SUBJECTS: Visit to WA; manufacturing in WA; jobs in WA; WA state election; Historical rape allegation made against a Cabinet minister; workplace culture in Parliament House; sexual assault allegations in Parliament House.

MADELEINE KING, SHADOW MINISTER FOR TRADE AND RESOURCES: Good morning, everyone. My name is Madeleine King. I'm the Federal Labor Member for Brand and also the Shadow Minister for Trade and Shadow Minister for Resources. I'd like to start today by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land in which we meet and pay my respects to elders past and present. I'd really like to say a great big welcome to Anthony Albanese back in WA. It's good to have him back here again and especially back in Kwinana right here right now at the Kwinana Nickel Refinery. We're on the border of the towns of Kwinana and Rockingham. Rockingham is my hometown and Kwinana is where I was born. So I'm really pleased to have the Labor Leader here today. The Kwinana Nickel Refinery his remarkable story in Australia's and Western Australia's resources industry. Me in these boots I'm in earlier this week we were at the BHP Nickel Smelter out of Kalgoorlie. And the product that comes from Kalgoorlie arrives here at the Kwinana Nickel Refinery to be turned into the highest-grade nickel sulphate that gets exported around the world and the vast bulk of which goes into new battery technology. Places like the Kwinana Nickel Refinery are the part of the resources industry that are leading the charge to a decarbonised world. Nickel from this refinery goes into batteries that lead us to the electric vehicles that we all know are coming that are just behind us here at the refinery itself. It's a great Western Australian story. It's a great Australian story. The smelter and refinery have been in this state for about 50 years. I have gone up and down Patterson Road many times in my life. And every other year, there's been a threat of it closing. And now, with how the world has changed, how our needs have changed in resources, the Kwinana Nickel Refinery is here to stay for a very long time. I just want to acknowledge one industry that's not staying in Kwinana. A few days ago, the BP refinery just down the road where my father was one of the first workers, has shut down. I just noticed this morning driving here that the flare has gone out. And that's after 60 years of refining fuel in this country. It's a sad day, sad week, for Western Australia, for the workers that Kwinana refinery, for me as the child of someone who benefited from my father's work at BP. And I want to acknowledge all the hard work that those workers over many decades have put into the fuel refining capacity of this state and this country, which sadly under the Morrison Liberal Government is now evaporating before our eyes without any support. So with that, congratulations again to the work of the Kwinana Nickel Refinery, I'm going to hand over to our Leader, Anthony, and welcome again.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: Well, thanks very much, Madeleine. And it is great to be back here in Western Australia and to be here on the first visit since Madeleine was promoted into the portfolios of Resources and Trade. And the story of resources and trade and our exports is a story of Western Australian growth. But it's not just about the West, the whole nation benefits from what is happening right here in Western Australia. And this is a great example, this nickel refinery here in Kwinana. This refinery is modern. It's going to be powered by 50 per cent renewable energy. Not just that. Somewhere in between a quarter and a third of the world's batteries that go into electric vehicles, and the rest of the world is powering ahead with the transition to electric vehicles, will come from right here. And that's why we saw today the expansion. The expansion means extra jobs. And this is quite a unique story here as well. Because the company goes from digging rocks up out of the ground all the way through to production. And that is quite an exciting prospect. There's already around about 3,000 jobs dependent upon this refinery here right through the processes. And that's producing great income for Australia. Kwinana is certainly looking towards the future and this is a great example of it. And during my visit here to WA I'll be looking at the whole range of services. Looking here tomorrow, I'll be at a childcare centre with Matt Keogh. I'll be meeting with the Premier, of course, Mark McGowan, about how we can cooperate, in terms of a future Federal Labor Government that I would lead, can cooperate in support for jobs here in WA. Because I am on the side of Western Australian jobs. I have a track record in the West. The largest ever road project, Gateway WA, being done on my watch, the Perth City Link project, projects right throughout regional WA as well, the Great Northern, the Northwest Coastal Highway, projects around Kalgoorlie. And I regard myself very much as a friend of WA jobs. And I know that is the Premier's priority. And he, of course, is facing an election at the moment.

