SUBJECTS: PEP 11; Hospital Funding; net zero; Glasgow; Morrison’s duplicity over AUKUS announcement.

DR GORDON REID, LABOR CANDIDATE FOR ROBERTSON: Hello everyone, Dr Gordon Reid here. And I'd like to thank the Federal Leader of the Australian Labor Party, Anthony Albanese, for visiting the Central Coast today to show his support to stop PEP 11 and to stop offshore drilling off our beautiful coastline, here on the Central Coast. We have a unique and beautiful ecosystem and a unique and beautiful environment here. And we do not want that to be compromised or destroyed. So we do not want this PEP 11 project to go ahead. PEP 11 is bad for the long term economy. It's bad for the environment and it's bad for the community. And what we're hearing on the ground is people do not want this project to go ahead, they do not want it. And for the life of me, I can’t understand why the Government continues to support this project. Keith Pitt needs to stop this project now. He needs to put pen to paper and stop it immediately. I'll now on hand over to Anthony Albanese.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: Well, thanks very much, Gordon. And it's great to be back here on the coast. I say the same thing when I'm on the Central Coast and when I'm in Canberra, but that's not what Lucy Wicks and Scott Morrison do. Lucy Wicks and Scott Morrison say that they are opposed to this project. But when they had the opportunity just weeks ago to vote against it in the Parliament, they refused to do so. Lucy Wicks was silent on this until my last visit to the Central Coast, where she finally came out against it. Well, maybe today's visit will warrant the Government finally doing what they can do with the stroke of a pen, which is to rule out this absurd proposal. The idea that you'll have drilling off our pristine coastline. Off Avoca Beach, off Terrigal Beach, as well as off Manly, off Maroubra, off Merryweather, is just absurd. And it's bad for the environment. It's bad for these local communities. It makes no sense whatsoever. But here we have the proponents going ahead, raising money for this proposal, because they've had a nod and a wink from this proposal. That where they know that this Government never says no, this Government never does the right thing on the environment. This comes on the back of the Prime Minister giving an empty speech to an empty room at the COP conference in Glasgow. The fact is that this Government failed to stand up for the environment. And we need to do much better. I might just make some comments as well, about the National Cabinet meeting that's being held today. This is an opportunity for the Prime Minister to respond to every State and Territory Government that has written to the Federal Government asking for increased hospital funding. We know that there's increased pressure on our hospital system due to COVID. And we know that every State and Territory understands that. And as we open up safely, we need to make sure that the appropriate facilities are put in place. Now the Government has modelling on what the consequences will be, but it's failing to release it. They should release the modelling on what will happen with the health systems today. And they should provide additional hospital funding across Australia today. Happy to take questions.

JOURNALIST: Will Labor commit to fifty-fifty hospital funding?

ALBANESE: Well, we'll make all our health announcements at an appropriate time. But what you know is that Labor is the party of Medicare. Labor is the party of protecting and extending our health system through Medicare. And what we've seen on July 1, was a whole range of changes. More than 900 changes came into the Medicare schedule without notice, without proper scrutiny, lifting costs for Australians. We know that people in regions are struggling to get access to a GP. And one of the reasons why I'm very pleased that Dr Gordon Reid is our candidate for Robertson, is he will add to the health expertise as part of my team, as part of a Labor Government in Canberra. It's one of the things that's been motivating him as someone who works at a local hospital here on the Central Coast, looking after people, including people who have suffered due to COVID.

JOURNALIST: The Government has asked for the States to provide more of their own money, alongside any new Federal funding, is that fair enough?

ALBANESE: Well, you always have agreements between the States and the Federal Government. So any Federal Government, additional funding would, of course be accompanied by the States putting in more money as well. But I make this point, the States' correspondence to the Federal Government shows that they are putting in additional spending, and it's across the board. So, the New South Wales Coalition Government here, as well as Labor and Liberal governments around the country had the same view that the hospital systems are under pressure, they're under pressure as a result of COVID. But also, as a result of the cuts that have occurred to Medicare, the failure to provide access to GP services in regional communities, in particular, mean that more people will front up to emergency departments because they don't have access to other health services.

JOURNALIST: Turning to Glasgow, when will Labor announce its plans for 2030 emissions reduction?

ALBANESE: Well, the Glasgow Summit, of course, is still going. The question for this Government is, when will it release the modelling that was the basis of its non-policy announcement, where there was nothing new but where they adopted net zero by 2050? That modelling we know didn't occur from Treasury. But it is reasonable, and indeed responsible, that we take examination of what the Government modelling is by the Department of Industry about getting to net zero by 2050. We need to see that, we need to factor that in, as well as factor in the outcomes at Glasgow, which is, of course, still going. Scott Morrison has left Glasgow, but no one in Glasgow noticed he was there anyway.

