SUBJECTS: Visit to Gladstone; Labor’s candidate for Flynn; importance of industry to Gladstone; South Sydney Rabbitohs; bad jokes. 

HAMMO, HOST: He did arrive yesterday afternoon, doing a bit of a tour around Queensland, the Federal Opposition Leader, Anthony Albanese. Welcome to the 4CC Breakfast Show. Now, is it okay for me to call you Albo?

ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: Yes, you certainly can, if I can call you Hammo.

HAMMO: Everyone does, even my dad and mum. You've been doing a bit of traveling over the last couple of days, a tour around Queensland. Where have you been?

ALBANESE: I sure have, mate. I've been to Toowoomba, Brisbane, Redcliffe, Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, and now here I am in beautiful Gladstone.

HAMMO: And catching up with a lot of locals, no doubt. I know you are going to the footy today, being played at Marley Brown Oval. Everybody can come along and say g’day there. Keep the social distance, of course. Last night with the CQ news, with the announcement of a weekly paper for Gladstone, which is great stuff, good to hear. 

ALBANESE: It is good news. So many newspapers have shut down. It's good to be at the actual launch of a new one. Matt Burnett is very excited about that. We got together with some community members afterwards. It is always good to visit Gladstone. It is good to visit with Matt, who seems to know everyone in this town.

HAMMO: Yes. And look, he will be running for the Federal seat of Flynn too at the next Federal election. So he's going to be the Labor candidate.

ALBANESE: Yes. I look forward to having him in the Caucus. I think he's got a real shot. He's a real guy who speaks his mind. He'll be such a strong representative. And I know that he is very highly regarded. He's the Vice President of the Australian Local Government Association. Of course, that says something about how his fellow mayors and shire presidents regard him. And he is just a great bloke. What you see is what you get. And he's been an outstanding mayor. He got a great result last year. And I hope he gets just as good a result in the Federal election. 

HAMMO: Him being a local, of course, industry is very important to the Gladstone region. And that's something that he'll be able to jump on board with and really support and push and let everybody know about if he does get the Federal seat of Flynn.

ALBANESE: Yes, absolutely. He's about jobs, and he's about industry. And there's some exciting things happening in Gladstone, of course. On a previous visit there I went to the aluminium refinery run by Rio Tinto. They're looking at embracing renewables to lower their power costs so they can operate for longer. I think there's a great opportunity for Gladstone to grow. When I was the Infrastructure Minister, we did the Calliope Crossroads, and we did Port Access Road, and we expanded the airport. It's such a thriving community. And of course, close by as well, you've got a beautiful coastline. I remember going down there to the Agnes Water to the community centre there when we opened it, it was part of our regional development program. And having a strong voice like Matt will make an enormous difference.

HAMMO: Well, thanks very much for joining us this morning. Look, I know you love your NRL too. And I sort of heard a whisper that you were on the board for a club that sort of went away for a bit but is back now, South Sydney, you've got one red eye, one green eye? Is that right?

ALBANESE: Absolutely. Just a few days ago was the 20th anniversary of us winning the court case to get us back in the comp. I was on the board at that time. I remember gathering in the morning and we were quite worried that this would be the end. We had over 100,000 people march in Sydney. I've got to say, we had fantastic support from Queenslanders who understand their Rugby League, of course, they love it and understood what it meant to take away a historic club like Souths, pride of the league. And we're going to win our 22nd comp this year, mate. So get on board. 

HAMMO: Well, I hope it's not tonight, because you're playing the Cowboys. So I'm sorry, Albo. We want the Cowboys to win up here.

ALBANESE: I'm sure you do. And that's the sort of loyalty that I like. I'm afraid the Cowboys are going to struggle tonight, I suggest.

HAMMO: You want to have a side bet on that?

ALBANESE: We could do that. We could do a little sneaky beer or something.

HAMMO: Sounds good. Okay, we'll do that. Okay. Thanks very much for joining us once again. Before we go, you have rung in on a Friday and one of the rules that we have here at 4CC, because it is our bad joke Friday, it doesn't matter who you are, you do have to tell a bad joke. So do you have a bad joke for me?

ALBANESE: I do. How many apples grow on a tree? 

HAMMO: How many apples grow on a tree? Albo, I don't know. How many apples grow on a tree?

ALBANESE: All of them. 

HAMMO: I can't I believe I fell for that. Thank you very much for your time. Enjoy your stay.

ALBANESE: See you, Hammo.

ENDS