Working families are in a stronger financial position today than they would otherwise be because of the tireless advocacy and strong leadership of Sally McManus and Michele O’Neil.

Sally and Michele secured incredible successes for working people in their eight years together leading Australia’s union movement – the first all-female leadership team in the Australian Council of Trade Unions’ 99-year history. 

DAVID SPEERS, HOST: Prime Minister, thanks for joining us at this Labor conference.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning.

DAVID SPEERS: So a young Anthony Albanese, once came along to these conferences with an aim to change minds and change the party platform. Have you heard anything here these last few days that's going to shift your position on anything?

Thank you, Mali, for your warm South Australian welcome, your leadership of this great state and – at a personal level - your friendship.

I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and I pay my respects to their elders past, present and emerging.

State and Territory Labor Leaders.

My Federal team, led by the best Deputy Prime Minister anyone could ask for, Richard Marles.

And led in the Senate by two great South Australians: Penny Wong and Don Farrell.

To our new President – another proud South Australian - Kate Ellis.

The Albanese Labor Government will create a new Fair Work Court to provide simpler, fairer and faster justice for working Australians.

A fair workplace relations system relies on workers and employers being able to resolve disputes quickly and fairly.

The current court system for workers and employers can be costly, complex to navigate, and slow to respond to the needs of modern workplaces.

Currently, some workers and small businesses are spending more than two years fighting for a resolution that should be simple.

The Albanese Labor Government is expanding the Commonwealth Prac Payment to people training in an additional ten key front line health professions. This will provide cost of living relief for students and support our future healthcare workforce.

Unpaid practical placements are a big part of healthcare degrees. For some courses such as radiography, it is more than a year of the degree. For that commitment, many students have to give up paid work and many have to move away from home.

MELISSA CLARKE, HOST: Prime Minister, thanks for speaking to AM.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good to be with you, Melissa.

CLARKE: Now you're announcing the expansion of Paid Prac to include another 10 allied health degrees, things like physiotherapy and psychology. Why are allied health fields the focus of this additional support?

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Ok, well thanks everyone for joining us here for this ministerial meeting in Adelaide. We’ve met, of course, right around the country, and here in South Australia, of course, there’s nowhere better for us to meet where we have delivered, whether it’s Urgent Care Clinics, the public school funding for each and every school, renewables including the Batteries Program, the support for jobs and manufacturing here in South Australia.

RYAN ‘FITZY’ FITZGERALD: We are very, very excited because tomorrow is the day. It is our favourite day of the year, the traditional backyard cricket game at Kirribilli House. We raise money for some amazing funds and the man that lets us do it lets us into his home. We have a barbecue afterwards. It is one of the great days of all, is the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese. Welcome.

MICHAEL ‘WIPPA’ WIPFLI: Welcome, mate.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good to be here. Really looking forward to tomorrow.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: It's fantastic to be here at the Royal Darwin, and to be here with Luke Gosling, with Senator Malarndirri McCarthy, with Lia Finocchiaro, the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, and with the Northern Territory Health Minister as well.

The Albanese Government will invest $10 million to support upgrades to the Birthing, Maternity and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Royal Darwin Hospital, ensuring Territory families can continue to access high-quality maternity care close to home.

This investment will increase the hospital’s capacity to meet growing demand while improving the experience of women, babies and families. Following Healthscope’s closure of private maternity services in 2025, an additional 250 babies are expected to be born at Royal Darwin Hospital each year.