SUBJECTS: Border and restriction rules easing across Australia; Tasmania borders; COVID-19 pandemic; mRNA vaccines; climate change; Labor’s Powering Australia Plan; fossil fuels; renewables; Julian Assange.
 
BELINDA KING, HOST: Well, 21 months of restrictions, 19 months of being COVID-free, that's some 579 days. And today, today is the day. Tassies borders come down. New South Wales eased many of the restrictions overnight as well. International students and skilled migrants are beginning to arrive back in the country today. It is going to be a very, very busy day. Now, one of the people taking advantage of the borders coming down to Tassie today, and putting his backside in a seat on an aircraft heading our way, will be the Opposition Leader, Anthony Albanese. He joins us this morning. Good morning.
 
ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: Good morning. Good to be with you. And it will be even better to be with Tasmanians in person in a short period of time.
 
KING: Now, we are looking at particularly COVID first up this morning, with those borders coming down and the easing of restrictions and those students and migrants beginning to come back to the country. How different would today have looked if it was under a Labor Government?
 
ALBANESE: Well, if it was under a Labor Government, today wouldn't have been happening today. It would have been happening many, many months ago because you would have had the vaccines got when we should have. We didn't secure enough vaccines and Australia was running behind the rest of the world. The Prime Minister said it wasn't a race. It always was a race. And I think the Tasmanian Government understood that, state governments understood it, people understood, including Tasmanians, have been magnificent in making sacrifices in order to keep each other safe. But we should have secured more vaccines earlier. And we should have also had purpose-built quarantine that, of course, it is breaches of hotel quarantine that have been responsible for the lockdowns and the restrictions.
 
KING: When we have previously spoken, Anthony Albanese, I believe you suggested that Australia perhaps should not reopen to the world until the country has the capability to manufacture mRNA vaccines. Now, this past week, we are now looking at that reality of working with the team for Moderna to actually do that. But that means 2024 for those vaccines. Would it be a case of under a Labor Government not reopening internationally until 2024?
 
ALBANESE: No, I've never said that. Ever. The truth is I have said that one of the things that we should have been looking at doing is manufacturing mRNA vaccines. Again, the Government's been too slow. This Government said more than a year ago that we'd be producing mRNA vaccines, the Industry Minister said by within nine to 12 months. Well, that was about 15 months ago that the then-Industry Minister said that we should have created mRNA vaccine manufacturing as a matter of urgency. It is good that it will now happen, but it is unfortunate that we're waiting until 2024.
 
KING: With the potential of you taking the reins of the country in 2022, what would change in our fight against COVID?
 
ALBANESE: Well, what would change is that there'd be the sense of urgency that is required. I would have had purpose-built quarantine. I hope, sincerely, that by the time we get to the election, whenever it's called, March and May, we're very much past the sort of measures that we've had to put in place in order to keep people safe. But we would have a forward plan as well to deal with future occurrences so that we're not caught on the hop. So, I would create an Australian Centre for Disease Control, which is what is in place in every other OECD country in the world. We need to do that to value science, to put in place planning measures, because we know that this mightn't be the last shock that occurs.
 
KING: Now, one of the issues that is well and truly going to be on the agenda for 2022 is climate change. And the Australia Institute research shows that voters are just as concerned about climate change as they are about health and the economy. The Australian Government's already agreed to the recommendations of COP26 and signed up to deliver a more ambitious 2030 target. So, that surely has to be good news?
 