Can I say also, just to briefly address this before I take questions to address the allegations regarding the Attorney-General, Christian Porter. Firstly, I want to express my sympathy to the family and friends of the woman involved. The family have just in the last half-hour issued a statement and they say they would be supportive of any inquiry that should shed light on the circumstances of the loss of their loved one. I think anyone who witnessed the press conference yesterday will know that the hope of the Prime Minister that this could be just unseen or unheard, these allegations, and go away without a full and proper and transparent inquiry is just not realistic, it defies common-sense. It simply doesn't work like that. The problem is that unless the Prime Minister shows leadership and there is some inquiry, then we will continue to see press conferences like that was held by Christian Porter yesterday. And there will be examination, but it will be examination by the media rather than through appropriate processes that should take place here. Now that the police have said that a criminal investigation cannot proceed, the issue does sit squarely with the Prime Minister. It's time for the Prime Minister to give both himself and Australians confidence that Mr Porter is a fit and proper person to hold the office of Attorney-General. This is the first law officer of the land. That does matter. That does make a difference. This cannot be the end of the matter. The Prime Minister needs to provide a fair and independent process for all involved. Changing culture starts with taking responsibility. It's about time that this Prime Minister took responsibility for leading. We've seen him walk away from his responsibility during the bushfire crisis. We've seen the extraordinary circumstances around Brittany Higgins, including the revelations today about statements by the Defence Minister about Brittany Higgins. And we've seen a Prime Minister, who, in spite of the fact that ministers, at least three, four of his staff, numerous media inquiries, all knew about the reported sexual assault of Brittany Higgins just metres from his own office, in the Defence Minister's own personal office, he said he didn't know about it until Monday. And this week we've seen him say that he hadn't read the documentation that was given to him and nor had Christian Porter read the documentation. That's not good enough. I think people, and Australians, expect more of their Government. Happy to take questions.

JOURNALIST: Do you think an independent inquiry will respect the rule of the law given the police aren't going to investigate further? How is this different to how it was handled with Bill Shorten?

ALBANESE: Your last question first. These are very difficult but different circumstances. In the case that you raise, the then Leader of the Opposition fully cooperated with the police. He made statements. He waived his right to self-incrimination. The police had a thorough investigation over 10 months and found that they weren't in a position to proceed. That's what they found. Here, there hasn't been an investigation at all. So the police haven't actually made any findings. They've said very clearly that they're not in a position to proceed because the woman involved at the centre of these allegations took her own life. These are very different circumstances. And we shouldn't equate the two things because they are very different. There's a range of circumstances, in which, including the Dyson Heydon case, including a range of senior figures, corporations around this country know that if somebody was in a senior position and there wasn't a capacity to formally examine through the police or through those avenues, but they remained in that position, then there would be an examination of it. There are many examples of where that has occurred. Very clearly, yesterday you saw an examination of it. But it wasn't an appropriate examination. I think that was very difficult for Mr Porter. But what we need to do is to have some confidence that you can't just continue to be the first law officer of the land, the person who, indeed, appoints judges and who is in charge at the top of the legal system.

JOURNALIST: If he was to come become after his two weeks of leave and said, ‘I've had enough, I don't want to be Attorney-General.’ Should they withdraw these calls for an independent inquiry

ALBANESE: Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves.

JOURNALIST: That's not getting ahead of anything.

ALBANESE: No. We are dealing with real circumstances that involve real people. So I'm not going to deal with hypotheticals about things that aren't about real people and real circumstances.

JOURNALIST: But you've said this is about the position.

ALBANESE: It is about him being a Cabinet Minister.

JOURNALIST: Correct. So if he is in longer a member of the cabinet or Attorney-General, is that okay?

