SUBJECTS: Labor’s National Broadband Network announcement; Labor’s policy agenda; climate change; Federal election; lack of trust in Scott Morrison and his Government. 

MICHAEL ROWLAND, HOST: Federal Labor is promising to expand the rollout of high-speed internet to more than millions of homes, with thousands of regional Australians expected to have access to optical fibre. Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese joins us now from Sydney. Good morning to you, Mr Albanese. 

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

ROWLAND: How will this work in practice if Labor wins? Who benefits here?

ALBANESE: Well, there will be 1.5 million homes and businesses that will benefit, including 660,000 in regional Australia. And how will it work, making sure that these homes and businesses get a guarantee that if they want access to high-speed broadband, then the NBN will be taken in terms of fibre to the home. The technology needs to be expanded and accelerated. Because what we had, when the Government went to a copper-based model, was people have got inferior service. Depending upon the lottery of where you live, some people do have access to high-speed broadband, some don't. And we know that during COVID, access to high-speed broadband has been so important for students getting through school, people working from home. And we know this isn't a luxury. This is a part of 21st century living.

ROWLAND: We heard over the course of the pandemic, and are still hearing from our regional viewers, Anthony Albanese, speaking of kids struggling with poor internet speeds. How important is it, and will Labor focus on the regions and rural Australia that have suffered historically bad internet performance?

ALBANESE: Well, we will. Areas like Cessnock have really suffered from a poor performance. And that's holding students back, it's holding businesses back. This Government have purchased 60,000 kilometres of copper wire, enough to go around the earth 1.5 times. It's just crazy that they purchased old, outdated technology. They said it would be cheaper, they said it would cost $29 billion. We know it's cost $57 billion. It's gone up and up and up like a sushi train, every six months, every year, they announce what the real cost will be. And we know that there was a real folly, which is another reason why you simply trust the Coalition when it comes to adopting new technologies, because they're always holding back from the present and they're terrified of the future. And the sort of rhetoric that we saw when Labor announced the National Broadband Network of fibre to 93 per cent of homes and businesses around Australia, they said it was a waste, it was all about downloading videos. The truth is that the big thing it's about is upload. It's about upload for students, but also in terms of health services, so important as well.

ROWLAND: Okay. Speaking of cost, what does this policy cost?

ALBANESE: It will cost $2.4 billion. That will be provided for the National Broadband Network. This is an investment. It's an investment that will produce a return. It's an investment in our future. And it's an investment in equity as well. Why is it that some communities and some places are just missing out? I can't, from my office in Marrickville, I can't upload and film from there through the NBN system, because it just isn't up to the task. But in regional Australia, it's worse. In many of our suburbs, in Cabramatta, in places in south west Sydney, those outer urban communities and the regions, they're just missing out. They're being held back as a result.

ROWLAND: Let's go to climate change. It's set to be another key issue in the election. The Herald Sun, Anthony Albanese, is reporting that Labor is poised to settle on a 40 per cent emissions reduction target by 2030. Is that on the money?

ALBANESE: They're making that up.

ROWLAND: So, it's not true? You won't settle on 40 per cent? What about below or above 40 per cent?

ALBANESE: They're making it up. I have no reason why the Herald Sun would be reporting something based upon its own guess work. We'll release our policy in the fullness of time. We'll give it proper consideration. There's been no consideration by our Shadow Cabinet of where we go on these issues. We only received the Government's inadequate modelling they released on Friday night. And it, of course, has all sorts of holes in it and doesn’t even add up to 100 per cent, it adds up to 85. So we'll examine in a considered way. We'll examine in the context of the outcome of the Glasgow conference as we said we would.

ROWLAND: You are clearly not happy with the Government's existing target of 26 to 28 per cent by 2030. Will Labor be more ambitious than that in setting a target?

ALBANESE: Well, the decision in Glasgow has said that countries should come back with more ambition. The only countries that didn't at this conference were Australia, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Brazil in terms of the industrialised world. I have always said that Australia needs to be a part of the global solution to what is a global challenge of climate change. We can do so in a way that actually not just protects jobs but advances new jobs, that takes up the opportunity that is there for Australia to be a renewable energy superpower. And our policy will be framed accordingly. But we'll announce it in the fullness of time. I haven't seen the Herald Sun article. But it's based on nothing.

ROWLAND: So, 40 per cent is wrong?

ALBANESE: Well, it's based on absolutely nothing.

ROWLAND: So, we're not going to find a situation in a couple of weeks' time when Labor announces arguably 40 per cent and we have to revisit this?

ALBANESE: We'll announce our policy. And I assure you that the people who are involved in the development of the policy, no-one has spoken to the Herald Sun.

ROWLAND: Okay. Anthony Albanese, appreciate your time. Thank you.

ALBANESE: No worries. Thanks very much, Michael.

ENDS