SARAH HARRIS, HOST: Time to talk to the Prime Minister.
TRISTAN MACMANUS, HOST: It's been a whirlwind first few days for a new Prime Minister. Within hours of being sworn into the top job, Anthony Albanese jetted to Japan for high-level security and climate change talks with world leaders.
HARRIS: Now he is back and talking to us. Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, welcome home and congratulations on the new job.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Thank you very much. And thanks for my regular appearances on your program. And I look forward to more with a different title.
HARRIS: You seem to have real rapport between you and President Biden. Have you started your own WhatsApp chat group yet?
PRIME MINISTER: We got on exceptionally well. And we had met before, when he was Vice President. We have very similar values. We both understand the important geostrategic challenges, including in our region that we are facing. But also, we have the common position on the rights of working people, of making sure we have an economy that works for people rather than any other way around, but also the need to tackle challenges like climate change. And President Biden was very welcoming, very warm. But I must say as well, so were the Prime Minister Kishida from Japan and Prime Minister Modi of India. It was a very successful visit and a great way to start the new Government, to send a signal to the world that Australia has changed the Government. That means we will change our position on issues like climate change, but we won't change our position in terms of wanting to work with other democracies and work with our friends, including the United States, going forward.
HARRIS: These are really important relationships that we need to count on, especially with news overnight, Prime Minister, that China's Foreign Minister is heading to the Pacific to shore up diplomatic support. How worried about the security risk from China are you?
PRIME MINISTER: We know this has been building for some time. And China's agreement with the Solomons was what they hope will be the first of many agreements that they will be seeking to make in the Pacific. I don't understand why it is that the suggestion and proposals from the former Foreign Minister Marise Payne and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade were rejected by the former Government's budget processes last year. This is a challenge to the nature of relations in the region. Australia does need to step up. We have a very comprehensive plan we took to the election of re-engagement with the Pacific, including increased support for maritime security, increased support for climate change infrastructure, migration programs, an Australia Pacific defence training school, but also our increased aid, our commitment of over half a billion dollars over four years for increased aid in the Pacific. And Penny Wong is on her way to Fiji today, having just landed back from Tokyo last night. And these relationships are very, very important to Australia. We have been the national security partner of choice since the Second World War. And we need to make sure that we reach out to our friends in the Pacific.
MACMANUS: Good morning Prime Minister, great to have your back on home soil. I know you are keen to get stuck in. The hospital crisis here has reached a critical level, people are dying waiting for ambulances, the states want the feds to cough up more cash and increase Medicare rebates. Will you?
PRIME MINISTER: We have put forward a comprehensive plan on health at the election, that includes 50 urgent care clinics. That's about taking pressure off emergency departments around the country. And in addition to that, we have $750 million over three years that we want to work through with the Australian Medical Association and with a committee that will be chaired by my Health Minister. That is being worked out in consultation about how we take pressure off primary healthcare in order to then take pressure off the hospital system. We have increased support for every GP clinic in the country as well, to help with the pressures that they have been under, particularly during COVID. We have a comprehensive plan. But I will sit down with states and territories and work through issues cooperatively. We know there has been enormous pressure on our health systems during the pandemic. The other thing that we are absolutely certain of is that our workers in the health system, whether they be our doctors, nurses, orderlies, the people that help clean our hospitals, they are heroes of the pandemic. They have been under extraordinary pressure. The pressure has not died down. We know that COVID is still having a significant impact. And we will work with states and territories in a cooperative way. There are fiscal pressures. We have inherited $1 trillion of debt from the former Government with not enough to show for it. And we need to examine all of the issues in that context as well. But we have made significant commitments already on health. And we intend to implement them.
MACMANUS: We appreciate that. It's looking very likely that Peter Dutton will be the Liberal Leader. Tanya Plibersek said he looks like Voldemort from Harry Potter and would scare small children. She has since apologised. I'm sure that was a bit unnecessary.
PRIME MINISTER: Tanya has apologised for that. And that is appropriate. I want to change the way that politics operates in this country. I want it to be more respectful. I want it to be about issues, rather than personalities. And I also want it to be conducted in a way in which we look for common interests and common purposes, a way that I conducted myself as the Labor Leader. I got some criticism from some quarters saying, ‘Well, why are you agreeing with the Government during a global pandemic?’ I make no apologies for the fact that we put the national interest first. And I will continue to put the national interest first. And I will work with people of goodwill across the Parliament to search for solutions rather than arguments wherever possible.
