Lisa, here we are on the 19 February, so we’re five days beyond all the romantics who came out of the woodwork on Valentine’s Day.
LISA SHAW, HOST; Valentine’s Day was particularly special for our Prime Minister. We’ll talk about that in a minute. But I think he must have seen we were having a couple of days of 43 degrees and thought, ‘I want me some of that’. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is with us. Hello.
CLAIRS: Morning, PM.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning. Good to be with you. It is certainly a very warm welcome to Perth.
SHAW: As Clairsy said earlier, it can get deceivingly hot. Well, not deceivingly, but what a lot of us don’t realise, it can get pretty hot in Canberra, figuratively, literally, the whole thing. But yes, how did you keep cool yesterday?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, yesterday I had a barbecue, in an act that probably wasn’t that sensible, was organised in advance in Hyde Park for retail workers who are benefiting from our tax cuts that we passed through the House of Reps last week. So, I was very surprised at how many people turned up, braved the weather, families having an afternoon there in what is a beautiful park, I’ve got to say.
CLAIRS: Beautiful.
SHAW: It is stunning.
CLAIRS: Yes, it is very nice, indeed. A lovely part of Perth.
SHAW: What are you doing in town?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, today I’m off to TAFE this morning Thornleigh with Matt Keogh, the local member, talking about our fee-free TAFE, where 300,000 Australians got access to fee-free TAFE last year, taking pressure off cost of living, but also giving people the skills that we need. We need more carpenters and sparkies and nurses and aged care workers and child care workers. So, we’ll be talking about that. We have the whole Cabinet is here in Perth. This is the third time that the whole Cabinet has come to WA for meetings either in Perth or Port Hedland. And I’m catching up with the Premier today, Roger Cook, to talk about nickel and to talk about industry and jobs here in WA. And then tonight, I have a very large gathering of 950 of my closest friends from the Chinese-Australian community, celebrating the Year of the Dragon at dinner that’s been organised by Sam Lim, who’s an amazing local member here, of course, the Member for Tangney.
CLAIRS: That sounds like quite a knees up. Have you got a whole lot of West Australians in your face asking you to perhaps sign a GST pledge for WA, Prime Minister? Are they constant?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, no, because most people know that our position is very clear on that. We even sorted out all the other states last December. Everyone in WA supports it. The Federal Government supports it. We needed to make sure that every other state wasn’t worse off. And we did that by extending the arrangements through the National Cabinet last December. And I did see some comments from the Liberal Party here in WA, took a break from knocking each other off in pre-selections to talk about federal policy. But I just think it’s them searching for relevance, frankly, when you’ve only got a couple of people in your Caucus and you knock off the former leader, then I think that’s all it is.
SHAW: On the weekend, well, on Friday it was exactly, over 40 asylum seekers were discovered in Beagle Bay in WA’s far north. They’ve been sent to Nauru. This has become a fairly big story because, what do you say to criticism that the border operation is not working?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it is working. That’s why they’re in Nauru. That’s the whole point. The whole point.
SHAW: But before they went to Nauru, when they arrived.
PRIME MINISTER: That’s happened in the past. There’s been people wandering around Queensland beaches on the former Government’s watch. What’s important is that the system is in place so that people who arrive as unauthorised arrivals by boat won’t be allowed to settle here. That’s my Government’s policy. That’s been the Government policy that was established since 2013 under Kevin Rudd. And that remains the policy. And the proof is in the pudding of what’s happened.
SHAW: Wouldn’t the idea be to stop them from arriving?
PRIME MINISTER: Of course. But that has happened. There’s a big coastline. It’s a big country. So, these things have happened in the past, they’ve happened now. What’s important is how you respond and the message that it sends, so that people aren’t encouraged to risk their life on what is a very dangerous journey. And what is sad about this occasion is the approach of the Opposition, under Peter Dutton, who seems to be conducting a bit of a cheer squad and encouraging this sort of activity with his rhetoric, which is why the head of Operation Sovereign Borders made such a clear statement over the weekend, calling upon that sort of rhetorical position to not be broadcast.
CLAIRS: Okay, Anthony, I want to go back to nickel. You did mention nickel. In particular, for those people in the nickel industry who are worried about jobs. And this happens from time to time, doesn’t it, when the market gets flooded by some cheaper produce or cheaper minerals. What will be brought up today? What can be done and what can be said in regards to the issues with the nickel industry right now?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, this is something that has happened over a very short period of time. Indonesia has gone from supplying five per cent of the international market to supplying 50 per cent of the international market. And that’s led to a significant reduction in price. What we need to do is to make sure that we get through this with a calibrated, targeted and time-limited response. And that’s something that my Government is certainly prepared to do. We listed nickel on the critical minerals list, which will enable industry to get access to various support mechanisms that we have in place. We did that over the weekend. And, of course, Madeleine King, our Resources Minister, is a great West Australian there and is very conscious about the impact of this. I’ll be having further discussions with the Premier about our support for the industry today.
SHAW: Can we talk about the nicest thing that’s happened in your life? Last week, she said yes. You proposed. Of course, disappointingly, this means you won’t be on the next season of Married at First Sight.
CLAIRS: Really?
SHAW: And that’s off the table. I’ve been hanging out for that. But congratulations.
PRIME MINISTER: I don’t think there was a big chance of that happening anyway. But thank you very much. People have been lovely. And it was a very significant moment in my life and in Jodie’s life. And we’re very happy together. And we both want to spend the rest of our lives together. And marriage formalises that very much. But it was a lovely night. I put a lot of thought into it, of course, on Valentine’s Day. Some people saw that as being a bit corny, but you’ve got to pick a date. And what better day?
CLAIRS: Yes. You wouldn’t do it the day before. Mr Prime Minister, I’ve got a question, I am asking for a friend. Kyle Sandilands, you went to his wedding, didn’t you?
PRIME MINISTER: I did indeed. I love weddings. They’re great celebrations of love.
CLAIRS: Does that mean Kyle gets a guaranteed invite to yours? Because he will feel like you snubbed him.
PRIME MINISTER: No one has a guaranteed invite. We’re going to sit down when we have a chance. We haven’t really spent any time with each other.
SHAW: I would run for the hills if I was you. Maybe somewhere nice that no one knows about.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that’s one suggestion that’s been made. But it is also, I think weddings are a time where you do want to have friends and family around you. But we’ll talk those things through. We’ll talk those things through privately rather than on radio.
CLAIRS: Yes, I know. Just stirring you.
PRIME MINISTER: Just as, my whole team are in shock that no one knew about it. I managed to keep it to myself, obviously a private thing in my life. And it was just lovely. And the response from family and friends has been really, really warm. And I must say, the public response as well has been lovely.
CLAIRS: Congratulations. You won’t need a wedding singer or a dj because you’ll be on the decks, mate. We know you love your music. All the very best.
PRIME MINISTER: Absolutely. Thanks very much, guys.
SHAW: Stay cool today.
CLAIRS: Do your best.
PRIME MINISTER: It’ll be hard, but I think all I can do is do my best.
SHAW: I do mean literally. It is a hot day. Thank you, Prime Minister.
CLAIRS: All the best. Have a good day.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks guys.
CLAIRS: Anthony Albanese, the Prime Minister, joining us this morning.