ALBANESE: Well, they signed up to the communique that said that countries that hadn't increased their 2030 target at this year's COP needed to do so at next year's Conference of the Parties. They signed up, and then they put out a media release saying that they wouldn't shift from 26 to 28 per cent. This is a Government that are incapable of action on climate change. We know that the absurdity of the Prime Minister saying that a 43 per cent target, which is what we would establish by 2030, would cause chaos for Bell Bay. Now, the Tasmanian Government have a 100 per cent target by 2030. The New South Wales Liberal Government have a 50 per cent target. The South Australian Liberal Government have a 50 per cent target. Our national target is modest, it's achievable, it would create 640,000 additional jobs, it would result in $52 billion of additional private sector investment, and it would cut power bills on average by $275 by 2025. We have an opportunity to end the climate wars. But only a Labor Government would do so. Because we know that Scott Morrison's hamstrung by Barnaby Joyce and the Nats, basically dragging their knuckles along the ground, refusing to act. And that's why, in spite of the fact that the Federal Government say that they'll get to 30 or 35 per cent, between those figures by 2030, that they're not capable of making that commitment at an international conference, because the Nats and the climate sceptics in the Liberal Party won't let them.
 
KING: We've got a question that's just come in on our text messaging 0467 922 917. Ian has asked, he would like to know if you would be supportive of the wind farm at Robbins Island as part of our work against climate change.
 
ALBANESE: I've got to say, I haven't seen the specific proposal. So, I'm not going to make comments on the run. But what I know is that we need to have an increase in renewable energy, they need to be subject to appropriate environmental approvals. And if we do that, if we get that right, what our modelling shows is that by 2030, renewable energy can be 82 per cent of the national energy market grid. And we know, of course, that Tasmania is in a very strong position. If we fix transmission as well to the mainland, Tasmania can be importing energy to the north island, given the natural advantages that you have there in Tasmania that'll produce income for Tasmania as well.
 
KING: That's renewables. Can I touch on fossil fuels? Do we have long-term plans in place for dealing with fossil fuels?
 
ALBANESE: Well, there are as part of the plan. Of course, we know that in spite of the Government's rhetoric of funding new studies into a coal-fired power plant in Collinsville in Queensland, we know that in spite of taxpayers' money of Tasmania has been used for that, we know that it won't go ahead because the market won't allow it to go ahead. Because the cheapest form of new energy is clean energy. And so, that's not due to a Government decision, that's due to market economics. And so, we know as well that globally, fossil fuels will be impacted by decisions made in boardrooms of Tokyo and Beijing and New Delhi and other countries. We will continue to export based upon international demand. But we know that there's a shift globally towards renewables and towards clean energy. And the opportunity that is there for new industries, including hydrogen in places like Northern Tasmania, are enormous as well. We can be a renewable energy superpower for the world if we're smart and if we seize the opportunity which is there.
 
KING: Just gone three minutes to eight. You mentioned the Deputy PM a few moments ago, Barnaby Joyce, he wrote an opinion piece in our papers just yesterday in regard to Julian Assange, and he is very keen to see him back here as quickly as possible. This has been backed by two Liberal backbenchers, including our local member for Bass, Bridget Archer. Is it time to bring Assange home?
 
ALBANESE: Well, I've said for some time that enough is enough. The fact is that you have the circumstances whereby the person who has actually leaked the classified information to WikiLeaks is free, is walking around, isn't incarcerated. But the person who published that information remains in jail in Britain awaiting the extradition procedures that the United States is taking place. I don't always agree with Barnaby Joyce. But what he's spoken here is consistent with what we argued when the trial in the UK of Julian Assange found that he was at risk in terms of his mental health circumstances. He has paid a big price for the publication of that information already. And I do not see what purpose is served by the ongoing pursuit of Mr Assange. He is an Australian citizen as well. And with that should come an obligation of the Australian Government to ensure that he receives appropriate support.
 
KING: Anthony Albanese, we look forward to welcoming you to Tassie with borders coming down today. We've only got a few minutes to go before eight o'clock news time. Thank you for joining us on the program throughout 2021. And we will look forward to chatting in 2022, a Federal election year.
 
ALBANESE: I'm sure you will see me and myself and the team there from Tassie, including Ross Hart there, of course, during 2022.
 
KING: Thank you very much.
 
ALBANESE: Look forward to the election campaign.
 
ENDS