Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will welcome the Prime Minister of New Zealand, The Rt Hon Christopher Luxon, to Australia on 20 December 2023.

This will be Prime Minister Luxon’s first official overseas visit.

The early engagement between the two leaders demonstrates the closeness of the Australia-New Zealand partnership.

The leaders will meet in Sydney to discuss how to continue deepening ties between the two countries and our shared vision for a peaceful, stable and prosperous region.

SABRA LANE, HOST: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese joins us now from Kirribilli. Good morning and welcome to the program.

PRIME MINISTER, ANTHONY ALBANESE: Good morning Sabra.

LANE: Some areas have had huge amounts of rain, a metre in 24 hours, dangerous flash flooding, people on rooftops needing to be rescued. Civic leaders want Defence help, will they get it?

Peta Murphy was a cherished member of our Labor family.

A proud trade unionist, a wonderful staffer, a magnificent candidate, an outstanding local member, a brilliant Parliamentarian and the very best kind of colleague and friend.

Above and beyond all this, she was the darling daughter of Bob and Jan, the beloved sister of Penni and Jodi and the perfect partner to Rod.

All of you have been in our thoughts in the terribly sad days that have followed Peta’s passing.

On Wednesday last week, we recalled the Parliament to pay tribute to Peta’s memory.

MARK LEVY, HOST: Great to have you with us. Mark Levy in the chair for Summer Breakfast. Thank you to all these donations that continue to pour in for the Vinnies Christmas radio appeal here on 2GB. And you wouldn't believe it, the Prime Minister has phoned through. Anthony Albanese, Prime Minister, good morning to you.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: G'day, Mark. Greetings from Western Australia.

LEVY: And Merry Christmas, I should say too, Prime Minister.

Australia, Canada, and New Zealand mourn every Israeli and Palestinian innocent life which has been lost in this conflict and express our condolences to all families and communities affected by the violence.

We unequivocally condemn Hamas’ terror attacks on Israel on October 7, the appalling loss of life, and the heinous acts of violence perpetrated in those attacks, including sexual violence. We condemn Hamas’ unacceptable treatment of hostages and call for the immediate and unconditional release of all remaining hostages.

On the last day of Parliament for 2023, Australia and Papua New Guinea signed an historic security agreement and our Government passed new laws to ensure more Australians get a fair go at work.

From now on, wage theft and industrial manslaughter will be criminal offences.

This will help make workplaces safer and it will make it clear that businesses can’t get away with stealing from their employees.

We’re also closing the loopholes in labour hire. Labour hire laws were designed to help employers bring in people with specialist skills or deal with temporary shortages.

Annastacia Palaszczuk contacted me this morning to inform me of her decision to resign as Premier of Queensland. 

She retires as a Labor hero, a three time election winner, Australia's longest-serving female Premier and - above all else - a champion for Queenslanders. 

From the moment she made history with her extraordinary 2015 election victory, Annastacia Palaszczuk has served Queensland with fierce pride in her state and a powerful determination to deliver for people. 

The Prime Minister will be on leave from Sunday 10 December to Thursday 14 December 2023.

During this time, the Deputy Prime Minister will be Acting Prime Minister.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning. This week was a very busy week last week in Parliament. We of course responded to the High Court decision with the comprehensive response to ensure Australians can be safe. We responded as well through the National Cabinet process with an immediate plan to strengthen Medicare, with our plan now for health and hospital funding, and an agreement for the next two five-year agreements, going right up to 2035. We produced the agreement on national firearms registry.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: My friend, it is a real honour to welcome you and your considerable delegation, all of your senior members here in Canberra. And I know you've already enjoyed dinner with the Foreign Minister, discussion with the Treasurer, the Deputy Prime Minister and of course, our Minister for the Pacific who loves PNG. Between him and our Deputy Prime Minister, I think there’s a competition for how much, I think they might be applying for visas. They are almost honorary PNG citizens. But we are, our relationship is so important.