SARAH HARRIS, HOST: There are reports this morning the bomb maker behind the Bali blasts, Umar Patek, will walk free from prison just weeks shy of the 20th anniversary of the terror attacks which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is in the Torres Strait Islands and joins us now. Prime Minister, thank you for your time.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning.
HARRIS: This is a real slap in the face to the families of those who were killed. He's barely served half of his 20-year sentence. Will you be raising this with the Indonesian Government?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, this will just add to the distress and trauma that the families of the 88 Australians who lost their lives in this terrorist attack will be feeling, particularly with the 20th anniversary of this attack coming up. We have been advised, we'll continue to make representations in Australia’s national interest. But my thoughts are with the families of the victims here. I know some of them personally, we lost the Websters and the Borgias in my own electorate in the inner-west of Sydney. The Dulwich Hill Sporting Club was visiting Bali at that time and people lost, of course, mums and dads and brothers and sisters. People will be really doing it tough at this time and this decision, on top of the previous reductions in sentence will cause further distress.
HARRIS: Absolutely, Bali authorities say that this man has been deradicalised, do you buy that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, you know, someone who engages in that sort of activity, I have no sympathy for them whatsoever. It was an extraordinary attack, we had over 200 people lost their lives, including those 88 Australians, and I have nothing but contempt and disgust for this man and the terrorist actions that he engaged in.
TRISTAN MACMANUS, HOST: Yep, I think we're all with you on that one. Prime Minister, it's great to speak to you this morning. You're in the Torres Strait, meeting community leaders about enshrining an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. John Howard has warned it could become a coercive body to the government. How do you respond to that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well that is just not true. This will be an advisory body only, it won't usurp any of the powers of the Parliament, and that's very clear. This is about good manners, really, Tristan. That if I'm engaged in activities that affect yourself or Sarah’s life, you would consult, that's what you do. What this is a response to, for 121 years, decisions have been made in Canberra, we have big gaps in life expectancy, education, health, housing outcomes - we'll get better outcomes when we consult Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. But it won't be a decision-making body, it won't change any of the powers of our Federal Parliament and the national Government. But what it will also do, of course, is just recognise - for the first time - the fact that our history didn't begin in 1788, it didn't end then either, of course, when European colonies were stablished here. The fact is that we should be proud of the fact that we live with the oldest continuous civilisation on Earth. That should be a source of national pride and it should be recognised in our national birth certificate, which is our Constitution.
HARRIS: Prime Minister, can we talk ScoMo and the multiple ministry grab for a sec? If the former Prime Minister's Facebook page is any indication, Scott Morrison thinks the whole thing is hilarious. He's been sharing memes on Facebook overnight, poking fun at the situation. What do you think about that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, there's nothing really funny about an undermining of our Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. This was an extraordinary action that is unprecedented, for the Prime Minister to also be sworn in as the Treasurer, Finance Minister, Resources, Science, Energy Minister, Health Minister, Home Affairs Minister, was shocking and a bizarre decision –
HARRIS: But not illegal.
PRIME MINISTER: And a centralisation of power. Our conventions, the Prime Minister isn't mentioned in our Constitution, Sarah. Our parliamentary democracy relies upon conventions and practice of accountability built up over hundreds of years. It began, of course, based upon the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy, of cabinet government. What this did was to break that, because it was a Shadow Cabinet that Australians didn't know anything about. And the former Prime Minister has said things about feeling some regret that he didn't tell Josh Frydenberg or someone else, other ministers, the fact that he'd been sharing their job. But there's been no apology to the Australian people, and this is a serious issue. We should take our system of parliamentary democracy seriously. I do and I would hope that all representatives do as well. You know, we saw this slippery slope begin with Scott Morrison appointing himself as the only member of a Cabinet subcommittee in order to avoid scrutiny for meetings and discussions that were taking place, and pretend they were cabinet subcommittee meetings, even though he was the only member of the committee. The Coalition Government allowed that to happen, and now we have this.
HARRIS: Look, you're absolutely right, it is completely bizarre. But do you think he should resign over it, Prime Minister? He's not the Prime Minister anymore.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, others have said that he should do that. Some of his own colleagues, like Karen Andrews, have made that clear.
HARRIS: But what do you think?
PRIME MINISTER: It's really a matter for him. It's a matter for him and Peter Dutton is what I think. But if I was a voter in the electorate of Cook and my local member said, "I didn't follow day-to-day politics," which is what Scott Morrison said earlier this week, then I'd want a representative who actually wanted to do the job, who wanted to turn up to parliament when parliament sat, and who was interested in representing them on a day-to-day basis. That's what Mr Morrison is currently being paid to do.
HARRIS: On top of everything else, Albo, I know we've had you in our studio before, you've been dropping beats. And lately you've been talking a really big game about dusting your decks off again. In fact, you made a promise to collab with Fatman Scoop, of all people. And he's coming on our show a little later. Have you got a message for him?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh look, I look forward to catching up with him. He's here, of course, in Australia, he’s coming back to a tour. I got surprised by a Brisbane radio station yesterday, where he zoomed in and we had a chat. And I just say, enjoy your Australian tour. If we can catch up, we will.
MACMANUS: DJ or hype-man?
HARRIS: A bit of both, a bit of both.
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, both, both.
MACMANUS: I've got it all! It was great to speak to you this morning.
PRIME MINISTER: Here we are. There are worse places to be than Thursday Island, I've gotta say, which we're looking out on here from Horn.
HARRIS: Yeah, and you've got an important job to do there today, Prime Minister. We appreciate your time.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much, guys.