SUBJECTS: High speed rail from Newcastle to Sydney; Kurri Kurri visit; green hydrogen; rapid antigen tests; Morrison Government’s failures during the COVID-19 pandemic; Lunar New Year.
 
RICHARD KING, HOST: Good morning, Mr Albanese.
 
ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: Good morning, Richard. Good to be with you.
 
KING: On a number of subjects, but first, the very fast rail. You've been pushing this for years now.
 
ALBANESE: I have.
 
KING: Do you really think it's doable or a wrong suggestion there that rather than try and turn it into a very fast rail, just straighten out sections and make it a slightly quicker rail that's probably more doable?
 
ALBANESE: Well, Richard, we are the only inhabited continent on the planet that is not building high speed rail. Every other continent, Africa, South America, North America, throughout Asia as we know, and you go to Europe, and it is fast rail lines everywhere. And guess what? We have some population because it's concentrated down the coast between Brisbane and Melbourne, it is where a huge number of Australians live. And the corridor between Newcastle, the Central Coast and Sydney is the most densely populated in Australia. If you had a high speed rail line that put Newcastle well under an hour from the centre of Sydney, you would change the whole dynamic of economic development in the region, as well as, of course, think of how much money has gone into road funding. Rail is a lot cheaper than any updates to the F3, as I should call it. And I put, as a Minister, I funded federally along with it was 50-50, us and the state, NorthConnex as it's called now, the F3 to M2. That is a multi-billion dollar project. But if you had high speed rail, it's a transformative approach to get people off the roads and on a train. And I think it needs to be done. It's not easy, but it's a visionary thing. And we should pursue that. That's not to say that in the interim we shouldn't do things to step up to make it faster rail. And that is provided for in the announcement I made on January 2 at Newcastle.
 
KING: Straightening out sections, I think a lot of people would argue, is more doable. Now, to the reason that you are in Newcastle today. Many would say this is a backflip of major proportions, your attitude to this proposed gas power generation plant for Kurri Kurri in the Hunter Valley.
 
ALBANESE: Well, this is an exciting announcement today. And it's one that's about actually looking at the problems that would have been created with the Government's proposal and how we make sure that it is turned into something that actually works, that provides more secure jobs for the workers and provides for investment in the Hunter as well as providing for affordable, reliable power. The problem with the Government's proposal of a gas plant is that the Chair of the Energy Security Board, Kerry Schott, herself described that it doesn't stack up. But if you allowed for the transition to the use of hydrogen, 30 per cent, originally, but then ramped it up on the basis of transforming this project into one, that assists a guaranteed role for the station going ahead, the reliable power going ahead, plus it will help the Hunter to become a powerhouse of green hydrogen. This is a smart proposal to ensure that the Snowy can upgrade the plan to 100 per cent green hydrogen as soon as possible. This is a smart proposal that we've done. We didn't want to knock back investment anywhere in the Hunter.
 
KING: But you did want to knock it back when it was first proposed. I mean, you did say that didn't stack up. And if it did, then private enterprise would have built it long ago.
 
ALBANESE: And that's exactly right. That is right. It didn't stack up, the proposal. That wasn't just my words, that was the Energy Security Board, that was all of the energy experts who looked at it. Making it a project that supports green hydrogen, you can have solar on site to assist with that process, and it will transform it into a project that actually works. So, the problem with the original proposal put forward by the Government is that all of the experts say you could end up with stranded assets, investment and then it doesn't go anywhere. But if you have it as a green hydrogen project, you ensure that viable for the long term, you ensure the sustainability of those jobs, you ensure that the investment actually produces value for the taxpayer. And that is what we've done with this announcement. We have ensured, because construction is due to begin potentially before the election as well, we didn't want to get into an issue of sovereign risk. And there was that issue we had to consider as well. So, how do we make this project work? And I give due credit to Meryl Swanson, but also Dan Repacholi and Pat Conroy, who is the Assistant Shadow Minister in this area, as well as Chris Bowen, for coming up with a proposal that will work.
 
KING: Okay. And the subject of rapid antigen test, we'll jump to that. Now, you have a lot to say about that over the weekend. You did qualify your statement that they should be free to everybody by saying that via Medicare, a number should be free. But how many? How many do you think that we should all be given free?
 
