JAYNE AZZOPARDI, HOST: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is in the disaster zone, bringing $20 million in federal funding to help residents and councils recover, and he's also flagged that Victorians can expect similar treatment in days to come. And the PM joins us now from Cairns. Good morning to you, Prime Minister. This feels to us like the summer of disasters. From what you've seen in Queensland over the last twenty-four hours, how long will it take the state to recover?
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Well, we were on the ground yesterday in Wujal Wujal, that is a community up in the Daintree into Cape York, that has been devastated. Just about every building has suffered damage, but many of them completely destroyed. And they're doing an amazing job there in getting roads open, in getting buildings began to be liveable, but it will take some time. But they certainly want to get those communities, which are largely Indigenous members, back to their homes as quickly as possible. There's been an extraordinary job done already. The fact that power was back on in Wujal Wujal yesterday is an extraordinary effort and power has been restored just about right throughout Far North Queensland. I was here just a couple of weeks ago at Holloways beach, one of the northern parts of Cairns, and it had had a road just completely washed away and essentially a river formed that wasn't there before. And what they've done, we saw the construction a couple of weeks ago and as we flew over yesterday in the chopper, you could see cars going back across, reuniting that community so that people could travel. So, there's an enormous effort and just a huge shout out to the energy workers, to those in police and emergency services, to the SES, to the Australian Defence Force for the work that’s been done. And we announced yesterday additional ADF support here on the ground in Far North Queensland.
CLINT STANAWAY, HOST: We're hearing some heartbreaking stories in Victoria as well. When can people there expect some relief? And are there any plans to deploy the army to help like you did in Queensland?
PRIME MINISTER: I'm travelling to Victoria this afternoon and I'll be there with the acting Premier, Ben Carroll, at the State Emergency Headquarters there and having discussions with him about ways in which we can assist. Already we've seen considerable support given here in Queensland. Today we'll be announcing additional support for the tourism sector. And one of the things that I would say to your listeners out there is if you have trips to this region booked, please come. That's the message of the tourism sector here. The impact of these devastating natural events and flooding will be made worse if people withdraw from these areas that are so dependent upon visitors. So, I would send that message to your listeners today. And there's some bargain deals to be done as well by people travelling to this region.
AZZOPARDI: Prime Minister, I'm sure many Australians will agree with that sentiment, but then a lot of them will also be saying, well, I don't have the money to pay for a holiday right now. The cost of living crisis is getting worse. How serious are you about addressing it?
PRIME MINISTER: We're dead serious. We find it completely unacceptable that when supermarkets are getting goods cheaper, the prices should go down. When that doesn't happen, then there's something wrong in the system and that's an abuse of market power - and that's why we've got Dr. Craig Emerson conducting this review. That's why we're working with the Australian Competition Consumer Commission, the ACCC, to make sure that the current voluntary code which is there, if that's not good enough then we are prepared to take further action upon the recommendations of the ACCC and this review that will be conducted by Dr. Emerson. We want to see supermarkets do the right thing by their customers.
STANAWAY: It's another inquiry though, PM. How long until people, until residents actually see results?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what we are seeing is that inflation is heading in the right direction, that has been something over a period of time. It's not coming down as fast as we would like, but we're taking a range of measures including this, to strengthen the powers that the ACCC already have. The Treasurer's talking with the ACCC again this week about what measures -
STANAWAY: It's not a guarantee, though, that prices will actually come down.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what we're doing is doing everything within our power to reduce inflation. That's why we're dealing with supply chain issues. That's why we're providing cost of living relief in a way that doesn't increase inflation. And that's why we're putting that overall downward pressure on by producing the first budget surplus in 15 years.
AZZOPARDI: What about the stage three tax cuts, Prime Minister? Are you still wedded to those because there are plenty of experts who say perhaps they could be redesigned to benefit more of the people who could really do with the money?
PRIME MINISTER: We haven't changed our position on that, but I recognise that there's a range of views out there about this, but we haven't changed our view. But we do understand that people are doing it tough and that's why we've provided targeted relief that hasn't put pressure on inflation and that the Reserve Bank and the Treasury have all said that our measures, like energy price relief plan, our cheaper childcare plan, our fee free TAFE and our health changes through Medicare have all put, including cheaper medicines, have all put that downward pressure on inflation to assist people when they need it.
AZZOPARDI: But Prime Minister, if you talk to anybody in the street they'll say I'm paying more now to see my doctor. Yeah, I might be getting more relief from you in terms of childcare rebate, but then the childcare centres raise the fees anyway because their costs are increasing. So, despite all these measures for many people it's just not enough.
PRIME MINISTER: We accept that it's difficult for many people, but the fact is that childcare costs have come down as a result of our measures. The fact is that there are 58 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics providing help right around the country right now today that are open, where all you need is your Medicare card, not your credit card. And that's made an enormous difference. The fact is that hundreds of thousands of Australians have benefited from our cheaper medicines policy as well.
AZZOPARDI: But the reports this morning are showing that a lot of those Urgent Care Clinics aren't open for the amount of hours that you promised they would be. Some are closed on weekends, they close at 6pm.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, closing at 6pm is still being open. Depending upon where they are and what the need is, is the opening hours. But all 58 are open and we'll be opening more. And we have seen tens of thousands of people, particularly children, assisted through those Medicare Urgent Care Clinics. And I've been into them right around the country from Western Australia to South Australia to Queensland here and to NSW and Tasmania. They've made an enormous difference on the ground.
STANAWAY: Prime Minister, one last issue this morning we want to broach with you. I want to get to that issue that dominated the final few weeks of parliament, High Court decision that saw more than one hundred immigration detainees, including convicted criminals, released into the community. This morning we're hearing we will no longer be told as soon as someone is actually released. Can you tell us this morning how many criminals have been released into the community since December?
PRIME MINISTER: There's been absolutely no change in any of the policy and the information that was given under the former government when Peter Dutton was the Minister for Home Affairs. No change whatsoever.
AZZOPARDI: So, how many criminals have been released?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, there's been no change whatsoever.
AZZOPARDI: Sorry, that’s not the question. The question is how many?
PRIME MINISTER: The federal department provide the information at the appropriate time in the same way that they always have.
AZZOPARDI: Okay. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, good luck with the rest of your visit in Cairns today. And we know you're heading to Victoria this afternoon, so the people there will appreciate that no doubt. Thank you for your time this morning.
STANAWAY: Thanks, Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much. Have a great day.