SUBJECTS: Federal election; trust in politicians; Labor’s policy agenda; Morrison Government’s lack of agenda; foreign interference in Australian politics.
 
SABRA LANE, HOST: There are just seven sitting days left of Parliament before an election is called. The Federal Opposition Leader is Anthony Albanese. Good morning and welcome to the program.
 
ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: Good morning, Sabra.
 
LANE: Do you think you're going to win the election?
 
ALBANESE: That will be a matter for the Australian people. And what we will be doing is putting forward a positive plan for secure work, for raising living standards, for making more things here, and for lifting the pressure that people are feeling in their basic standard of living. We'll also be dealing with the immediate crisis, of course. We need to fix the aged care sector in particular.
 
LANE: Some voters have told the ABCs Four Corners program tonight that they think you're a bit vanilla when asked. 'Is that the best Labor's got?' And 'You can't trust someone you don't know'. How do you turn that around quickly given we'll be into an election campaign about in a month and a half's time?
 
ALBANESE: Well, people focus, Sabra, during an election campaign. And I'm very confident that our positive message that we will put forward of a better future combined with the frustration that people are feeling. This Government doesn't have an agenda for Parliament this week. I don't know what we are dealing with this week. I'm not quite sure why Parliament's sitting, given that they don't have any legislation of any significance. They don't have an agenda for today, let alone a plan for tomorrow. And that's obvious. And that's why you have a Prime Minister who is engaged in pretending he's a fighter pilot, or hair shampoo-er, or a racing car driver, or a ukulele player. For goodness sake, people want a Prime Minister who will just do their job. That's my commitment, to do that job properly each and every day, to do my best, and to make sure that we have a Government that actually plans properly and looks after the interests of the Australian people.
 
LANE: The world is on a precipice right now. In times of war, voters tend to stick with incumbents. And they might just do that if Ukraine becomes a hot conflict. How will you convince people that you are a safe pair of hands?
 
ALBANESE: I have a record, Sabra, of 25 years in public life. I've served as Deputy Prime Minister, I've been Acting Prime Minister, I have been Leader of the Government in the House of Representatives with senior portfolios for six years. I am someone who has the experience. And I will bring in the most experienced incoming Labor Government, if we're successful, in history since Federation, for Australia's oldest and greatest political party. That's a big deal. But as well, we have people who are coming through who haven't served, some of the people who will be ministers for the first time if we're successful, people of talent. They're people of commitment. We've put in the hard work. We're putting forward planning, a realistic plan as well, arguing for safe change. Everything that we're putting forward is fully costed. And we have a plan to deal with the challenges of today, like climate change, in a way that creates opportunities for tomorrow.
 
LANE: On that point about safe change - the Government is now doing its hardest to portray you as a risk, saying the Chinese want to see you as the leader. And this intervention came a day after the ASIO Chief revealed the agency had thwarted plans to infiltrate politics. There were no specifics mentioned. Would you like to see the ASIO Chief say something publicly about this?
 
ALBANESE: Well, he did. Have a look at the speech, Sabra. He said this - he said it is critical we do not let fear of foreign interference undermine stakeholder engagement or stoke community division. Were this to happen, it would perversely have the same corrosive impact on our democracy as foreign interference itself. The ASIO Chief has made it very clear that there has been no successful interventions, that the interventions and attempts at political interference occur to all sides of politics. He made that very clear. And he also said you'd be surprised by the range of countries involved. He's also indicated that I was okay to say, I spoke to him on Friday and said that I want to say that there are no problems, that you have raised no concerns with any of our candidates, just to be really explicit. He was comfortable with that. And I'm very comfortable with the job that our security agencies do defending Australia. What we need is not political game-playing with it.
 
LANE: He's going to be at Senate estimates this week. Would you like him to be explicit this week?
 
ALBANESE: Well, he was in his speech last week. The person who's played games with this is Peter Dutton. And national security's too important to play political games with.
 
LANE: The Government lost in last week over the religious discrimination bill. Mr Morrison spoke yesterday at a church in Adelaide saying he was devastated by that. But he's so far not committed to taking it to this year's election. What would you do if you win? Is it a priority?
 
ALBANESE: Well, the issue of making sure that everyone is free from discrimination is an issue that's dear to Labor's heart. That includes people of faith. You can do that without increasing discrimination against others. And the problem with the original draft of the legislation was that it was not consistent with what the Prime Minister himself said would happen last year and put in writing to me in December when he wrote to me asking for support.
 
LANE: Still, you have not said whether it would be a priority under a Labor Government.
 
ALBANESE: Well, it would be something that we would deal with, yes. We think that everyone should be free from discrimination. That includes people of faith.
 
LANE: At a time when so many voters are disenchanted with politics, if you win, would you lift standards in Parliament? Specifically, a joint parliamentary committee last year made 11 recommendations to improve Question Time. If you are elected, will you adopt those changes?
 
ALBANESE: Well, I must say, Sabra, I haven't looked at all the changes. So, I'm not going to commit to them sight unseen. But I would lift the standards. One of the problems we have in this Parliament is that we have a Prime Minister who, unlike all of his predecessors, including Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull and John Howard, as well as Labor predecessors, shuts down debate. He doesn't use Parliament as a forum for ideas and for exchange of those ideas and debating ideas. We've never had the use of gag motions and moving that people be no longer heard, used and abused in the way that this Prime Minister has. And I was in charge of the Parliament and procedures for six years. During that period, we had much more debate in the Parliament. And that produces better outcomes.
 
LANE: Mr Albanese, thanks for joining AM this morning.
 
ALBANESE: Thanks, Sabra.
 
ENDS