ALBANESE: Well, that's no qualification. What that is making sure just for concession card holders, you have restrictions on numbers. That's to avoid the nonsense that Barnaby Joyce has been out there peddling, saying that people are hoarding them. It is all nonsense. But you can't have an argument that someone's going to go in and say, 'Oh, they are free, I will have a thousand and keep them in my basement'. But if you're a nurse, if you're a teacher, or someone working in a medical centre, and you need to get tested every day, you'll get one every day. Most people, of course, don't need to be tested every day. I've been trying to do various tests, PCRs and RATs, on a regular basis, because I'm travelling around, but certainly not every day. So, it's just common sense to knock back that ridiculous argument that's been put forward that somehow if you do it, if you make free tests available, everyone will just hoard them. That's nonsense. You would have a record through the Medicare system of how many people have got, and you can ensure, therefore, that you have no issues with supply.
 
KING: Quickly, the announcement that's due to be made today by our Prime Minister, two $400 payments to aged care workers. A lot of people have criticised it as being, I think Gerard Hayes from the Health Services Union described it as trinkets, Jim Chalmers, your Shadow Treasurer, has described it as not enough. I mean, how much is enough? And surely, it's something that's good, two $400 payments to aged care workers?
 
ALBANESE: Any payments to aged care workers, of course, is good. But what they need is a structural change. Aged care workers aren't paid enough. It's just absurd that aged care workers were shown by the Royal Commission to be being left behind. There's massive shortages in the industry. They are there working their guts out to care for their fellow Australians, to give them the respect and dignity they deserve in later life. And this Government comes along and says, 'Here's a couple of one-off payments, because there's an election coming up'. How about you increase their wages on a serious basis? Increase the conditions and respect them. There's a crisis in the aged care sector. Mike Baird, the former Liberal Premier of New South Wales, has called for the Defence Force to be used to make beds and to provide food. We know that at the moment, you have a whole range of aged care facilities that are shut down in terms of access from loved ones, and have real issues. There are people missing out on food, they're missing out on showers, missing out on having their wounds dressed. And along comes a Prime Minister who has been complacent the whole way through. He said it wasn't a race to get vaccinated and then it wasn't a race and wasn't his problem on the issue of rapid antigen tests that cannot be made available to everyone who needs it in the aged care sector. And he says, 'Here's a couple of handouts in the lead-up to the election to hope that you forget that the system is in crisis'. We need structural change. And the Federal Government should be making a submission to the Fair Work Commission for an increase in the wages for those people in aged care.
 
KING: My guest is Anthony Albanese, Labor Leader. You would obviously have been very happy with the Newspoll that was out yesterday saying you've got a pretty strong lead heading into the Federal election.
 
ALBANESE: Well, I'm not a commentator. What I am interested in is just, one, holding the Government to account on issues like neglect of the aged care sector. During all of this, of course, the Minister just went missing, won't even appear before a committee because he has other priorities. It's just extraordinary. And putting forward our positive plans like we are today. We have a positive plan for secure jobs, for looking at same job, same pay, for having a future made in Australia. I want to see trains and manufacturing here in Newcastle. We have a commitment to a better future. And I think our positive messages are resonating with Australians. But we'll continue to put them forward in the lead-up to the campaign. But we'll also continue to hold the Government to account at the same time.
 
KING: Okay, on a lighter note, the Chinese New Year kicks off today. You are actually a rabbit. You were born in the Year of the Rabbit. I checked.
 
ALBANESE: How surprising is that?
 
KING: Did you get an invite to the Tom Burgess wedding a couple of Fridays ago?
 
ALBANESE: I didn't. But I congratulate him. I think the boys looked very smart in their suits, rocking out to the wedding. And I wish him well. He, like a lot of people, their wedding was disrupted because the COVID.
 
KING: Look, I did check the Chinese horoscope. And it's the year of the Tiger. And it says for rabbits in the Year of the Tiger, you'll be happy with this one, on the subject of career, for rabbits in the Year of the Tiger, it says, and I'm quoting here, 'This year, rabbits will have the best career year in a long time, progress is forecast for rabbits, so start thinking now about how to prepare for the occasion when it comes'. So, there you go.
 
ALBANESE: That's pretty good, isn't it? Happy Lunar New Year to not just the people in the Chinese Australian community, but for everyone. One of the great things about this country and its multiculturalism and its diversity is we get to celebrate more than if we were just a monoculture. So, that's a good thing.
 
KING: It is. Thank you very much for your time. And good luck. Have you got a prediction when it will be? It's obviously going to be before the end of May. Would you like to take a punt on the date for the Federal election?
 
ALBANESE: I think it'll be May 7, but maybe May 14. But I do think it should be earlier. I see no reason why we shouldn't have elections now. It's absurd that the Budget on March 29 will be anything other than election policies from this Government. And that's why the Australian people should get to decide as we do in our great country.
 
KING: Thank you for your time. Have a good day and good luck.
 
ENDS