AMANDA KELLER, HOST: The Matildas have secured a spot in the Semi-final. Another public holiday will be on the cards for New South Wales, other states around the country have to decide those things for themselves. Someone who was there with the sell-out crowd, the atmosphere must have been extraordinary was our Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese. He joins us now. Good morning, Prime Minister.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning, it was indeed amazing. I can't recall any sporting event was quite the same tension as those 20 spot kicks that took place. And there were three of course, we had to win it, and the third time lucky. It was an extraordinary game.
BRENDAN JONES, HOST: Are you a big soccer guy?
PRIME MINISTER: I'm mainly, I've got to say, historically rugby league and AFL in that order. But it was amazing, I was there when we kicked, again, a spot kick to beat Uruguay to go to the World Cup finals after we'd missed out from 1974, right through for a couple of decades. But this was something really, really special. And I think the whole of Australia being captivated by this this magnificent team of women on and off the field. The gesture of Sam Kerr in giving her jumper to that young girl –
JONES: It was so nice.
PRIME MINISTER: It was just symptomatic of the character of Sam and the entire team. It is one of the reasons why I was really proud that Sam Kerr was our flag bearer at the King's Coronation on behalf of Australia earlier this year.
KELLER: Tell us about the deal you made with the French President, Emmanuel Macron.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we did deal by text and correspondence that whoever won, we would back the other team in the semi-final. Now it happens that it's versus the English, the old enemy, we’ve beaten them and retained the Ashes. And so this will be a good thing, he has honoured his word, he's a man of his word, Emmanuel Macron. And he has tweeted out his support for Australia in the semi-final on Wednesday night, so he joins, every single Australian will be cheering. I think there won't be much happening at eight o'clock on Wednesday night, except for the Tillies.
JONES: Yeah, it's going to be huge.
KELLER: Look, I know, we feel it's boring to talk about the Voice, but it's so important and there are some people who still aren't sure what it's about. So can I ask you again, I've heard a couple of stories of people saying it's just going to lead to court cases, it's going to lead to money claims. Can you can say convincingly that that is not the case?
PRIME MINISTER: It is absolutely not the case. It is a simple thing, it will lead to one, us recognising Indigenous Australians in our nation's Constitution. As all former colonies recognise their first peoples except for Australia. We stand out right around the world has been the only country that still if you look at our founding document, doesn't acknowledge that. And secondly, it's just a matter of an advisory group that will be selected by Indigenous Australians to give advice on matters that affect Indigenous Australians. The government of the day can accept or reject that advice, it's not binding, it doesn't have a right of veto. But what we know is listening to people about matters that affect them is the key to getting better results, and that is all that this is about.
JONES: I was reading a few of the Peta Credlins of the world, and the Andrew Bolts and they're saying that there's a there's a con going on with the Voice. Peta Credlin says there's a 25 page document, it's not just a one pager, and she was saying that there's devil in the detail in this. But then I read it, and I just can't see it. I just don't know, to me it just made, the Yes thing for me from the get go has always made sense. I don't know why people are so against the Yes thing. It's not like I'm going to suddenly have to hand my house back to Aboriginal Australia it is?
PRIME MINISTER: That right. And look, I think it shows the weakness of the No case the fact that things are just being made up. People can have a look at the question themselves and what the constitutional change will be, and it's really clear.
KELLER: It's really hard though what you're up against because there's a whole lot of Indigenous peoples voting No. And that, some of that has also been shown to be AI generated, even the No campaign has said no, that's not to do with us. It's Ai generated. That's what we're up against.
PRIME MINISTER: That's right, it's pretty scary frankly, some of the No campaign and stuff that's going into people's Facebook posts which is designed to spread misinformation. Some of it AI generated, some of it generated, of course, by people like the commentators that you have said. But this will just simply not have an impact on most of your listeners, it won't have any impact on their lives at all. But just might make things better for the most disadvantaged group of Australians. And Australians are generous people, they want greater opportunity for Indigenous Australians. This is an opportunity to do that, it's an opportunity to show respect for Aboriginal Australians, but also it's an opportunity for us to feel better about ourselves. And I just say to people, before the apology to the Stolen Generations, there was a whole lot of scare campaigns, there was statements that we couldn't do this because it would result in all these reparations and why should we feel guilty, we didn't steal Aboriginal kids. But guess what, we did it, and it made the country better. And this will make the country, the greatest country on Earth, just a little bit better. When we actually acknowledged the fullness and richness of our history, and when we learn the lessons, which are that when we listen to people who are directly affected, you get better results. When you engage with people in Western Sydney, about Western Sydney, your listeners, guess what, you get better results than if decisions are made simply from Canberra without any proper consultation. And that lesson is there for all to see. And we know that the programmes that have really worked, Indigenous Rangers programs, justice reinvestment programs that have provided opportunities for Aboriginal Australians. They have something in common, which is that they had that sense of ownership and belonging and consultation with the people directly affected.
JONES: And also just the very word Yes. You know, when we had the same sex vote, Yes. You know, and I think for me to go against, Yes, it just, it seems just totally wrong.
KELLER: The wrong spirit.
JONES: I've read all this stuff, and there's nothing in it that I can see where I've going to have to pay thousands of dollars to go and visit a national park, or I'm going to lose my house. I can't see anything that actually definitively says that that's going to happen. And I don't know why people are saying, I don't know why people are being so obtuse about this. I just, and I think it's social media, is it the silos and the algorithms and things like that? I just don't, I can't see that.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that's right, Jonesy. Remember before the marriage equality survey that was held, the vote that was held around Australia. It was, people were told somehow it would undermine straight people's marriage.
JONES: That's crazy.
PRIME MINISTER: It had no negative impact on anyone. The world has moved on, it's just more inclusive as a result of that. And the negative No campaign, which is led by some of the some of the same people mind you, who are involved in No for that vote are also involved in the No campaign now. And we, history, you know, the arc of history bends towards justice. And this is about a more inclusive society and just stepping forward and acknowledging if we do things the same way, then we should expect the same outcome. So nothing to lose here, but everything to gain.
KELLER: Absolutely.
JONES: Well, Prime Minister, it’s always a treat to talk to you. Go Matildas on Wednesday night and thank you for joining us.
PRIME MINISTER: Go the Tillies.