SUBJECTS: Visit to Uluru, Statement from the Heart, regional tourism, skills shortage; northern Australia reinsurance pool.
 
MURRAY JONES, HOST: Well, it seems like the Deputy Premier here in Queensland has been making most of their headlines in the last 24 hours or so. And of course, actually, I did see the TV news last night and Anthony Albanese was in the background there. And I trust that he got a bit of a slightly warmer welcome to his visit to Queensland. Currently in McKay this morning, he joins me, the Leader of the Opposition, Anthony Albanese. Good morning.
 
ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: G’day Murray. It’s great to be back in Queensland and good to be in McKay this morning.
 
JONES: And look, you know, I had a bit of a giggle with the Prime Minister before about the event yesterday. But I'm sure you're not going to take the position that the Prime Minister took. I'm keen to talk to you, but I couldn’t believe it, I got a message saying that ‘Albo's followed you to Uluru’. You arrived in Uluru the day that I left. What an amazing place. Tell me a little bit more about your visit to Uluru.
 
ALBANESE: It is an extraordinary place. And it was a great honor for me to go with Linda Burney, who is our Indigenous Affairs spokesperson, and Warren Snowdon the local member, and we had meetings with the Central Land Council and with the leaders of First Nations people there. And we also had meetings with with Voyages, who run the resorts there as well, about employment. Forty-six per cent of the people employed at Yulara, at the various facilities, are Indigenous. And that's a fantastic thing. And we're were talking really about the Uluru Statement from the Heart, which, now that we're in May, was made four years ago. And that was really just a hand of friendship from First Nations people wanting to reconcile and wanting a Voice to the Parliament recognised in the Constitution. And we were there to reinforce our view that there needs to be progress here. I think we're all diminished as a nation while we don't recognise that our history didn't begin just over 200 years ago, that it goes back 65,000 years. That should be something that is recognised in our nation's birth certificate.
 
JONES: And look, you know, spending some time there, as I did for those few days before you, you start to realise, when you hear some of the stories about some of the pioneers, some of the explorers, and you know, the very difficult time that they had in such harsh country. But it makes you realise, once you hear the stories, once you actually see the rock and you get an amazing feeling, I mean, you know, it nearly brought me to tears when I first saw it. There's just something, I guess so, touching and moving about being there though. But it gives you a slightly different perspective.
 
ALBANESE: It is a very spiritual place, isn’t it Murray?
 
JONES: It really is. It was quite amazing.
 
ALBANESE: It does have an impact on you. And similarly with Kata Tjuta, as well, is quite an extraordinary place.
 
JONES: And, you know, I was quite surprised at that. Because, you know, I tend to be, you know, pretty tough bloke when it comes to those type of things. But when I saw it,  it really actually had quite a spiritual impact on me. You know, it really nearly brought me to tears. But I guess it's the bigger picture what you realise about some of the history, the white history, and particularly the, you know, the Indigenous history of that region. And I think that's one of the things that's really been brought home to me since that visit.
 
ALBANESE:  Well, yeah, we had an incredible opportunity to sit down with the leaders of the Central Land Council and also to talk to people at Mutitjulu about their art centre there. There's incredible creativity and it's been really hit, of course, by the pandemic. Because, tourists not going through, it’s had a real impact on employment of Indigenous people and on their local economy. And, you know, we really need to do better and they need more support at this time, which they're still going through. But it was an incredible honour to sit down, and literally sit down in the in the dirt, with Sarah, who was one of the people who we sat down with. And she went through, in First Nations language, interpreted by someone for us there, just the history and the story of Uluru. And it was a great experience. And to be there with Linda Burney, who is a very special human being as well. She's been a friend of mine since before  we were both in Parliament, so for a long time. And it was particularly good to be there with her.
 
JONES: Can we talk a little bit more about, you know, what you've touched on there, was the amount of Indigenous people that are actually employed there. One of the things that, I guess, I found quite amazing was just the numbers of people. Obviously, you know, with what's happening with tourism, things have really started to spike right across the country. But what I noticed in my travels is that there are so many places that are just struggling so hard just to get, you know, just to get the employees they need to be able to service their guests. So it's been a bit of a double-edged sword in some ways. Sure we’ve started to get the numbers up. But unfortunately, a lot of people just can't service, these tourism companies can't service the tourists at the moment.
 
ALBANESE:  Well, it's a reminder of how poorly we're performed when it comes to skills. I know when I've been there in Cairns as well, the issue of a shortage of chefs is such a big issue. And of course, as well, a lot of the tasks that were given in service industries were performed by temporary tourists. And of course, they're not here. So that's created a big gap as well. It's a reminder that, as we recover from the pandemic, we need an economy that's more resilient, where we train Australians for the jobs that are available, and that will be available in the future. And that's why one of the first announcements I made as Labor Leader was to create Jobs and Skills Australia, to make sure that we have those training opportunities given. I think people will certainly take them up if they’re given that opportunity. But we're really seeing, even at a time of downturn, we are seeing skill shortages in particular areas.
 
JONES: And you know, it's such a double whammy for tourism operators, that have had such a tough time for so long, to now have, you know, a spike in tourist numbers, but just simply not to be able to service them. As we wrap up this morning, because I'm sure you've got to go as well, a $10 billion reinsurance proposal, a plan for tropical North Queensland, just been announced this morning by the Prime Minister. In a lot of ways, North Queensland I think is going to be be fairly happy with this concept. What are your thoughts?
 
ALBANESE:  Well, he's got to actually explain how this will drive down insurance premiums. Because this has been a big issue now for eight long years. The Government has said that it's going to fix it. And the truth is they haven't. The problem’s got worse under this Government. So we’ll wait to see the detail here. This is a Prime Minister who's always good at marketing and spin. But it's the follow up and it's the detail that falls down. So we'll have a look. We hope that it's a positive move. But we await the detail.
 
ENDS