but for the nation as well. It's a major export industry. And if you just say, oh well everything's all too hard, we'll just shut things down, then those workers who I met with yesterday, who are engaged in good jobs, are very proud of the products that they produce. And Tasmanians, I said yesterday that with the exception of Queens, the export of Queens in recent times, the salmon industry is a major export for Tassie.
MCMULLEN: Yeah, Prime Minister. Now I'm new here, two weeks in, I'm a mum from Moonah, our beautiful northern suburbs. The cost of living is worrying me. We will have Tasmanian kids going back to school this year and they're going to be hungry. So, what are you doing to help our Tasmanian families?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the first thing that I'd say about that is that we're examining all of the supermarkets and making sure that consumers, those Mums and Dads going to the supermarket, can get things at the cheapest possible price. So, we've got the ACCC undertaking that work. We've got Dr Craig Emerson doing inquiry about whether the voluntary code of conduct needs an element of mandating and we've got a Senate inquiry as well. But in addition to that, we're doing measures like Urgent Care Clinics. There's one right here in Hobart, one of the four around Tasmania that has seen thousands of Tasmanians get that health care they need for free. We've got fee free TAFE operating as well. And I've been to the TAFE here in Hobart where people are doing everything from nursing, to carpentry, to electrical, all for free. So, get those skills, taking pressure off people. And today Chris Bowen, my Energy Minister, will be here in Tasmania announcing some $16 million for energy efficiency measures, solar panels, et cetera, on public housing, on social housing. So, we cut down those bills. We've got a range of measures. We're examining whether there's more that we can do because we understand that cost of living pressures are the number one priority and that's the priority of my government.
TAYLOR: Are you concerned about that, though? Because these things do take time.
PRIME MINISTER: We’re very concerned of course. And that's why we've continued to kick in, if you look at cheaper medicines, reducing the price from $42.50 down to $30 began in January 1 last year. That has made an enormous difference to people who need those regular medicines. Cheaper childcare began on July 1 last year. We have other measures that kicked in, including the tripling of the bulk billing incentive for Medicare kicked in at the end of last year. We have more measures that kicked in in January 1. We're continuing to look all the time at what can we do to take pressure off cost of living whilst not putting pressure on inflation? Because there's no good if you reduce the cost of something, but then you put inflationary pressure on and it goes up. And frankly, the figures that came through just a couple of weeks ago showing inflation had fallen down to 4.3 from 4.9, exceeded all expectations. It shows that it's heading in the right direction, but there is more work to do.
TAYLOR: Tasmania's emergency departments, as far as our health system go, are quite overwhelmed. We've seen ambulance ramping here and I know that there's a bit of argy bargie between the Federal Government and the state governments. We've heard from Health Minister Guy Barnett and I'll quote him, ‘We've repeatedly called on the Federal Government to urgently outline its plan to adequately invest in Medicare to ensure GP clinics remain financially viable so that Tasmanians can see a doctor when they need to’, unquote. I feel like this argument between the Federal Government and the state government is not coming up with solutions. How do you feel about that? Whose fault is it that I can't go and see a GP?
PRIME MINISTER: You know what people are interested in? Solutions. They're not interested in the sort of pass the buck attitude of Guy Barnett's quote there. They're interested in people coming up with solutions. When Jeremy Rockliff was the Health Minister as well as the Premier, we announced at the hospital in Devonport a really innovative program whereby essentially the state would employ people to be medical students to go through the system in return for them guaranteeing to spend time in regional and rural Tasmania. And that was a really innovative program announced over a four year period that will make a difference. That's one of the things we're doing. Tripling the bulk billing incentive, something that Guy Barnett's party never did federally. When Peter Dutton was the Health Minister, he tried to abolish bulk billing by having a compulsory fee every time people visited the doctor. So there wouldn't have been any free visits. That would have completely destroyed Medicare. We knocked that off under the former government. And what we did instead last year, the tripling of the bulk billing incentive was the largest injection of new money into Medicare since Medicare was created by the Hawke Labor government. So, we've done that as well. And the Urgent Care Clinics that are operating around Tasmania, four of them, there's been an enormous number of people have already been to Urgent Care Clinics, some 11,000 people since they opened at the end of July. That is taking pressure off the hospital system because that's 11,000 people who would have appeared at emergency departments for things that really weren't life threatening but needed that urgent care.
TAYLOR: The education around that is difficult though, Prime Minister, in that I feel people are still going to the Royal Hobart Hospital or the Launceston General Hospital or the Northwest General Hospital with issues that could be solved by a GP. How do you communicate that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we communicate it through interviews like this. There's one in Launnie, one in the North West and one, and two in fact in Hobart. So, They're very successful. I've been there with the Premier and with local members here, both Julie Collins and Brian Mitchell, but also Andrew Wilkie there and they know that they're operating. And when we were there we didn't line up the patients who were there getting care either for themselves or for their kids. All of them were incredibly satisfied. Instead of spending hours at emergency departments, they got seen to really quickly. They got the care that they need, be it a broken arm or stitches that were required, and they got it for free. All they need is their Medicare card, not a credit card. And that makes an enormous difference.
TAYLOR: Prime Minister, what are your plans for Tasmania specifically in 2024?
PRIME MINISTER: To continue to support the economy here. I want to assist in the building and construction of housing here is a major issue and Julie Collins, our Housing Minister of course is a great Tasmanian, very passionate about affordable housing. So, we've got the increased money that we have through the social housing accelerator to build additional social housing dwellings. We've got the announcement today about making it cheaper for people who live in those dwellings. And in addition to that, I want to see the Tasmanian government to work on planning so that there's additional housing development. In addition to that I want to see projects like Marinus Link and others proceed and progress because they'll bring economic benefit to Tasmania as well.
TAYLOR: Well, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, we appreciate your time at twenty minutes past seven. Thank you so much for joining us on Triple M.
PRIME MINISTER: Great to be here, and have a wonderful day here in Hobart.