Plenty to unpack now with the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, who’s taking shelter from the rain at Kirribilli House in Sydney. Good morning, Prime Minister. Welcome back to News Breakfast. A pretty rainy morning there in Sydney.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: It is. G’day, Bridget, and congratulations on the new gig. I hope you enjoy those early mornings.
BRENNAN: I don’t know if I enjoy them Prime Minister, but I know you’re probably up at a similar time. It’s brutal, isn’t it? Let’s get into the issue of the day. Prime Minister, Lebanon first. A very concerning situation unfolding there. We’ve got a lot of our citizens in Lebanon, the UK Government sending troops to Cyprus to potentially evacuate its citizens. Have we got a contingency plan in place if there’s an all out war in the region?
PRIME MINISTER: We do, Bridget. We’ve been planning for some time, but we’ve also been saying to our citizens who are there in Lebanon, some of whom have recently travelled to Lebanon, that they should return home by commercial aircraft while that is available. The second thing I’d say is to repeat the Foreign Minister’s call for a ceasefire. We need for that to occur both in Gaza as well as in Lebanon. We need the conflict not to continue to escalate. We need it to de-escalate. We need the hostages released. We need a ceasefire that’s sustainable there. And we need to move towards a long term solution as well, of a two-state solution there in the Middle East. This is a conflict that’s gone on for a long period of time that has been very intense since the October 7 atrocities that occurred by Hamas. Hamas can’t have a role in the future of Gaza. But we sincerely want to see that conflict come to an end and both Israelis and Palestinians, and, of course, the people of Lebanon, be able to live in peace and security with stability.
BRENNAN: Just can we get a bit more detail for Lebanese Australians, many of them trying to get on flights at Beirut airport and having their flights cancelled, would the Australian Government evacuate our citizens if necessary?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we’ve been saying for months that people should leave, Bridget. It is extraordinary that in as recently as the past couple of months, people have continued to travel there against Government advice. It will be difficult to get everyone out quickly if that is required, which is why people should continue to leave if they can, by all means. The Government, of course, has made planning, but we’ve also made it clear that given the large numbers that we’re talking about, this situation will be difficult to resolve.
BRENNAN: PM, a good number of Labor MPs on the record saying they’re open to reform on negative gearing. Where do you sit on this?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, there’s some Liberal MPs saying the same thing, I note this morning, Bridget. Look, my view is that the key to housing policy is supply. And that has been the objective of our $32 billion ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾s for Australia plan. More public housing, more Build to Rent that’s stuck in the Senate for private rentals, more home ownership that’s also stuck in the Senate with our Help to Buy scheme being blocked by the Liberals, the ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾s and the Greens in this No-alition.
BRENNAN: The Greens might pass it, if you move on some negative gearing, mightn’t they?
PRIME MINISTER: They’ll find some reason to block. We’re the builders. They’re the blockers, Bridget. They’re voting against their own policy when it comes to that. And the issue of negative gearing is one of supply. Will it add to supply or will it decrease supply? The figures and research that has been produced by organisations like the Property Council indicate that it would reduce supply and therefore not contribute to solving the issue. And that’s the issue. We just want to get on with our plan of building more homes in the ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾s for Australia plan. It’s a serious objective that we have. And the Greens should vote for something that is their own policy, by the way. It shows how opportunistic they are, the fact that they’re voting against their own policy.
BRENNAN: Can we just get some clarity for our viewers? Are you considering taking negative gearing reform and capital gains tax reform to the next election?
PRIME MINISTER: No, we’re not. What we’re doing is planning for our ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾s for Australia policy. That’s the policy that we have. And that’s what my Government has focused on. At the same time as our big focus in recent times, of course, has been putting that downward pressure on inflation. And yesterday’s figures give us a great deal of confidence that it’s heading in the right direction, 3.5 down to 2.7. Making a difference. Our energy bill relief, our tax cuts for every taxpayer, our fee-free TAFE, our cheaper child care, all making a difference for people. At the same time as we’ve created, some 980,000 jobs have been created on our watch. And of course, we’re taking action against supermarkets as well, to pressure them into delivering for their customers. That’s why the announcement on Monday that the ACCC are taking Woolworths and Coles to court over more than 500 examples of products being increased in price, a smaller reduction than the actual increase, short-term increase, and then pretending that they’re a special. Supermarkets shouldn’t be having a lend of people. And that is what’s been going on here with these allegations. So, we’re taking every measure possible to do that. In addition to that, I noticed on your news bulletin you just gave CHOICE’s findings. And that is positive as well.
BRENNAN: Could we stay on negative gearing just for a moment? Prime Minister, let me ask you a broader question, then. Do you think, as it stands, that negative gearing has been equitable for all Australians? Has it, over time, locked some Australians out of the housing market?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that’s the question of whether it’s contributing to supply or not. For many people, of course, if you didn’t have investment in housing, you wouldn’t have private rentals, you would have less supply and less construction is the concern which is there. Our Build to Rent scheme, for example, which will provide incentives through the tax system for more construction of housing, is being blocked in the Senate. The Greens say it’s because developers will benefit. I don’t know who they think builds medium-density housing, if not developers. It’s a rather bizarre position to put forward. And the Liberals and the ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾s, of course, are blocking it along with the Greens. It’s a very strange coalition that’s going on. But then again, they’re also saying they’re going to block our Future Made in Australia legislation that’s making more things here in Australia. We’ve reached that time in the political cycle where the political parties seem to just say no to everything that the Government is putting forward, even when it is completely consistent with their own policy.
BRENNAN: Who directed Treasury to take a look at negative gearing to bring some analysis to the Government? Can you confirm who was it that asked for that?
PRIME MINISTER: Treasury don’t need to be directed. They’re not school children with teachers up the front of the class telling them what to do. I want a public service that looks at ideas, that looks at policy. That’s why we have a public service that’s dynamic and creative. We want that to occur. The public service, whether it’s my Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet or other departments, have units within them that examine policy. And there’s nothing unusual about that. There’s nothing special about it. And I frankly can’t see why it’s an issue at all that, you know, the suggestion is I haven’t seen anything from Treasury. I make that point. But the suggestion that they’d look at housing policy or look at tax policy or look at our current account deficit or look at other things is, to my mind, just what the public service does.
BRENNAN: All right. The AFL Grand Final, of course, happening down here in Melbourne. But we will be seeing gambling ads, won’t we? And so will our children. The anti-gambling advocate, Reverend Tim Costello, is worried you’re going to squib on gambling reform. Is that going to happen?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, you notice gambling reform is what you said, rather than gambling advertising reform. And I know that Tim’s objected when I’ve said that they’re two different things. The problem here is problem gambling. We want to act against problem gambling. We are acting. We’ve got our BetStop program. We’ve already seen a reduction in advertising. We’ve changed the designation that’s there. We’ve banned credit cards for use of online. We’ve taken a range of action, more action in our two years than has ever been taken by any government. We’re examining further proposals and we will, when we finish those consultations, make an appropriate policy announcement. But we recognise that gambling is a problem. It’s not just, of course, gambling when it comes to sports. Other forms of gambling, of course, exists. Everything from lottery tickets through to poker machines and other forms of gambling. We know that problem gambling is an issue and we’re determined to tackle it. As I’ve said, we’ve already taken more action in two years than any government in history.
BRENNAN: All right. We wait to see your response to those recommendations. Prime Minister, have a great day.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much, Bridget. You too.