ALBANESE: I'm not getting ahead of this here and I'm not responsible here. The Prime Minister is responsible. The Prime Minister needs to be accountable. It's the Prime Minister who solely appoints the Cabinet. No-one else. I don't get to appoint the Cabinet, nor do you. He does. Not even the Liberal Party gets to appoint the Cabinet. He needs to satisfy himself and, therefore, be able to stand up before the Australian people and say that Mr Porter is a fit and proper person to continue to fulfil that way.

JOURNALIST: You want a scalp and the Prime Minister doesn't want to lose one.

ALBANESE: No, with respect, you're better than that. This is about someone whose family has just put out a release about the loss of a loved one, who are looking for, in their words, ‘the shedding of light on the circumstances of what led to this tragedy’. So, we can all do better, including the way that media reports this. I haven't sought to politicise this. I haven't sought to prescribe the nature of any inquiry. What I have said is, very clearly, since Sunday, I have said that the idea that this just ends in the current circumstances, that the only inquiry is that the Prime Minister has a private discussion with Christian Porter without either of them reading the documentation that was put forward does not end the matter. And you know that's true, which is why you're here today.

JOURNALIST: Can you describe how an independent investigation would be run? The PM has been unwilling to offer model because there is no precedent. Can you?

ALBANESE: There is a range of precedent. There is the precedent of Dyson Heydon which involved the highest court in the land. There are lots of precedent. I have sought to give the Prime Minister, frankly, the space to work these issues through and to come up with a resolution which would satisfy what needs to happen here. And it's a pity that hasn't occurred. But what we had, it's a bit like on Brittany Higgins we had two weeks of new information each and every day. In these circumstances we still haven't had, from the Prime Minister, an indication that he's actually looked at the correspondence that was sent to him, let alone discussed that even with Mr Porter.

JOURNALIST: By refusing to launch an independent inquiry, is the Prime Minister failing in his leadership?

ALBANESE: Well, I think that Australians want to see leadership here. I think that at a time when, yesterday, there were two very significant, I think, media conferences held, one with Christian Porter, there was another which was the Australian of the Year, Grace Tame, at the National Press Club. Grace Tame spoke for a whole lot of the population and I really hope that the Prime Minister has a look at what Grace Tame had to say, the person who he honoured the Australian of the Year just over a month ago, think this through and acknowledge that it is not in the interests of those people who are mourning a loved one, it is not interests either of the Australian political debate. I want to be talking about jobs. That was why this visit was planned some time ago to this site. I want to be talking about those issues. But the idea that this will just be unseen or unheard is just not realistic.

JOURNALIST: Neither the Prime Minister nor the Attorney-General read the documents, does that defy belief?

ALBANESE: Well, I just find it extraordinary and I think people will ask themselves, if they were in that position, would they read the documentation. Certainly, if I was in Mr Morrison's position, I would have read the documentation. I think it is quite extraordinary, frankly. But a whole lot of things, I think, that have been said in the past few weeks defy belief. That's why I raised the issue of accountability. We actually need accountability here. We need to find out what the circumstances are. At the moment, what we have is simply we know some of the circumstances, but we don't know all of them. And when it involves the Attorney-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, that's not acceptable going forward. I'm giving everyone a go, sorry.

JOURNALIST: Just to clarify, do you want to see an inquiry into the Attorney-General's fitness to continue in his position or do you want to an inquiry to make findings as to what happened on the night?

ALBANESE: Look, obviously, an examination of the Attorney-General's fitness to continue to be a Cabinet Minister would involve those issues. I don't seek to prescribe from opposition, and I think that it would be appropriate that the Prime Minister got, I'm surprised he hasn't had proper advice from the Solicitor-General, from the departments he has at his disposal. I'll take one more.

JOURNALIST: One more on this issue? 

ALBANESE: If you've got more.

JOURNALIST: Will he need to stand aside while that this was investigation was under way?

ALBANESE: Well, these decisions are all a matter for the Prime Minister. At the moment there is no investigation.

