NARELDA JACOBS, HOST: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese joins us now. Prime Minister, thanks for joining us at midday.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning.
JACOBS: Mr Albanese, the referendum must be called between two and six months from the passage of the bill that was introduced this morning. So when, between October and December, will you send us to the ballot?
PRIME MINISTER: Well we'll wait, we won't preempt the passage of the legislation. When the legislation is carried, we will have a discussion and then make an announcement. It has to be between, it's actually two months and 33 days, so it's effectively a little bit more than three months. So that takes it up to no earlier than late September. But as you'd be aware, we have the AFL Grand Final and the NRL Grand Final, it won't be on those weekends. In reality, it becomes between October and December. But lots of time for your listeners and all Australians who will have the opportunity to enrich the nation, in my view. This is important for respect for First Nations people, but it's also an opportunity for us to come together, a moment of national unity to recognise the great privilege that I have of living on a continent and sharing this continent with the oldest continuous culture on earth and, secondly, it is also just about consultation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, through a representative body, on matters that affect them.
JACOBS: Prime Minister, Aunty Pat Anderson, the Co-Chair of the Referendum Council, said a short time ago: "There is nowhere else to go, we've got our bare arses on the barbed wire now." Is that how you feel about the Voice?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, this is an opportunity. And if not now, when? That's why we can't afford to say no to what is a gracious offer from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This is a hand outstretched in friendship and reconciliation, saying 'let's work together on the path to reconciliation.' An opportunity for us to do things differently. We know there is a 10 year life expectancy gap. There are gaps in health and education and housing, infant mortality, and Aboriginal Australians have the worst incarceration rate per capita of any group in the world, we need to do better.
JACOBS: Prime Minister, let's talk about the sorts of issues the Voice can make representations on. The word of the amendment says it has to be matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait peoples, but you could argue that every issue relates to First Nations people, cost of living, interest rates, development on traditional lands. So what would Parliament and the executive government then do with the advice it receives?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it doesn't have a right of veto, that's what is important. The primacy of the Parliament, our essential democratic institutions, remain intact. What this simply does is allow for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders voices to be heard. And the truth is that this won't make a difference to most Australians' lives in a practical sense, they won't be impacted by this. But it might just make a difference to one of the most disadvantaged groups in our society. And that's why Australians have an opportunity to show that generosity of spirit that the advocates of the Voice and constitutional recognition have shown themselves over the many years in which this proposal has been in development, including Aunty Pat who has done such an extraordinary job over so many years.
JACOBS: Prime Minister, are you concerned about debate descending into some pretty hateful scenes? We have seen some ugly anti-trans protests recently and there's been a lot being said on social media, I know we don't like to talk about social media, but there have been some pretty hateful things that have been said today between a particular One Nation MP who has made some comments that have been made by Alex Greenwich, an LGBTQIA+ advocate and independent MP in New South Wales. So are you concerned about the direction Australia's heading with this poll? It seems to be polar opposites who are peddling hate.
PRIME MINISTER: I said at the time of the election and, indeed, when I became Labor leader, that people had conflict fatigue. We should be able to have respectful disagreement rather than hateful speech, which is never warranted and adds nothing to public discourse. I think public representatives have a responsibility to do that. But I am concerned that with social media we seem to have a circumstance whereby people would say things through various social media applications that they'd never say to someone face to face. And we know that that can be hurtful and it can have drastic consequences. We're a diverse society and we need to respect each and every individual in the society for who they are. And that's something that I try to bring to the way that my government functions and that is something that I think we all have a responsibility to advance.
JACOBS: Prime Minister, what about the housing crisis? Your Housing Futures Fund doesn't seem to be going anywhere too quickly and it's widely reported that there's going to be hundreds of thousands of new Australians are going to be in need of a house and we already have hundreds of thousands of Australians who don't have affordable housing. So what's your plan there when we'll experience a population boom and we don't have enough housing to house Australians?
PRIME MINISTER: Well that's why we have a housing accord with the Master Builders Association and the Housing Industry Association and state and territory governments have all signed up, some investors have signed up as well, to make sure that we get a better supply of housing. That's why our Housing Australia Future Fund should pass the Parliament. This is providing for 30,000 additional social and affordable housing units.
JACOBS: But that's not enough, is it? That's not enough.
PRIME MINISTER: But it's not just one thing. That's on top of the Commonwealth State Housing Agreement, on top of our homelessness programs, on top of our emergency funding for housing, on top of private sector investment through the housing accord. We need to have a serious plan and the Government has got one. And what I find astonishing is that a Coalition of naysayers who are all saying no to the legislation that's before the Parliament that would provide $10 billion with investment for social and affordable housing, including 4,000 reserved for women and children escaping domestic violence. It's a bizarre situation whereby the Liberals and Nationals just say no to everything at the moment, and the Greens Party on this issue are saying 'oh well $10 billion isn't enough so we'll vote for nothing'. They need to actually get on board, recognise that this is additional investment that will make a difference.
JACOBS: Alright, if we can go to the Medicare card now and moves to make it digital, are you concerned about hacking? And should Australians be concerned about our data being hacked?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, of course, cyber security is a major issue and we saw that tragically with a couple of major companies last year. There's a cyber-attack in this country every six minutes. So it's something that the Government is working with our agencies, including the Australian Signals Directorate and other agencies, but we're also working with business. We had a cyber security roundtable with major organisations including the banks and public sector organisations, financial institutions, and it was very positive. The reforms and provisions there in order to keep people's data safe. With regard to healthcare, we know that healthcare increasingly has relied upon digital. E-health, telehealth is becoming more and more important. E-health records are important as well, so that if you find yourself in an emergency situation, appropriate health authorities at the hospital can look up and see what conditions you might have if you're not in a position to communicate to the doctor who's looking after you. So we need to make sure that we get this right. I think it is an important reform. We can't turn the clock back, we need to take advantages of technology, whilst being very cognisant that there are risks if data isn't protected. And that's why my government is doing what we can to make sure that that data is protected.
JACOBS: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, thank you for joining us at midday on this historic day the referendum bill was introduced to Parliament.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much. And I say to all of your listeners, they'll have the opportunity to vote Yes in the last quarter of the year. With a Yes vote it will make a real difference in recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our nation's Constitution. If not now, when are we going to do it?
JACOBS: Thank you, Prime Minister.