SUBJECTS: Scott Morrison not accepting responsibility; Doherty modelling; COVID outbreaks around Australia; lockdowns; vaccine rollout; need for national quarantine facilities; Scott Morrison acting too little, too late; Labor’s $300 COVID vaccination incentive.

MARK RORKE, HOST: Look, for the last 18 months, it really has been the only game in town. We're talking COVID-19. Of course, the vaccination rollout for the last six or eight months a big part of that. And big decisions to be made of governments at all levels. Now, somebody that very shortly, in fact, within the next six or eight months, will be putting himself forward as the alternative Prime Minister, he is currently the Federal Opposition Leader. And Anthony Albanese joins us this morning to cover some of those. Anthony, thank you so much for a bit of your time today and welcome to Newcastle and the Hunter.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: Good morning. Always good to chat to Newcastle and the Hunter. It is a pity I can't be there in person at the moment. It's, of course, all a bit tough for people, unable to travel around. But greetings from Canberra.

RORKE: Look, Canberra is not too bad. But Newcastle and the Hunter is a little bit better, mate. Look, I'm not sure what you were like at soccer as a kid. But I'm going to give you a free kick to start with anyway. Scott Morrison just commemorated, if that's the right word, three years as Prime Minister. What would your assessment of his three years be?

ALBANESE: One of constantly blaming others. One of always acting too little, too late. Whether it's the bushfires, whether it's the response to issues relating to women and women's safety, including here in Parliament House, whether it be the rollout of the vaccine, whether it be purpose-built quarantine. This Prime Minister, for three years, ignores problems and says they're not there then responds too little, too late. And then when the response does happen, tries to blame others for the problems that have been there. He doesn't accept responsibility.

RORKE: I think that's a free kick with no other players on the field.

ALBANESE: Well, it is. This is a guy who said, of course, stood next to Malcolm Turnbull in the Prime Minister's courtyard and said that he didn't have any ambition to lead, he was ambitious for his Prime Minister. And one commitment he has kept is that he hasn't led.

RORKE: Fair enough, it's two free kicks there. Look, moving on to a lot of the COVID stuff at the moment and vaccine rollout very much in people's minds, a lot of folks wanting to line themselves up for their jabs. Some aren't, but many are. And some have been critical of the vaccination rollout again, which happens at the Federal level. How would Labor have done that different if we can go back in time with a magic crystal ball stuff, all that easy to do, but how would you have retrospectively looked at that a little bit differently?

ALBANESE: Well, it's what we did say at the time. This time last year, we were saying that we needed to do more deals with more pharmacy companies to get more vaccines sooner. And we would have done that. We've been saying for a long time that we needed to use our pharmacists, for example, to roll out the vaccine. We needed to take vaccines to where people are, in workplaces, in communities, more sites. We needed an effective public information campaign. Why is that it is private companies that have had the most effective ads, I think, that I've seen? They haven't been Government ads. They have been ads done by companies to encourage vaccinations. I would also have had incentives. We have put forward the $300 idea for people to be fully vaccinated as both a reward and an incentive as well as stimulating the economy. And that's a constructive suggestion. I note that Telstra are paying their employees $200 as an incentive for them to get back vaccinated. Qantas are providing incentives in frequent flyer points and other prizes to encourage people to be vaccinated. The New South Wales Government this weekend has got together with sporting organisations to present incentives to people to get vaccinated. Around the world that's happening. The Government hasn't had an effective public information campaign. It didn't secure enough supply of vaccines. It hasn't got purpose-built quarantine facilities. And we're not manufacturing mRNA vaccines here.

RORKE: Just on the $300 payment, because we actually were talking about this on our Facebook page today. And again, small sample, I guess, so multiply that across the country, if you will. A lot of people were concerned that if we went down this road, a lot of extra debt settled on, which we already have a lot of at the moment from some of the stimulus measures over the last 12 or 18 months. I get that it's a reward. Do you feel that would entice a lot of people that might be on the fence at the moment? And if so, is that the right way to go?

ALBANESE: I think it would. And if you look at the cost of lockdowns, the cost of lockdowns are currently costing the New South Wales Government over a billion dollars a week to the New South Wales economy. And what we know is that, already, that costs mean that it is far greater, just in New South Wales alone, far greater than the cost of this incentive, which would be $5 billion if 80 per cent of people got fully vaccinated, which is the national target. So it also is because it's $300 evenly distributed. That's $300 that goes back into small businesses, that is spent in local cafes, purchasing local goods, local services, that stimulates the economy and produces a return as well, of course, through that economic activity. So in the lead-up to Christmas, as well. And we know that the economy is struggling at the moment. We'll go backwards in the current quarter. So I think it's a win-win. The Government has provided substantial stimulus. And we know there's a trillion dollars of debt under this Government. And people are right to be concerned about that. Why wouldn't you link an economic stimulus to a positive health outcome, which is what this is designed as doing?

RORKE: And just on that, before we move on, moving forward to the next election, whenever that is, somewhere between October and May, is this something that you will be taking to an election to retrofit back if the ALP is victorious?

ALBANESE: Well, what we're saying is that the Government should consider this positive proposal, but it would be done up to the first of December to encourage people to be fully vaccinated before then. We want activity to occur now. We've put forward constructive ideas during the pandemic throughout it. Ideas like wage subsidies that lead to JobKeeper. Now, that was described by the Prime Minister as a dangerous idea before it was eventually adopted, but only after the Centrelink queues formed around the nation. Now, we need to get our vaccination rates up. It's put forward as a constructive idea. And I'm still hopeful that the Government will adopt it.

RORKE: Now, at some point, we will move past all of this. And we can always have the discussions about how quick, too soon, a little bit later, whatever. Would you be comfortable with this sitting at a level of incentive, like what you're talking about, as opposed to the sort of things a lot of people are concerned with down the track, the idea of so-called vaccine passports? I know we're not efficiently using that term, but you get what I mean.

ALBANESE: Well, we're a long way from that. And there will be a need for a discussion of that. But there's no doubt that, for example, to get on a plane to travel overseas, you're going to need to show that you're fully vaccinated. That will be a global thing that will happen. Countries will insist on that. And there's nothing new about that, of course. To travel to a range of countries, I've had to show that I've been vaccinated for typhoid and cholera and various other diseases. There's no reason to think why this would be any different with regard to access to activities. I note that overseas, the people who were at a big concert that was held in, I think it was in New York, yesterday, they were all fully vaccinated as a condition of getting into the concert, keeping their fellow concert goers safe. So there will be a discussion about that. Of course, we're fair way from that now. We've just reached 50 per cent of those over 16 having had their first dose, let alone be fully vaccinated.

RORKE: All right, a couple of things for us to consider there. We've got some positions moving forward. Mate, a pleasure to have you along with us today putting the Opposition's case for some of these things, the $300 payment etc, etc. Federal Opposition Leader and Leader of the ALP, Anthony Albanese, thank you so much for your time.

ALBANESE: Thank you very much for having me on the program. And stay safe, everyone. And get vaccinated if you can.

ENDS