HARRIS: It looks like Labor will have a majority, Prime Minister. Does that mean you won't have to make deals with the Teals?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we were never going to do that anyway. I made it very clear that we would implement our agenda. But we will also treat people with respect. People who have been elected to parliament are entitled to be treated with respect. The former Parliament, the systems had broken down. The most common measure done by the Government was to move the people be no longer heard. I'm sure that will happen from time to time. But that dominated the way that Parliament was conducted. It wasn't a respectful place. I want it to be more respectful. And I certainly have been in contact with all of the former members of the crossbench who have been re-elected. I have good relations with them, I have the experience as Government Leader of the House in a minority Parliament. One of the reasons why we were able to form Government in 2010 was that people were treated with respect when we were majority between 2007 and 2010. There is a big message being sent by the election of more crossbenchers in areas that had previously been safe conservative seats. And that is on issues of climate change, issues of an anti-corruption commission, and on the treatment of women. I have strong positions about increasing the economic participation of women including through our child care policy but also the full implementation of the Respect@Work report. We will have legislation introduced to the Parliament this year for a National Anti-Corruption Commission. And we will take action on climate change with our commitment for 43 per cent by 2030, which will mean that renewables are 82 per cent of the national energy market by 2030. On the way through too, we will create 604,000 new jobs, five out of every six of them will be in the regions. So, I am very confident that the agenda that I put forward at the election was about, I said this probably on this program a couple of times, I was focused on election day but also the next election, on what is an achievable program of reform that will make a positive difference to people's lives as well as the nation.
HARRIS: It has been five years since the Uluru Statement from the Heart was presented to Parliament. We saw when you made your victory speech, it was the first thing you mentioned. And in your first official press conference as Prime Minister, we saw those Torres Strait and Aboriginal flags behind you. What happens next, Prime Minister? Are you going to push the referendum so we can change the Constitution and put an Aboriginal Voice to Parliament?
PRIME MINISTER: We should be proud of the fact that our history goes back 65,000 years. We share this wonderful continent of this great multicultural nation with the oldest continuous civilisation on the planet. That needs to be a source of pride. We do need to recognise that in our Constitution. And at the moment, it is silent. We didn't have Terra Nullius. We had that amazing civilisation that has been continuous that we can learn a lot from. And all a Voice to Parliament is, it is just a matter of respect. It's a generous statement saying that where issues affect Indigenous people, they should be consulted. It is not a third chamber, it's not a right of veto, it's just about good manners. I was taught, when I was raised by my mum, that if you are going to do something that has an impact on someone else, talk to them. That's just good manners. That is the Australian way. And that's all a Voice to Parliament is. We need to get this done. And I am determined to get it done. Linda Burney will be my Minister for Indigenous Affairs. She is someone who will work with people, First Nations people, but also working across Parliament, working across society. I want to work with people of goodwill, including people in the media, to make sure that we get this done. And guess what? It will be like the Apology to the Stolen Generations, or like marriage equality. When it happens, people will wonder what the fuss was about. We will just be a more inclusive nation when we do it.
MACMANUS: Speaking of having an impact on other people, our hearts are breaking for those poor children and teachers shot down at a school in Texas. You have met with the gun lobby before. Do you think the gun culture will ever change in the US?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it needs leadership. President Biden is showing leadership. This latest atrocity, 19 children and two teachers murdered. Murdered in cold blood, at school. And it keeps happening, whether it is that, or just a couple of weeks ago, African-Americans slaughtered in what was a hate crime and murder as well. It keeps happening. And I give credit to the former Prime Minister John Howard and to Tim Fischer, who was Leader of the National Party at the time, the late Tim Fisher, a great Australian, and to Kim Beazley, as the Labor Leader. They showed courage. But particularly John Howard showed courage, going out there, showing that leadership. We need some of the people in the United States, from across the political spectrum, not just President Biden. He is asking for support from some of the Republican leadership there to actually stand up and to change the laws in the United States. Because the gun issue is out of control. It is having an incredible impact. This could happen, every American needs to think, ‘this could be my son or my daughter who has been slaughtered and it could happen in the future’. The gun crime issue needs to be dealt with in the United States. We dealt with that after the Port Arthur massacre. And Australia is a better and safer place because of it.
HARRIS: We are very lucky, that is for sure. New Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, thank you so much for your time. We appreciate it. Welcome home and best of luck in the new job.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you so much. And thank you for having me on the program over the years. I look forward to continuing to speak to you in my new capacity.
MACMANUS: Thank you Prime Minister, and congratulations.