EMMA REBELLATO, HOST: Well, the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, is about to become the first sitting PM to walk parts of the Kokoda Track. He'll be joined by PNG Prime Minister, James Marape, deepening ties between the two neighbours and paying respects to fallen soldiers ahead of Anzac Day. And Mr Albanese joins us now from the capital, Port Moresby. Mr Albanese, thanks for joining us on News Breakfast.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning, Emma.
REBELLATO: The Kokoda Track has been described as gruelling, unforgiving, challenging. What are you expecting on this trek as you are about to depart on that two-day trek today?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'll be walking with Prime Minister Marape and we'll be walking in the footsteps of giants. The Australians who fought here saved our continent, literally. And they stood side-by-side with their brothers and sisters in Papua New Guinea who also fought but also provided such extraordinary support to the Australian soldiers of whom some 625 Australians were killed along the Kokoda Track. We'll be on Anzac Day at Isurava at the memorial there. 99 Australians lost their life in that one battle, a further 110 were injured. This was an extraordinary feat. The Japanese had a much larger force landed at the north and headed south to Port Moresby here and had they captured Port Moresby, they would have been very close to the Australian mainland. And the Australians showed sacrifice and courage and extraordinary valour during what was a battle that went over many weeks. And it will be an honour to pay tribute to them, but also to show respect to all those men and women who served in the Australian Defence Force, but before then, and of course today, when it comes to Anzac Day on Thursday, which is a very solemn and sacred day for Australians.
REBELLATO: Certainly is. Mr Albanese, a two-day trek with James Marape, it's a long time for a captive audience. How concerned are you and what will you be pressing on him about your concerns about China's growing presence in the region? What will you be saying to him on this trek?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, Prime Minister Marape reaffirmed last night at the official state dinner that was held here with his ministry and with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and other leaders in PNG that PNG's preferred security partner is, of course, Australia. We signed an updated agreement in December. This is a relationship that has never been closer, as symbolised by the fact that we'll be walking side-by-side down the Kokoda Track the next couple of days in the lead-up to Thursday where we will be at the Isurava memorial. This is a relationship that has grown in recent years. I was the first foreign leader to address the Parliament here in Port Moresby. And of course, Prime Minister Marape addressed the Australian Parliament at a joint sitting in February. That shows how close the relationship is. It's an economic relationship, a social relationship through things like rugby league and through the connections that we have, very close personal connections, and it's also about our defence and security. We want the Pacific family to look after security in this region.
REBELLATO: Mr Albanese, we saw the e-Safety Commissioner later won a two-day injunction against social media platform X in regards to those graphic posts that we saw after the Wakeley attacks in the church. How far is the Government willing to go and looking at new powers, how far is it willing to go to take on Elon Musk who really has hit back on the social media platform again overnight?
PRIME MINISTER: We'll do what's necessary to take on this arrogant billionaire who thinks he's above the law, but also above common decency. What the e-Safety Commissioner is doing is doing her job to protect the interests of Australians. And the idea that someone would go to court for the right to put up violent content on a platform shows how out-of-touch Mr Musk is. Social media needs to have social responsibility with it. Mr Musk is not showing any.
REBELLATO: Mr Albanese, another really pressing matter at the moment is violence against women. We have seen another man charged in an alleged domestic violence incident in New South Wales in Forbes. We saw the Bondi attacks. What is the Government going to do to stop this? We are seeing it time and time again. We're talking about it way too much. When will the Government try to stop this? How can the Government stop it?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we will do whatever we can, but this is a responsibility of governments at different levels, but it clearly is a society problem as well. And we all have a responsibility to do what we can to address what is a scourge of violence against women. The fact that more than one woman per week has died at the hands of someone that they know, whether it's a partner or someone in a relationship, is just completely unacceptable. Men and boys have to clearly have discussions about these issues. There's a need to show respect to women. And it is just horrifying the fact that overnight we have heard of this latest incident which adds to the pain which is out there.
REBELLATO: Will you declare this a national emergency, Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we know that it's been a crisis for some time. We know that that is the case and that's why we have put additional funds into domestic violence workers. That's why we have put additional funds in to providing a place for women to be able to go safely. That's one of the reasons why we changed the sole parenting payment in last year's Budget so that people don't feel as though they're trapped in a relationship without any financial support. We know that that was a factor from the report that Anne Summers did. So, we'll look at every measure that we can possibly take on these issues because I know that we as a society just have to do better.
REBELLATO: Mr Albanese, thank you very much for joining us on News Breakfast. And we look forward to speaking to you after your two-day trek after Anzac Day.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much, Emma.