SUBJECTS: ALP Special Platform Conference; women in politics; workplace culture at Parliament House; Labor’s National Reconstruction Fund; Electric Car Discount; Labor’s policy agenda.

ISKHANDAR RAZAK, HOST: Now, on the other side of politics, Labor's national conference is heading into its second day. Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese joins us from there. Good morning to you, Anthony Albanese. 

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

RAZAK: First of all, can I get your reaction to the announcement that there'll be this $1 billion to fast-track an Australian-made missile guidance system?

ALBANESE: Well, this is similar to an announcement that has previously been made during the Eden-Monaro by-election. Australia does need to be more resilient when it comes to our defence and this announcement is part of that. This is a bipartisan issue.

RAZAK: Let's talk about gender issues quickly, if we could. We have been seeing a number of changes, portfolio changes, that we spoke to Sussan Ley just about. But this new task force, workforce, new portfolios, does this solve all the problems? Does this get your tick of approval to Scott Morrison?

ALBANESE: Well, Scott Morrison is always good at announcements. The problem is always the delivery. And what we have here as well is a Prime Minister who says that Andrew Laming can stay in his Party room. That stands in really stark contrast with the response of John Barilaro and Gladys Berejiklian in New South Wales towards the Member for Upper Hunter where they have said he should go from Parliament. He should go from state parliament. But Andrew Laming should go from Federal Parliament, let alone continue to sit for the next year in the Liberal Party room.

RAZAK: That's the Andrew Laming case, but I'm asking about the portfolio changes and the issues in Canberra itself when it comes to senior leaders. What would you be doing differently?

ALBANESE: Well, of course, I have 50 per cent of my Shadow Cabinet are women. Two of the four leaders are women. 

RAZAK: If I can interrupt you there. That doesn't necessarily mean the problems disappear. Former Labor MP Kate Ellis has revealed some of the sexist language and treatment she endured when she was a politician and it happened when Labor was in power. Why was that happening? Why was that allowed to happen or continue? And what can you do in your own Party, or if you become the Government in some way, do to change that?

ALBANESE: Well, one of the things that Kate Ellis has said is that change during her time in politics, the 10-year gap between when she was first elected and a decade later, which saw a massive increase in the number of women in the Labor caucus which is now above 47 per cent, saw a change in the culture. When you change the composition of the Parliament, you'll change the culture. Which is why the Liberal Party are now talking about, after a long period of time, talking about doing something in that area. We have got the ALP national conference occurring over these two days. And, of course, way back in 1994 we adopted an affirmative action policy. It's made our Party stronger. It certainly hasn't made it perfect, but it's made an enormous difference to the culture of our Party.

RAZAK: Speaking of the Labor conference, you're going to announce a plan to make electric vehicles cheaper or more affordable. Why is this so important?

ALBANESE: Because this is about shaping the future. And the vehicle behind us here at the Nissan showroom at Liverpool will be substantially cheaper by cutting tariffs, about $2000. But in terms of fringe benefits tax, encouraging corporate fleets to take up electric vehicles, it will save up to $9000, making a real difference for consumers. There's no auto manufacturer in the world that's currently looking at a new internal combustion engine vehicle. The future is all about electric vehicles. We are way behind the world when it comes to take-up here in Australia. There are just a mere few thousand electric vehicles in this country out of the 15 million or so cars and vehicles that are on the road. We need to do much, much better and one way we can do that is to make electric vehicles more affordable.

RAZAK: Anthony Albanese, thank you very much for your time.

ALBANESE: Thanks very much.

ENDS