SUBJECTS: Labor’s $300 vaccine incentive proposal; vaccine rollout; need for national quarantine facilities.

LISA MILLAR, HOST: Opposition Leader, Anthony Albanese, joins us from Canberra. Good morning to you. Welcome to News Breakfast.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: Good morning, Lisa. Good to be with you.

MILLAR: We've got a few questions about this. From what we read, there has to be an election before December 1, and you need to win it if this is to happen?

ALBANESE: No, the Government should adopt this. We put forward wage subsidies last year and the Government said it was dangerous idea at the time until the queues formed outside the front of Centrelink offices. And then they came on board after business, unions and Labor were advocating for it. This is just a practical suggestion, it's constructive. I am disappointed the Government has reacted the way that they have given that the Chief Medical Officer, Dr Kelly, said earlier this year we need to provide every incentive possible for people to be vaccinated. We know that Australia at this stage is running pretty close to last in the developed world when it comes to the rollout of the vaccine.

MILLAR: How much would it cost if you're hoping the Government will adopt this idea?

ALBANESE: Well, if 100 per cent got the jab, it would be $6 billion. For 80 per cent, the figure that the Government's aiming at, the figure would be around about $5 billion. But that compares, Lisa, with the cost of these lockdowns. It's up to $2 billion each and every week. And as well as, of course, being good for health, this is aimed at stimulating the economy. You give $300 cash payments to Australians, they will spend it, creating and supporting jobs in their local communities, supporting economic activity, given that September has seen, of course, because of these lockdowns in the September quarter, it's likely to be negative. And businesses and workers are really struggling.

MILLAR: Do you worry about the precedent it sets, if we go back into really bad flu seasons, suddenly people are expecting to be paid to go and get the flu vaccine?

ALBANESE: This pandemic has seen all sorts of one-offs. And that's what we've done. We've done that. But the truth is, the Government had two jobs this year. The rollout of the vaccine and national quarantine, I notice the report you just had, that our athletes are going back to Howard Springs near Darwin. It's the only purpose-built facility. We have a lockdown in Queensland again at the moment because of a failure of hotel quarantine. We need to get this right. We need to build national quarantine facilities that are purpose-built. And we need to roll out the vaccine and get those rates up and use everything as our disposal to encourage those vaccination rates to rise. This is just one measure. But it's a measure, as well, that will support jobs and economic activity. There is no downside here. And the Government should take this on board and should adopt it.

MILLAR: Well, there's no doubt of downside for you, there's unlikely to be an election this year, if there's one next year, you pass this pinch point where people need to get vaccinated. You are just hoping you can put the pressure on. Can I ask you about the messaging on vaccine generally? There's a lot of attention on the Chief Health Officer in Queensland and her views on AstraZeneca. That kind of messaging on the vaccine, that is very safe and encouraged for people in hotspots, that can't help, can it?

ALBANESE: We encourage people to be vaccinated with whatever vaccines are available, subject, of course, to talking to their doctor. If that's AstraZeneca, then good thing, people should get that vaccine. It is safe. They should talk to their doctors. Of course, some of the vaccine hesitancy came about due to the Prime Minister holding a late-night press conference here, earlier this year. And so, we encourage people to be vaccinated. We need to get those vaccine rates up. It's as simple as that. If you can be vaccinated, if you are eligible, if your doctor says go, then go. I was at a facility in the Queensland just a week ago today, Logan City, at the Entertainment Centre there. People are getting both AstraZeneca and Pfizer there. The problem that the people running that facility told me is they don't have enough supply. And we know that's been the big problem up to now. We haven't had enough vaccines.

MILLAR: If the management of the public health crisis, as you put it, is a national catastrophe, why do we see opinion polling this morning from Guardian Essential that shows your voter approval rating going down from 41 per cent to 34 per cent?

ALBANESE: What I'm worried about is the state of the nation. I haven't seen those polls and they come and go.

MILLAR: You haven't seen the poll yet, really? A plunge like that in voter approval and no-one said, ‘Hey, boss, there could be a problem here?’

ALBANESE: I've been putting forward constructive ideas. I will continue to do so, Lisa. I'm concerned about the national interest. I am aware that polls come out, they come and go. The latest ones, every one I have seen, shows us ahead of the current Government. But the focus on the moment is on fixing this health crisis. We need to do it. We know that the Government did have two jobs this year, and they botched both of them. Now we have to deal with the consequences of that. As millions of Australians who are in lockdown today are dealing with the direct consequence of failures of hotel quarantine and the failure to get our vaccination rates up. What we'll continue to do is put forward constructive suggestions around those issues in order to increase the vaccination rates. And we'll continue to argue that we need to fix purpose-built quarantine facilities.

MILLAR: Alright. Anthony Albanese, I think the $300 isn't going to fly with the Government. But thanks for coming on the program.

ALBANESE: Well, they knocked back wage subsidies.

MILLAR: You think you can change their mind?

ALBANESE: They change their mind from day to day and week to week. On the advice and on statements that Mr Morrison is giving as Prime Minister. He was against lockdowns, the last time Parliament sat, you may recall, and encouraged New South Wales to not lock down. And we know what the consequences of that have been. Not just for Greater Sydney, but for other states as well where this spread from one failure in Sydney.

MILLAR: We'll have to leave it there. Thanks for coming on. 

ALBANESE: Thanks, Lisa.

ENDS