SUBJECTS: Chaos and disunity within the Coalition; text messages concerning Scott Morrison; Labor’s policy agenda; Federal election.
 
BEN FORDHAM, HOST: Well, our politicians are descending on Canberra this morning. Some arrived yesterday. They are preparing for the first week of Parliament for this year. But it's going to be crucial. Because this is going to be the final sitting period before the next election. When is the election going to happen? Well, we believe it's happening in May. Scott Morrison is trying to get his religious freedoms bill across the line. But the big issue is going to be when Australia reopens to international tourists. We've invited the Prime Minister on the program this morning, and his Deputy, Barnaby Joyce. Both say they are unavailable. Anthony Albanese is the Federal Opposition Leader. And he joins us live. Good morning to you, Albo.
 
ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: I'm always available for you, Ben.
 
FORDHAM: No ScoMo this morning. So, we've got to put up with Albo.
 
ALBANESE: Well, it is an upgrade, mate. Consider it that.
 
FORDHAM: Well, let me ask you about the border reopening. Because this is a big one. Tourism employed 600,000 Australians before coronavirus, a $60 billion industry. Surely, it's time to reopen to international tourists?
 
ALBANESE: Well, they're desperate to reopen. I've visited tourism businesses everywhere from the south coast of New South Wales to up around Cairns. And they're struggling. They're doing it really, really tough, particularly once JobKeeper was removed. And I read yesterday's front page of the paper and thought, 'Oh, well, a decision has been made'. And then I read the detail. And it hasn't. And we need to be clear with those businesses so that they have some certainty about the plan about when the borders are going to be reopened.
 
FORDHAM: On another issue, it's being announced today that the Federal Government is going to make rapid antigen tests tax deductible. The Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, will confirm the decision today. I'm trying to remember what your position is on this. I think you were originally having a bet each way, then you said they should be free. What's the current policy on RATs?
 
ALBANESE: Our position is they should be free and available to people. And the shift in the Government's position is the acknowledgement that businesses require rapid antigen tests. I know to go into the 2GB studio, you've got to have a rapid antigen test. And that's the case for so many workplaces. And we have workers in essential industries paying out of their own pocket in order to ensure they're keeping their clients or the people that have come into contact with safe.
 
FORDHAM: Now, if you win the election in May, which I believe you are confident you are going to win, the Greens are licking their lips, because they're preparing a list of things that they want in the possibility of a hung Parliament. So, you'll be handed this list of demands. And I think you've already got a sense of what they want. They want a 75 per cent emissions reduction target by 2030, an immediate ban on new coal, oil and gas projects. So, this is going to put you in a very tough spot. Because if you've got a choice between being in power or not, you'll take the deal, right?
 
ALBANESE: No, it's not, Ben. You need to stop talking them up. They've got one seat in the entire Parliament. If need be, is what they're saying, that they will choose to keep Scott Morrison there, I won't be negotiating or doing deals with the Greens after the election. We have our own policies that we're taking to the electorate. I am seeking a majority Government. Indeed, the Labor Party is the only party that can form a majority Government after the next election. We've seen the chaos that's there in the only Coalition that exists in Australia. The dysfunctional relationship between the Liberal Party and the National Party. We've seen that play out in the past few days with the comments of Barnaby Joyce about Scott Morrison.
 
FORDHAM: You say they've only got one seat. But if that's the only seat you need, you'll take it.
 
ALBANESE: You've heard of Bob Katter, Helen Haines, all these people. This is just a con for the Greens to talk themselves up. Helen Haines doesn't talk like that. Bob Katter doesn't talk like that. Zali Steggall doesn't talk like that. Any of the other crossbenchers, and I think there's seven of them, Rebekha Sharkie, don't talk like that. This is a complete distraction to make people think the Greens are more important than they are.
 
FORDHAM: So, just confirming, if you needed one additional seat to form Government, and that was held by the Greens, you won't negotiate?
 
ALBANESE: Correct.
 
FORDHAM: Let's talk about the text message leaks. Because they're hard to escape. We've had a number of them in the last week or so. Barnaby Joyce referring to the Prime Minister as a hypocrite and a liar. That goes back to when he was a backbencher. We had Gladys Berejiklian accusing the Prime Minister of actively spreading lies about her and being obsessed with political point-scoring. And that unnamed Cabinet Minister referring to the Prime Minister as a complete psycho, a fraud, and a horrible, horrible person. Now, what do you say about Scott Morrison when no one's listening?
 
ALBANESE: The problem here is, Ben, is that it's a distraction from what the Government should be doing. They're not dealing with the aged care crisis. They're not dealing with the rise in the cost of living, of everything from petrol to food and groceries. They're not dealing with the challenges that are of concern to Australians because they're too busy fighting each other. And then when it's exposed, I mean, Barnaby Joyce says he did it as a backbencher a year ago. Hello? He was the Deputy Prime Minister sitting in the Cabinet with Scott Morrison as Treasurer for years. For years, Ben. They sat as members of the Cabinet or the Shadow Cabinet for the best part of a decade. He knows Scott Morrison very well. He, in that text message exchange, said that he'd formed this view over a long period of time. This wasn't a flippant remark. This was a considered remark in the context of the allegations that have been made around Brittany Higgins and the reported sexual assault and the Prime Minister's statements that he didn't know anything about it until two years after the alleged incident occurred. This is a dysfunctional Government. I can't see how it is possible for Scott Morrison to continue as Prime Minister with Barnaby Joyce says Deputy Prime Minister. It's just dysfunctional. It's dishonest. It's disunited. It's divided. It is chaos. And the Australian people are suffering because they've got a Government that isn't concerned about them, it's just concerned about themselves.
 
FORDHAM: You know about dysfunctional governments because you were a member of one. And I think back to when Kevin Rudd was in charge and you had people from within the Labor Party calling him a coward, childish, disloyal, quick to anger, a psychopath. So, all of this stuff has happened before in your own Party.
 
ALBANESE: And we paid a price for it, Ben. We paid a price for it. Because the Australian people decided that we needed time in opposition to get our act together. And this Government needs time in opposition to get its act together. They're acting like an opposition any way, in exile sitting on the Government benches. This is just a dysfunctional operation. We're sitting, Ben, for 10 days this year before the election. 10 days for the House of Reps. And the Senate is sitting even less. It's not governing. It's just out there campaigning. And we have the absurdity of some of the photo-ops that the Prime Minister's engaged with. People just want him to deal, and a Government that deals with, the issues of access to rapid antigen tests, the aged care crisis, the problem with low wages not keeping up with the cost of living. That's what concerns your listeners, Ben. And at the moment, they've got a Government that's too focused on itself.
 
FORDHAM: It's going to be busy two weeks. We'll be watching and covering it all from Canberra. We'll talk to you again soon.
 
ALBANESE: Thanks, Ben.
 
FORDHAM: Anthony Albanese, the Federal Opposition Leader, joining us. As I mentioned, we invited the Prime Minister on the program this morning. He's doing the FM radio rounds instead, effectively handing a free kick to the bloke who wants his job.
 
ENDS