SUBJECTS: Labor’s National Broadband Network announcement; Labor’s policy agenda; Federal election; Scott Morrison and his Government can’t be trusted. 

NEIL BREEN, HOST: The Federal election hasn't officially been called, but it may as well have been. Both sides of politics are on election footing. And they're zipping all around New South Wales and Victoria. We haven't seen them in Queensland because they're not allowed in. But this week, Labor announced a plan to deliver full fibre NBN to 1.5 million homes. They say if they're elected, 90 per cent of Australians, over 10 million premises, will have access to world-class gigabyte speeds by 2025. A lot of this NBN stuff, people's eyes glaze over, it doesn't cut through. The Federal Opposition Leader, Anthony Albanese, joins me on the line. 
Good morning, Opposition Leader.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: G'day, Neil. How are you going?

BREEN: I am well, thanks. So, what are you going to do? Put fibre to the home rather than fibre to the node in these extra premises? People don’t understand it.

ALBANESE: Well, people get whether their internet is working or not. 

BREEN: They do get that.

ALBANESE: They get whether their students and their kids can’t log on to do school from home. They get it if they can’t work from home. Small businesses get that they are under competitive pressure. And due to the luck of the draw, really, in terms of the timing of whether they received the NBN before 2013, or after this Government trashed it with its copper model, they get that as well. And this is an essential 21st century technology. We know that fibre is better than copper. We know it's more reliable. It's beyond belief, frankly, that the Government ever went down this road. But they themselves acknowledged last year when they said they would go back and retrofit fibre, or access to fibre, for many more homes. That they acknowledged that the hybrid model, as they called it, under Malcolm Turnbull, simply was a second-rate system. And what we're saying is we need to do more. So, an additional 1.5 million homes, at a cost of $2.4 billion, 660,000 of those homes will be in regional communities. We'll also make sure that we keep it in public hands while we're going through this process. This was about market value in the beginning. And today, I'll be at a school in Western Sydney, in Lalor Park, with the local member who's the Shadow Minister, Michelle Rowland, and with Tanya Plibersek, announcing that up to 30,000 families with no internet at home will be provided support with access to free broadband for a year under our plan for a better NBN. Because we know that during this year and last, so many students have fallen behind and they don't have access to the internet. So, we had a whole range of dongles had to be handed out to children in those homes so that they had some access, and they were able to participate in school.

BREEN: Well, I agree with you that, look, this is all about fibre to the node and fibre to the home and Malcolm Turnbull watered down the NBN to save money. Fibre to the node means that goes to your street corner and then the copper runs it down the street into your house. That's the basic explanation. And I support you on getting the NBN at high speed into more houses. Is it a vote winner in Queensland though, Anthony Albanese? The Coalition holds 23 seats, Labor holds six seats in Queensland. There's one independent. This election will be very dependent on Queensland. Are issues like this going to call back votes and gets you 10-12 seats here and put you in Government?

ALBANESE: Well, a range of issues, including this, our attitude towards better support for education, cheaper childcare, more support for regional economic development, our $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund, our plan for jobs and supporting secure work in those regional communities. They will all add up to a very strong voice for Queensland. I spend a lot of time in Queensland, as you know, Neil, and I'll be there on the first day that it opens up.

BREEN: I was going to ask you that. December 17, have you booked the flight?

ALBANESE: I have booked the flight, mate. I'm on the 7am flight into Brisbane and then I'm off further into Central Queensland. But I booked it some time ago, I've got to say. I've booked a holiday in Queensland, and so I paid for it all myself. I had to readjust that flight a number of times. But I will be doing work nonetheless in the morning when I first arrive, because it's a big deal. And I look forward to Queensland opening up. Queensland has done a fantastic job, I've got to say, in keeping each other safe. And it's been a good outcome, unlike here in Sydney where I'm speaking to you from. Kids couldn't go to school and people couldn't go to work. In parts of my electorate, they had curfews on.

BREEN: But it came at a cost for Queensland too. We also locked our own out and let people destitute just south of the border. But that wasn't a decision you made. It was a decision the state Labor Government made. I do need to ask you though. The Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said he's the underdog. So, are you the favourite to win this Federal election?

ALBANESE: Well, isn't it amazing that someone who's been in Government since 2013, has been the Prime Minister or the Treasurer, and he is basically saying that, 'My government are the underdog'. It does say something about the lack of agenda that he has. Labor has only won government from opposition three times since the Second World War. In 1972, '83 and in 2007. So, it's very difficult to win an election from opposition. But I'm determined to hold this Government to account for its failure on vaccine supply, for its failure to have an agenda for jobs going forward, its failure on secure work, its failure to deal with climate change, they're all over the shop, I'm not quite sure what their position is. And also, to put forward a positive alternative, like we are here with the NBN. What the NBN is about basically is technology. And this Government likes to say it supports technology. Well, you don't support 21st century technology by supporting copper wire. You don't support that by saying that electric vehicles will end the weekend, even though the fastest electric vehicle charging stations in the world are being produced there by Tritium in southeast Queensland.

BREEN: It's a bit like building a car and then not giving someone the keys, you've got to have the keys to the car. Opposition Leader, Anthony Albanese, we'll see you on December 17.

ALBANESE: You will, Neil. We'll talk to each other that morning.

BREEN: For sure and certain. Where are you holidaying in Queensland? Which region? You don't have to tell me exactly where.

ALBANESE: Around central Queensland.

BREEN: Central. Okay, well done. In beef country. Maybe the Whitsundays.

ENDS