SUBJECTS: Visit to Townsville; Lansdown Industrial Precinct project; Labor’s policy agenda; A Future Made in Australia; Federal election; floods; climate change; fuel excise; cost of living; manufacturing; secure work.
 
HENRY BRETZ, HOST: $22 million is not a bad sum to be promised on your Monday morning, is it? And that's how much of a funding boost that the Lansdown Industrial Precinct would receive under a Labor Government. It has been a contentious project at times in North Queensland. So, is this extra promising of funding what it needs to win your support ahead of this upcoming Federal election? Federal Labor Leader, Anthony Albanese, joins me now on the show. Mr Albanese, welcome to ABC Mornings.
 
ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: Thanks for having me on the program.
 
BRETZ: You've promised a much larger funding arrangement than the current Government. Why is Lansdown so important in your eyes if you were to be elected?
 
ALBANESE: Well, it's so important because it will be the first environmentally sustainable advanced manufacturing hub. A hub that will create thousands of jobs. 5,000 in construction alone, a further 6,000 permanent ongoing jobs. And then over 9,000 in addition to that, in direct jobs when it's fully operating. This has been the number one Townsville priority for both the Palaszczuk Government and Townsville City Council. And that is really important that we back in this project. And that is what I'll be announcing today with John Ring, our candidate for Herbert, and Catherine King, my Shadow Ministerial team will be there as well.
 
BRETZ: Where do you see, in terms of this funding, the $22 million, will actually be going once the project gets underway?
 
ALBANESE: Well, what it will do is make an enormous difference to make sure that it actually happens. So, it's for, essentially, the infrastructure to make sure that it can go ahead. It is a small investment, relative to the return that will occur over a long period of time. And it's the investment of confidence in Townsville and North Queensland. We know that the economy needs to diversify. We need to make more things here. And that's one of the principles that I'm taking to this election. It is one of the big three themes. It is a Future Made in Australia. We have enormous opportunity to have advanced manufacturing, high-skilled, high-value, high-paid jobs created here in Australia, which will make our economy more resilient. We need to learn the lessons of the pandemic. And one of the lessons is we don't make enough things here. Our economy needs to be stronger. And this is one way to do it, particularly in the regions.
 
BRETZ: Something that we saw in the last election was that people can be hesitant about these new industries, these future industries, that are eco-jobs. Are you confident that even if something like Lansdown went ahead, that people in Townsville and North Queensland would actually take that leap into the new jobs that are being created?
 
ALBANESE: You bet. All the indications, people are looking to the future, they want to support existing jobs, but they know that the world changes and jobs change. And at the last election, in issues like green hydrogen, the Government dismissed it as snake oil. Well, the truth is they're not saying that now, because there's just incredible opportunities in that industry. But there's so much more that we can do as well in terms of making things here. Queensland's already producing, for example, the fastest electric vehicle charging stations in the world. They are being produced in Queensland and exported to North America, exported to Europe, using Australian innovation, Australian skills, Australian resources to go into the manufacturing and, importantly, creating Australian jobs. We need to have confidence in ourselves to make sure that we can create more things here and have a Future Made in Australia.
 
BRETZ: You are hearing from Federal Labor Leader, Anthony Albanese. Mr Albanese, LNP Herbert MP, Phil Thompson, he's voiced concerns about the Federal Government not being provided with enough information to provide a larger investment into Lansdown in the past. From where you sit, are you satisfied with the information you've received about the plan?
 
ALBANESE: I am. There's always an excuse for the LNP to not do things. When they get out their colour-coded spreadsheets, this is a Government that have funded railway station community hubs and commuter car parks where there's no railway station. They found some $65 million for one seat, the seat of Kooyong, that happens to be the Treasurer's seat in Melbourne. And then abandoned it for these commuter car parks. That wouldn't have created added any jobs beyond, of course, the construction of the carpark. Here we have a project that will create construction jobs. But importantly, it's about creating ongoing jobs, about setting Townsville up for a stronger future. And that's why it has been identified by the local council and the Mayor, Jenny Hill, has welcomed this. Because it's about how we have sustainable, long-term economic growth.
 
BRETZ: An issue that hasn't touched us physically in North Queensland, but has obviously been on all of our minds, and especially that of our troops, is the floods a bit further south. What would you have done differently in the past few weeks if you were Prime Minister?
 
ALBANESE: Well, not just the last few weeks, I would have in the last few years used the Emergency Response Fund, which has been sitting there being used like it's a term deposit. I would have invested in mitigation. That's what the plan was created for, in preparing for floods for cyclones, bushfires. And it's just sat there. The Government's done nothing. I would have declared a national emergency earlier. That's why Parliament passed the legislation to have a national emergency being able to be declared by the Prime Minister. And we didn't have that. The peak of the crisis had passed before the Prime Minister finally visited and declared that he wanted to have a national emergency last Thursday. And then on Friday, he changed his mind. It's just extraordinary. And I would have also not had a circumstance whereby some people in Lismore, which has been devastated by these floods, are able to receive additional assistance, with three payments, but next door in Ballina, or in South Murwillumbah, or in Mullumbimby, or in parts of Brisbane, people who've lost everything are not getting that level of support. It is inexplicable that the Government is saying 'Well, we're examining this', where it is obvious for anyone who visits those communities, which I have, that they have been devastated, as well as the devastation that the people of Lismore have seen.
 
BRETZ: These times are just another reminder, Anthony Albanese, of are changing weather conditions. And while you have said that you will do more than the Government is doing, there are some saying that you're not proposing as ambitious plans as Bill Shorten did when he was leader. Is it a situation where these floods are a reminder that even Labor will need to go bigger and bolder when it comes to climate policy if elected?
 
ALBANESE: We have a serious plan. We have a plan that's fully-costed. A plan that will reduce emissions by 43 per cent by 2030. A plan that, while doing that, which will see 82 per cent of the national energy market powered by renewables in eight years’ time. We have had lost years because of this Government inaction. Our plan will create 604,000 new jobs. It will reduce power prices by $275 by 2025. And of those jobs, five out of every six of them will be in regional Australia. Our Powering Australia Plan is a sensible, fully-costed plan. We have released all of the details. What you've got from the Government is just a pamphlet and more inaction, more scepticism. I mean, this is a Government that derided people who said that the bushfires were connected with climate change, ridiculed them. This is a Prime Minister who has ridiculed action on climate change, ridiculed renewables, ridiculed electric vehicle, said they would end the weekend. And what we need is actually a Government that understands where we are in the 21st century, and is prepared to take up the opportunities that will come from action on climate change. Because we're seeing, no doubt, that the events that we're seeing in the weather patterns are seeing more extreme events occur. And when they do occur, they're more intense.
 
BRETZ: before I let you go, Anthony Albanese, the Federal Treasurer today is being urged to cut the fuel excise. Is that something you think should happen?
 
ALBANESE: Well, that's something we'll wait and see what the Government does with the Budget. But what I know is this. Fuel was rising to close to $2 well before any conflict with Russia and Ukraine. What I know is that wages aren't keeping up with the cost of living, whether it's child care, whether it's the cost of petrol or essential food items like meat and veggies. The truth is people are really struggling out there. And this Treasurer continues to pretend that everything's just fine and that people are doing well. And that flies in the face of the actual experience that people are feeling out there in our cities and in our regional towns.
 
BRETZ: Federal Labor Leader, Anthony Albanese. Appreciate your time on ABC Mornings.
 
ALBANESE: Thanks very much
 
ENDS