: Ricki-Lee, Tim and Joel. It is a Wednesday afternoon. There’s no Joel Creasey, but there is a Prime Minister on the line. Mr. Albanese, out of ten, what did you give the Sabrina Carpenter Taste track?
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Oh, I give it an eight. But she hasn’t got to play the Enmore, unlike Rick-Lee, in my hood.
RICKI-LEE COULTER, HOST: It was in your hood. But I also got to sing for you last week, I think it was. And I was so nervous when I saw you in the crowd.
PRIME MINISTER: You did. No, that was a fantastic event down there actually, for charity, so well done.
BLACKWELL: Hang on. There was a slight issue with the seating, though, wasn’t there?
RICKI-LEE: Yeah, I was – when I came into the room and I was waiting to go on the stage and I sang the ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Anthem and then I sang a few songs and I saw you were sitting down and I got really, really nervous because, you know, you’re kind of a big deal. And then when I stood up on the stage and I looked and I saw Pauline Hanson in front of me, I had a little chuckle.
BLACKWELL: Yeah, Pauline Hanson was in front of you. That’s basically what we’re getting at.
RICKI-LEE: I was like, what’s going on here?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, you know, that’s – welcome to my world of Parliament House. Different people have been elected to the Senate, and Pauline Hanson was one of the people today who blocked more money for housing so that 40,000 people could get home ownership. We’ve got this scheme as part of our housing plan that was blocked today by One Nation, Pauline Hanson and the Greens and the Coalition. It was a no-alition, is what we saw today and yesterday. And at a time where we need to do something about housing supply, it’s beyond my comprehension why they kicked it off for two months, which is effectively blocking it. Which is a real tragedy, because 40,000 people would have benefited from our shared equity scheme. So, that – basically the way it works is the Government can own a portion of a new home for a first time owner, up to 40 per cent, and then the person can pay back the Government if they can afford to later on, or when the dwelling is sold, then the Government gets its share back as well. So, it’s just a really practical way of getting people into home ownership.
RICKI-LEE: So, what happens from here?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it’s blocked. We’ll have another crack at it. It’s amazing that the senators are sitting this week. It’s just the Senate, not the House of Representatives, and they’ve been sitting for three days and haven’t passed anything at all yet. They’ve just been talking with each other. And I think that Australians, frankly, deserve better than that. They deserve if they’ve got a better idea than, you know, move an amendment or try and improve things. But just to block even having a debate and a vote on the legislation is, I think, pretty counterproductive.
BLACKWELL: Well, in the short term Albo, we’ve got lots of empty offices here because most people at Nova work from home. So, if we need anybody listening to their short term housing, we’ve got plenty of empty offices here. Is that too simplistic, do you think?
PRIME MINISTER: Quite possibly, although it’s a very good location where you are.
BLACKWELL: Very nice. Beautiful views.
RICKI-LEE: I was broadcasting our show on Monday from Parliament House before I came and performed and I was wondering, there was these, while I was in the little booth recording, just next to the Great Hall there, were the clocks that have the red lights and the green lights that go off and little alarms that go off all day long.
BLACKWELL: What is that?
RICKI-LEE: What was that? What’s that about? I thought you were the man to explain it to me.
PRIME MINISTER: They’re to tell you that you have to go and vote. So, you have normally four minutes to – you’ll see people rushing around. A red light is for the Senate and a green light is for the House of Representatives.
RICKI-LEE: So, they weren’t just rushing to the toilet?
PRIME MINISTER: No, they weren’t. They were rushing to sit down on either side, for or against, whatever people were voting on. So, from time to time that will happen. Unfortunately, there were people, too many people sitting in the ‘no’ column, ‘no’ seats today when it came to housing support.
BLACKWELL: Very quickly as well, because I know you have to go. How did you feel on Friday night after the Hawks got knocked out of the AFL final series? Because –
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, wow. Well, Sicily hitting that post was pretty devastating. And that was the two posters in that last quarter. So, it was a great game of footy.
BLACKWELL: Yeah.
PRIME MINISTER: And Hawthorn, I think they exceeded all expectations this year.
BLACKWELL: Yes, we did. Yes we did.
PRIME MINISTER: There’s always next year, as they say in the classics. They did better than my rugby league team. Poor old Souths finished 16 out of 17.
BLACKWELL: So, what do you do now then? Where do you shift your focus to, like, what do you, what are you, what are you into? What sport are you doing? Pickle ball?
RICKI-LEE: Formula One. Oscar Piastri, let’s go!
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I’ll keep watching, but I think that Melbourne are a real chance in the rugby league and the Swans are sort of my second team. I have to hope that they do well as a Sydneysider. But there were two great finals last week, in the AFL with the poor Giants – must be really devastated. 44 points up, I think they were. And Brisbane, you know, held in there. So, we’ll wait and see.
BLACKWELL: I’m actually now conscious of the fact that 5:16 and you have the right to disconnect if you want.
PRIME MINISTER: Indeed. Absolutely. But I’m always on the clock.
BLACKWELL: I know you are.
RICKI-LEE: Thank you so much for the call. We always love speaking with you.
BLACKWELL: Yeah, thanks, Albo. And last time you spoke to us, we got heaps of free chicken, so just a little Frangos plug again so we can get fed tomorrow. That’d be good.
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, indeed. Frangos. Can’t beat it there at Petersham.
BLACKWELL: See you, Albo.
