SUBJECTS: Federal election contest.
 
MICHAEL ROWLAND, HOST: Now this morning we're officially following the federal election campaign as Australia's political leaders hit the ground running in a six-week-long race to the polls. Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese joins us now from Launceston. Mr. Albanese, good morning to you.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: Good morning, Michael.

ROWLAND: The Latest Newspoll this morning has a softening in Labor's support, in fact, Labor's primary vote has now fallen four points over two successive polls. The Prime Minister has leapt ahead of you again, in the preferred Prime Minister stakes, although that's within the margin of error. That said though, do you get the sense the contest is tightening already on day one of the campaign.

ALBANESE: This was always going to be a tight contest, Michael. Labor's only won office three times since the Second World War from opposition, and we face an uphill battle. But I'm determined to give Australians a better future, we'll be out there campaigning to strengthen Medicare, for more secure work, for making more things here, for addressing cost of living pressures that are out there by having cheaper childcare, cheaper energy prices.

ROWLAND: That said, though, you can see that Labor really needs a primary vote with a four in front of it to get anywhere near majority government.

ALBANESE: I believe that we can win a majority government, indeed. I'm the only candidate for prime minister who's trying to form government in their own right. We've seen the mess that is the modern Coalition, with chaos within the National Party, chaos within the Liberal Party and chaos between the Liberals and the Nationals. That's holding back action on issues like climate change. I'm presenting myself as someone asking for a majority Labor Government to give Australia the government that it deserves to make sure that we can have a better future.

ROWLAND: Okay. Now, you mentioned it's only been three times since the end of World War Two that Labor has secured power from opposition. That, of course, was Whitlam in ’72, Hawke in ’83 and Rudd in ’07, I remember two of those campaigns, and there was a widespread sentiment for change. Do you get the sense though, in 2022, there's a widespread ‘kick ‘em out’ sentiment?

ALBANESE: I think that people have had a good look at this government, and know that it's out of puff, out of ideas, and out of time. They always react too little, too late. Whether it's a bushfire crisis, whether it's responding to victims of the floods, or whether it be ordering enough vaccines. This is a government led by a Prime Minister who never takes responsibility, always looks to blame someone else. I'm putting forward a clear alternative to that approach. I'll take responsibility. I'll show leadership. I'll deal with the challenges which are there that are also opportunities that we can seize. We can be a renewable energy superpower for the world using that cheap, clean energy to drive advances in manufacturing, making more things here. Then we can train Australians for those jobs that will be created with 465,000 fee free TAFE places, with 20,000 additional university places. We can be a stronger country, learning the lessons from the pandemic. We showed our great strengths as a society, people looked after each other during the pandemic. But our vulnerabilities of our economy were exposed during that as well. And the aged care crisis has just continued to be allowed to fester, with a one word title in the interim report: Neglect. And the government says that it can't do anything about major issues like workforce that have been highlighted by that Royal Commission.

ROWLAND: But that said, there was a recent opinion poll in the AFR by Ipsos showing that 38% of voters, 38% of voters still don't have a view on you at all. After all of your years in Parliament, after all of your years in Labor Cabinets. Does that worry you? And have you left it too late to define yourself, and therefore leave it therefore to the government to define yourself for voters?

ALBANESE: Not at all. I'm very clear about my values. They’re values I was raised with, Michael, they’re values that I've held dear my whole life. They come from my experience.

ROWLAND: But the question I am asking though is a lot of voters –

ALBANESE: No one gave me a leg up in life, Michael.

ROWLAND:  A lot of voters don't know those values. They’re not making a judgement of you.

ALBANESE: Well, that's nonsense, Michael, with respect. I'm someone who's standing for prime minister, I had a biography published in me many years ago outlining my life story. No one knew who Scott Morrison was when he became prime minister, when he knocked off a sitting prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull. I'm not going that way. I'm not stabbing someone in the back to become Prime Minister. I'm asking the Australian people to elect me as Prime Minister. And I'll be putting forward a positive alternative to the current government's inertia and inaction. They don't have an agenda for today, let alone a vision for tomorrow. I believe that over the coming six weeks, when people focus on the issues, they'll have an opportunity to look at the alternative plans, which are being put forward. This government now don't have an agenda for the third term that they're in now, let alone one for their fourth term. And we saw that in their budget, where they just handed down one off payments that disappear as soon as people cast their ballot papers. It was a ploy for an election, not a plan for Australia's future. I have that plan. I have a united team, ready for government, and with a lot of experience, but also a really talented team. What we're seeing from the government over recent years is people with talent leaving the show and more are leaving at this election.

ROWLAND: Okay, speaking of experience, you've been in Parliament for decades, you were a minister, in fact, the Deputy Prime Minister in the Labor governments, but you've not run, as leader, an election campaign. Does that worry you as a potential hazard? Scott Morrison has, Bill Shorten had two goes at it. It is quite the vortex for anybody, election campaigns, particularly leader, do you see that as a potential peril for you?

ALBANESE: Not at all. Go back, Michael, to the people that you mentioned before, the two Labor Prime Ministers, Bob Hawke and Kevin Rudd, won at their first attempt. Scott Morrison was elected last time around at his first attempt; Malcolm Turnbull was elected at his first attempt. I'm running for Prime Minister. I have experience, I have acted as prime minister on a couple of occasions when I was deputy prime minister. The current incumbent has been acting as Prime Minister for four years because he's refused to accept the responsibility. It's like he's just acting in the job. He wants the title, he doesn't want the responsibility. Well, I'll accept the responsibility. The difference between the three fine Labor gentlemen that you mentioned as well, in Whitlam, Hawke and Rudd, is that when they became prime minister, none of those three had served as a minister in the government. I've served as Leader of the Government in the House of Representatives, for six years, I've served as Acting Prime Minister, and as Deputy Prime Minister. I've served as a senior minister across portfolios, infrastructure, transport, communications, regional development, local government. I've served in a range of portfolios in opposition as well. I have experience in the job, I know very clearly what I want to do if we're successful on May 21. And I have the team to deliver it.

ROWLAND: We'll have to leave it there Anthony Albanese. Appreciate your time this morning.

ALBANESE: Thanks very much, Michael.

ENDS