SUBJECTS: Federal Budget 2021; visit to Cairns; Labor candidate for Leichhardt; Housing Australia Future Fund; NAIF.

MURRAY JONES, HOST: We had some important visitors in town across the weekend, including Barnesy. But we’ve got an important visitor dropping in today as well, Anthony Albanese, Leader of the Opposition. He joins me this morning. I bet you are looking forward to getting out of Sydney and coming north this morning, Albo?

ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: I am. It was a chilly morning today in Sydney. But in Canberra yesterday, it hit minus five. It is going to be a lot better in Cairns, I am sure.

JONES: 28 degrees, so you can look forward to that. And look, the cat is out of the bag and she did pretty well in the last election back in 2019. About 9-10 per cent, the difference in the primary vote between Elida Faith as the candidate for the seat of Leichhardt. She's just been announced again. So what do you reckon we can do differently this time that is likely to make that difference of that 9-10 per cent for Elida Faith?

ALBANESE: Elida is a cracker of a candidate. And I am very pleased that she has agreed to run again. Candidates, when they run a second time, really benefit. Because they've got the name recognition, they've gone out there and about in an electorate. You, of course, have had a long-term sitting Member there. But he is part, unfortunately, of a bad Government. And I think that Elida will really take up the issues, she has built those connections with the community. And she has continued to be active in the local community for the last three years. And I think this Government have now been in office for eight long years. At the next election, they'll be asking for 12. Longer than John Howard had in office. And I think people will say to themselves, 'Am I better off than I was eight years ago? Is this Government going to get better in its fourth term? Do they have a plan for the future?' And we saw in the Budget on Tuesday night just a grab-bag of funding commitments, with all borrowed money, a trillion dollars of debt, just trying to fix up problems, some of which itself had created, like aged care where the aged care cuts have contributed to the crisis that is there.

JONES: Now, let's talk about your figures throughout this morning, certainly chipping away on the preferred prime minister's stakes, you've certainly started to at least chip away at the lead there that the Morrison's got. A good lead on a two-party-preferred. And look, that's certainly something that I guess would bore you as we head towards this election, but coming back to Elida at the same time, social housing certainly one of the platforms for you in the Budget Reply speech, but also for Cairns, we do have some social issues in quite a few of the suburbs around Cairns. I guess social housing, not the silver bullet, but something that will go a long way to help with some of those issues.

ALBANESE: Absolutely. And this is a really considered plan that we've put forward. A $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund. Setting up an investment fund whereby the money from those investments will go into building social housing, 20,000 new social housing units, it will go into fixing up. Some of the housing for Indigenous people, as well. It will also go towards housing for essential workers to be affordable. We know that one of the things that's happened during COVID is that regional cities have grown, right up and down Queensland. And there's many people who just can't find a place to rent, let alone to buy. But of course, if you add to supply, you build construction jobs in the short-term, but make a difference as well, give people the security of a roof over their head. We've never had more homeless people in Australia today than we have right now. And the other areas that we've said 4,000 will be reserved for is women and children escaping domestic violence. We know that every night, every single night in Australia, women will be turned away from shelters, because there literally just isn't a spot for them. They'll sleep in their cars, perhaps think about having to go back to dangerous circumstances that aren't safe for them. And we need to actually address those issues and provide that security, which will help, particularly, for women with kids.

JONES: As we wrap up this morning, because I know you got to go, and I've had you on hold there for a little while. Federal Labor has pledged to fund 10,000 new apprenticeship positions in the clean energy sector. In addition to all that, some community batteries and subsidies there for electric vehicles. You will have heard there's been a bit of a furore here just in recent times, with respect to the NAIF and some of the rollout of the funds, but a veto by Keith Pitt of the Kaban Wind Farm Project. That has been a little bit controversial in the tropical north. What are some of your focus when it comes through renewables while you are here in Cairns today?

ALBANESE: Well, good action on climate change will be good for the environment. And we need to take action if we're going to save the reef. If you want to talk about jobs, the reef disappears, thousands of jobs disappear. And as well as, of course, we need to protect these pristine environments as an end in itself. The idea that Keith Pitt would veto a good project from getting NAIF funding just shows how bias this Government is. They just don't get it. The cheapest form of new energy is renewables in Australia. There hasn't been a coal-fired power station built, a new one, for a very long period of time. And that's because renewables are the cheapest form. I visited projects in the north like Kidston, like Big Kennedy and Little Kennedy. These are projects that are creating jobs. And the idea that a minister would intervene to provide that veto just shows that they're not up to it. I mean, it's one thing to be worried about the present, it is another thing to be terrified of the future. We've actually got to plan for the future, look at where future jobs will be, and make sure we encourage investment. This is a private sector investment. The NAIF, of course, has been around. It was announced right at the beginning of this Government. They haven't allocated anything like what they said they would. They have faffed about. I call it the 'No Actual Infrastructure Fund'. And when you have a proposal like this that stacks up, it's incredible that the minister intervened. And it's just another reason why this out of touch Government should go.

JONES: And look, it was actually a recommendation of the NAIF committee to actually fund this project.

ALBANESE: You have an independent board and then your veto it. This is a Government that has set up 21 different slush funds to hand out taxpayers' money in last Tuesday's Budget worth $4 billion dollars. There is another $9 billion in the Budget that is decisions taken but not announced. That is, they've made the decision of where taxpayers' money is going but they're not going to tell taxpayers on Budget night where it is. The rorts that have gone on in Sports Rorts and Community Safety Rorts and these programs are very different from the approach that I had as Regional Development Minister, funding things like the Cairns City Upgrade, funding local, community-based infrastructure through local governments so you had that local accountability built in there, and transparency built in there. 

JONES: Sure. Well, Anthony, I should let you go. Because I know you've got to warm up. We are looking forward to seeing you in town. And I'm sure there'll be some interesting things that will come out of your visit today. Have a wonderful day. Always great to talk to you. And enjoy. Anthony Albanese, Leader of the Opposition, have a wonderful day.

ALBANESE: Thanks very much, Murray.

ENDS