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.

MARION SCRYMGOUR, MEMBER FOR LINGIARI: It's great to be here, back home, at Wurrumiyanga. It's always fantastic for me to come back home to my mob on the Tiwi Islands. And it is with great pleasure to be here, both with the Prime Minister and also Minister for Indigenous Australian Malarndirri McCarthy. Also, the Member for Solomon, who has come over to see this great part of my electorate. But I'll now hand over to the Prime Minister.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Can I begin by saying that Islamophobia has no place in Australia. Every Australian deserves to be safe, respected and at home in our country. And what we have seen is a rise in Islamophobic attacks and abuse directed at Muslim Australians. Hate directed at one community, hurts us all. Because our diversity is one of Australia's great strengths. And we won't, as a nation, let hatred divide us. It's clear that we need to do more.

Every Australian deserves to feel safe, respected and at home as they go about their day-to-day lives.

Islamophobia has no place in Australia. Yet, we have seen this evil grow and the number of hateful attacks continuing to steadily rise.

It is not the Australian way, it destroys the character of our nation as a country built on fairness, respect and a fair go. It must stop.

Today, we announce the Albanese Government’s response to the Special Envoy to Combat Islamophobia’s report – A National Response to Islamophobia. 

HAMISH MACDONALD, HOST: The Prime Minister's here. Very good morning to you.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning. Good to hear from Dave Faulkner. Not what I was expecting.

MACDONALD: Well, he was pleased, but maybe you could explain for listeners how this will actually work because artists have said, you know, and said many times that they just don't stand a chance when it comes to negotiating with huge companies like Anthropic.