JOURNALIST: So you're asking for one?

ALBANESE: That's right.

JOURNALIST: And would you be happy to see him in the role while it was underway, or should he step aside?

ALBANESE: Well, I would have thought that it was very difficult for him to continue in his position while there are unresolved issues. Quite clearly, at the moment there are unresolved issues.

JOURNALIST: Linda Reynolds calling her former staffer a ‘lying cow’, what's your response to that? It's been admitted by her and condemned by the Prime Minister?

ALBANESE: Well, condemned the Prime Minister. Like he stood up in Parliament and expressed his concern that nobody told him about the reported sexual assault just metres from his own office. But no action taken. What do you have to do in the Morrison Government to lose your job? What do you have to do? The one strong action he's ever taken is against Christine Holgate over $20,000 of Cartier watches where he stood up in Parliament and gave a decisive statement that she could go if there was no adequate explanation. But what we have is hundreds of millions of dollars misused in Sports Rorts. We have all sorts of abuse of taxpayers' funds. Even Community Safety Grants have been politicised by Peter Dutton under this Government. The Regional Rorts programs that are rolled out regularly. You have people like Stuart Robert who is stood aside and come back. You had the $1.2 billion scandal around Robodebt. And no-one pays a price except for Christine Holgate. I think that Minister Reynolds' position, at the time when the Prime Minister stood up and said that it should have been reported to him, either one of two things should have happened at that point. Either one, Minister Reynolds should have gone that afternoon or, two, that information that he told the Parliament wasn't right.

JOURNALIST: Michaelia Cash is the Acting Attorney-General, a Minister who refused to be interviewed by the Australian Federal Police about leaks out of her office. Your reaction to her appointment?

ALBANESE: It says it all about a lack of accountability from this Government. But who do they choose? Do they choose Angus Taylor, whose office provided dodgy documents to the Daily Telegraph? Do they choose Stuart Robert who had the Robodebt scandal? Do they choose Peter Dutton, with the Community Safety Program being distorted away? I mean, who do they pick? That's the problem with this Government. This Government has major problems across the board.

JOURNALIST: So we're in a state election campaign, why aren't you out campaigning with Mark McGowan? Is he snubbing you?

ALBANESE: No, I'm seeing him tomorrow.

JOURNALIST: But you're doing an event like this and not out campaigning?

ALBANESE: I am seeing him tomorrow.

JOURNALIST: In his office apparently?

ALBANESE: I'm seeing him tomorrow. I'll be out and out and seeing him tomorrow.

JOURNALIST: No media events with the Premier? That's a bit unusual, isn't it?

ALBANESE: Not at all. Mark McGowan isn't in Perth today. I have flown across. Tomorrow I'll be in a childcare centre. I'll be going to the campaign tomorrow and we have a range of events. Stay tuned.

JOURNALIST: The perception is that he clearly doesn't think you're going to help his election campaign, so what's the point of coming over?

ALBANESE: Mark McGowan is a friend of mine. He's been a friend of mine for a very long time. Mark McGowan is in a state election campaign that's about state issues. I've been here talking about jobs in WA. Tomorrow I'll be talking about our national childcare policy. That will help people in Western Australia. And I'll be meeting with a whole range of people from this afternoon right through to till tonight, from early tomorrow morning right through. You can ring into 6PR.

JOURNALIST: Did you really come to campaign if you're not meeting with Mark McGowan?

ALBANESE: I'm meeting with Mark McGowan tomorrow.

JOURNALIST: Did you request that he come to events like this?

ALBANESE: I didn't request him to come to the Kwinana Nickel Refinery.

JOURNALIST: There is a big Labor fundraiser tonight?

ALBANESE: No, I am going to an event with Josh Wilson. I am here campaigning with the Federal team and meeting with state candidates as well. Last time around I launched a whole range of state campaigns. Due to circumstances this time rounds, that's been a bit more difficult for circumstances of which you'd be fully aware. Thanks very much.

ENDS