SUBJECTS: Cairns lockdown; JobKeeper; vaccine rollout; lockdowns; wage subsidies; climate change; need for national quarantine facilities; Labor’s policy agenda; Labor’s Housing Australia Future Fund; South Sydney Rabbitohs.

MURRAY JONES, HOST: Joining me on the line this morning, I believe from Canberra, Anthony Albanese, Leader of the Opposition. Good morning, Albo. How are you going today? 

ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: Good morning, Murray. I'm very well. Good to chat with you again. 

JONES: It's good to talk to you because you do know firsthand, and particularly for a small area like Cairns, not just the community, the businesses as well, this snap lockdown has been pretty tough on us here locally, Albo.

ALBANESE: Look, just a shout-out to everyone there in Cairns. It's a tough thing going through a lockdown. It, of course, is necessary, unfortunately. And all the lessons that have been learned are that short, sharp lockdowns are the most effective. If you don't do that, you'll end up in a scenario like Sydney is in right now being locked down now for two months, basically the best part of, and no end in sight. So I just say for everyone, follow the rules, stay safe. Of course, when I was in Cairns a few weeks ago and got to talk to you in the studio there talking to the tourism sector, they were already impacted by the lockdowns in New South Wales and Victoria. So, businesses were already suffering. It's one of the things about the support for business that I've been calling for, it's not just those in the lockdown areas that are impacted. It's the indirect knock-on impacts as well. And I don't think that the Government's support mechanisms have been good enough there. 

JONES: The state government has announced a further $70 million here locally for businesses. But you know, we don't have JobKeeper. It really is a situation for so many tourism businesses moving forward, they just simply may not be able to survive this latest lockdown, and as you said, the flow on from other regions across Australia. 

ALBANESE: Well, that's right. The state government are doing their bit, but the feds went missing on JobKeeper. They were determined because they said that it wasn't needed anymore, they were determined not to bring it back, even though exactly the same circumstances were there for so many businesses. And we know keeping that relationship between employers and their workers is so important where it's just not possible to do work. There are obviously restrictions now there in Cairns. So, it's not due to any fault of the business. It is just due to the circumstances of this taxi driver, in your case there in Cairns, and we need to provide that support for businesses and for communities and make sure that the investment that people have made in their businesses is maintained so the businesses can continue, they can continue to provide the amazing service that they do there in what is one of the best holiday destinations around the world. But also, of course, with this lockdown, other businesses in manufacturing and the other vibrant industries that are there in Cairns and in the region will also be restricted from their activity. 

JONES: Look, widening our base is something we've been talking about for so long, but as you said, we got the natural assets that are a no brainer, that tourism is one of our real focuses. Let's move on overnight, we're talking about 14,000 pieces of research and data, 195 countries worldwide, basically said that the tipping point, with respect to climate change, is drawing even nearer. It's a real concern. Australia has basically been lambasted for dragging their heels, with respect, to doing more significant things, and actually accelerating our efforts with respect to climate change. We know the talk of concerns about what's happening with the Great Barrier Reef. Let's talk about the vaccinations. I won't pull any punches. We are basically one of the lowest in the world. At the end of the day, Albo, it's no surprise that the Newspoll is definitely starting to move in your direction.

ALBANESE: Well, I've been concerned about the issues. The fact that the Prime Minister had two big jobs this year - the rollout of the vaccine and quarantine facilities, and both of them have been botched. Before recently, we were running last in the developed world when it comes to the vaccine rollout. We've been struggling to break into the top 80 of countries. And we have from a Prime Minister speaking in Parliament this week, speaking at going from strength to strength. I mean, for goodness sake, how about a bit of honesty and a bit of fair dinkum Australian straight-talking about where we're at? We had the announcement yesterday about Moderna. Or should I say, the latest announcement about Moderna. Because these announcements have been made a number of times. The truth is that Moderna was being rolled out in the United States at the end of last year under the Trump administration and they received the first 100 million doses. It has been rolled out all around the world. We're just getting around to approval and we don't have any yet. It's been very, very, very slow. And we still don't have any national quarantine facilities except for, of course, at Howard Springs. It's no accident that our Olympians are going to Howard Springs, as they should, to keep them safe. The problem is that other people have been put in hotel quarantine, the breaches that we've seen, it is at least 28 breaches now, have led to these lockdowns, and these restrictions keep happening. Whilst the rest of the world is opening up, we are locking down. And then you have on the other, bigger, longer term issues, like climate change, you have a Government that is resisting adopting net zero by 2050, a common sense position that's adopted all over the world. There's no energy policy still here in Australia. One of the things that I went to have a look at, a manufacturing facility last time I was in Cairns there with our candidate, Elida Faith. We went to a solar manufacturing plant that is building solar panels there and employing apprentices. It is a great example of the opportunity that's there by taking action on climate change to actually lower energy prices, create jobs, build a more resilient economy. And this Government has just been dragging the chain. And they've been slammed again by this report because we are not pulling our weight internationally. And with our climate and our natural assets, we have more to lose than most countries on this vast island continent of ours. 

JONES: They're talking that 1.1 has been the proved warming overall around the world, but Australia, even higher at 1.5. Before we wrap up, because we do have to go and I know you've got other interviews, I just want to quickly talk to you about my concerns moving forward. I understand after the last election, Labor has abandoned the franking credits and the negative gearing. No changes there. But look, let's have an honest discussion. Moving forward, let's talk about the housing, which I know that Labor is trying to address as well. Younger people have just got less and less chance of actually owning their own homes. The affordability long-term of franking credits and also negative gearing, it has to be addressed at some time in the future. Do you accept that?

ALBANESE: Well, what I accept is that we had a vote at the last election. And clearly, the changes that we put forward weren't adopted by the Australian people and we have to accept that. I have done that. We've heard the message. We have a range of policies going forward. We'll look at, when it comes to taxation, we'll look at multinationals and how we can make them pay their fair share. And we will have more to say about that in the lead-up to the election. On housing, of course, we have announced our Future Fund for housing that will build some 30,000 either new social housing units or affordable housing units, that will refurbish remote housing, particularly in Indigenous communities. It's a comprehensive plan to increase supply that will be directly beneficial to everyone who gets to live in one of those homes, but indirectly beneficial to the entire system by increasing supply.

JONES: Well look, moving forward, may I leave you just with one thought, with respect to tapering down on franking credits, because I know there's a lot of people that have built their retirement about having that benefit, but maybe it's something that we will consider for the future. We haven't even got time to talk football this morning. But it has been a comprehensive chat.

ALBANESE: Bunnies are going well. 

JONES: I knew you'd stick that in there. I can only tell you about the Cowboys. So, I'm going to leave you to have the last word on that one. Have a fantastic day. Thank you so much for your time. We'll catch up soon. Leader of the Opposition, Anthony Albanese, have a great day. Cheers.

ALBANESE: Good on you, Murray. Stay safe, everyone.

ENDS