ANNOUNCER: He’s a big music fan who co-hosted an episode of Rage and once used his political power to save a Dolly Parton tour. He also happens to be the Leader of the Federal Opposition and the Leader of the Australian Labor Party. Please welcome the thorn in Scott Morrison’s side, Anthony Albanese. [Eminem’s Lose Yourself plays]
 

HOST: Yes, good morning to you Anthony. A pleasure to have you right here in our home town and here in the studio, mate. Welcome.
 

ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: An Eminem introduction? I’m cool.
 

HOST: Yeah, politicians are cool now. Didn’t you know that?
 

ALBANESE: One shot. One shot.
 

HOST: Hey, welcome to Perth.
 

ALBANESE: It’s great to be here.
 

HOST: You having fun?
 

ALBANESE: I am having fun. I was at Mojos last night in north Freo with Josh Wilson.
 

HOST: Bit of live music.
 

ALBANESE: Looking at local live bands. It was terrific. Nice little venue.
 

HOST: Now, Anthony, we’re going to play a little game with you here.
 

ALBANESE: Here we go, this could be dangerous.
 

HOST: It’s a little game that we've dubbed, “Anthony Alban-hard or Anthony Alban-easy”.
 

ALBANESE: Okay.
 

HOST: All right. Now, I’ve got a coin.
 

ALBANESE: You’ve put some thought into that.
 

HOST: Very much so. Four minutes at 5:30 this morning.
 

HOST: Got a coin here and we’re going to flip the coin. Now, if it lands heads, you’ll get an Alban-easy question. If it lands tails, you’ll get an Alban-hard question.
 

ALBANESE: Okay.
 

HOST: Alright, are you ready for the first one? Here we go.
 

ALBANESE: I do note, for the listeners, that I can't see where this lands.
 

HOST: Are you suggesting…
 

ALBANESE: I’m just being very trusting.
 

HOST: You can trust us.
 

HOST: Heads, it’s an Alban-easy question. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
 

ALBANESE: To win the next election.
 

HOST: That is a very, very good answer.
 

HOST: It's a big superpower, isn't it?
 

HOST: That and invisibility.
 

HOST: Teleportation would be a good one in this day and age, wouldn't it?
 

ALBANESE: That would be pretty good.
 

HOST: Just get you straight across that border.
 

ALBANESE: That’d avoid all the forms you’ve got to fill in at an airport these days and your temperature checks and everything else.
 

HOST: Okay, let's flip the coin again. Oh, look out. Alban-hard question. Mr Albanese, as Prime Minister, how would you solve racism, sexism and inequality in our society?
 

ALBANESE: By being against them would be a start.
 

HOST: Great answer.
 

ALBANESE: And by having a team that’s a bit more representative of the community. Like I’ve got 50/50 men and women in my Shadow Cabinet, and in my leadership team, and I think that makes a difference. And in terms of representation as well, having people with different names, like Albanese and Wong, our respective leaders in both houses, as opposed to historically Australia's had Smith and Jones, more likely to be the names like that.
 

HOST: You've got a few in here. I'm a Dyktynski, he’s a Curulli.
 

ALBANESE: Curulli sounds like you’re one of my mob.
 

HOST: Si, si, Albo, si.
 

HOST: Oh guys that question wasn’t hard enough. We’ve got to go harder.
 

HOST: Only if we get another flip of the coin. So last one here. W
 

HOST: We’re chasing it on the floor.
 

HOST: Alban-easy.
 

HOST: It’s an Alban-easy. Alright, I’ve got one for you. If you were down to your last $50, what would you do with it?
 

ALBANESE: Last $50. Get one of my superpowers and have it multiplied, if I can link back to the first question. I don’t know what I’d do. Probably, if it was my last $50, and that was gonna be it, I’d buy a case of beer and go out at least not worrying.
 

HOST: Very good answer. You are back at Mojos all over again. Well done.
 

HOST: Wow, you did well in this game. That was easy. Alban-easy.
 

ALBANESE: Well I got, two of the three were easy ones.
 

HOST: Now tell us, what are you here for? Why are you in WA?
 

ALBANESE: Well, a bit later on I'll be at a child care centre with Matt Keogh and I'll be talking about our child care policy. That's about helping 97 per cent of families. So many women do it, really, it’s difficult, largely it does affect working women who, it’s now worth what they’re while working a fourth or a fifth day. So we need to do better than that. And so we’ll be promoting that policy. It's the first chance I've had since the Budget Reply, since we announced it to be in WA and announcing it. Yesterday I was with Maddy King down in Kwinana at the nickel refinery that's going to be powered 50 per cent by renewables. So it's a great example of what you can do to power manufacturing through renewables and, of course, something like between a quarter and a third of the world's batteries that go into cars, and of course we know that electric vehicles are the future, come from there. Come from right here in the West. So it's a huge opportunity. We know iron ore is important, but new minerals like lithium and nickel that are well known, I guess, as providing an important thing, they're expanding those industries. And right here in Western Australia they're going to drive future prosperity.
 

HOST: So, for the average person listening, is that something you’re throwing your weight behind because if you're someone who's putting their hand up going, ‘I'm struggling to find a job’, particularly off the back of COVID, then it means that we may very well have a bright future in terms of mining these sorts of minerals here in WA.
 

ALBANESE: Absolutely. Jobs are the key. And the key isn't to be frightened of the future. It's about shaping it. And the future is about renewables and is about making sure that we take the opportunities that we have. Here in the West you have amazing resources. But we need to value add more here and I know that's what Mark McGowan’s committed to, particularly in that part of around Kwinana and around that precinct. And it's something we're really committed to as well.
 

HOST: That's nice. The media we're trying to make out that McGowan snubbed you. But you weren't snubbed, were you?
 

ALBANESE: No, we're catching up today.
 

HOST: There you go.
 

HOST: Go to Mojos with a case of beer.
 

ALBANESE: My last case of beer.
 

HOST: The Federal Opposition Leader is Anthony Albanese. He’s in town. He’s been kind enough to come in here and join us for a little bit of time. We thank you for it, mate. And yeah, all the best, particularly for the up and coming state election. But of course, what's happening federally on your side as well.
 

ALBANESE: Thank you very much. Thanks for having us in the studio. I look forward to coming back now that things are looking a little bit better.
 

ENDS