JOURNALIST: (Inaudible).

ALBANESE: You do need to be vaccinated, to be engaged in a range of activities for a long period of time, people have needed that to work in aged care facilities, for example. So I say, the solution here isn't complex, the solution is here, to get vaccinated. That's what we need Australians to do. And we need to do that in the interests of people's own health, but in the interests of the health of people they come into contact with, as well as of course, the interests of the entire nation if we're going to open up safely.

JOURNALIST: (Inaudible).

ALBANESE: Well, obviously, vaccination as part of the National Plan, envisages that you won't just have vaccinations you will need to have boosters. But you also need to have proper tracing and testing as part of that on an ongoing basis. And we need to make sure that we're not complacent. We're able to be here in this beautiful environment, here today, as a result of a lot more mingling than was possible some months ago. We need to make sure that we remain vigilant, that we're not complacent. That's why booster shots are necessary. And that's why that ongoing identification, tracing, testing, all of that needs to continue to occur.

JOURNALIST: (Inaudible).

ALBANESE: Our position is net zero by 2050. That's one of the first things that I announced as the Labor Leader. But I also announced a number of things to go with that. And there'll be more to come. I've announced fixing electricity transmission in this country through our $20 billion dollar Rewiring the Nation program. That is the single most significant thing that you could do. Make sure the grid can operate, make sure renewables can plug into the grid. We're going to have Snowy Hydro, open in a few years time, but it won't be plugged into the grid. That makes no sense. We have also programs in terms of community batteries for solar energy, we have a plan to make electric vehicles cheaper by lowering taxes on them. We have a plan to benefit from new industries and the growth of renewables, reducing power prices, without the Reconstruction Fund, the National Reconstruction Fund is $15 billion to create more jobs, to create new jobs, new industries, particularly in our regions. So we have a coherent plan going forward, what the Government has, they spent so much time on slogans, so much time trying to wedge the other side and people who disagree with them. And all they've done is managed to wedge themselves. We had the acting Prime Minister, before yesterday in Barnaby Joyce, someone who doesn't support net zero by 2050. Keith Pitt, the person who's responsible for PEP 11 does not support net zero by 2050. These people are climate deniers. These people, like Keith Pitt, no wonder he doesn't understand the consequences of some of the decisions that he's in charge of, because he doesn't accept the science. The reason why we're getting through COVID globally, is that people are respecting science. That's what we need to do when it comes to the climate as well.

JOURNALIST: (Inaudible).

ALBANESE: Absolutely, we will stop PEP 11 going ahead, full stop. Exclamation mark. No question. Not equivocal. No ifs, no buts.

JOURNALIST: (Inaudible). Should Australia have signed the pledge overnight to stop the use of coal-fired power stations?

ALBANESE: Well, of course, one of the things that is happening isn't a matter of signing pledges. One of the things that's happening, which some people in the Government seem to deny, is that there have been no new coal-fired power stations begin construction for a long, long period of time. Certainly, none under this Government, none under the previous Government. And the reason is that renewables are cheaper. We used to have a debate in the term of this Government about the Liddell power station. And ministers like Josh Frydenberg, and others used to stand up and say we want Liddell to be extended. The truth is, it's reached the end of its life. And the cheapest form of new energy is renewable energy. So what you will see over a period of time is coal-fired power stations when they reach the end of their life being replaced by renewable energy, with storage. In the meantime, gas will play a role as we transition. But that's something that will occur. This Government has funded through the proponents of a new coal-fired power station in North Queensland, millions of dollars, $4 million for the proponents of a project that doesn't stack up, that won't go ahead. That makes no sense. So I look at what is happening in the real world and then I look at what this Government does. The problem with this Government is that it's been caught by its own rhetoric, its own rhetoric that sought to deny history, that sought to deny the reality of what was happening in the marketplace. And that's why it finally got on board, just days before going to Glasgow. We've known when the Glasgow Summit was coming for a long period of time. But reluctantly, grudgingly, they somehow got there. They still haven't released the modelling. And the fact is, that that's what happens when you engage in the sort of politics, 24-hour, short-term politics that this Government always engages in. Last one.

JOURNALIST: Do you think there was something Scott Morrison could have done before the AUKUS announcement to mitigate France's feelings?

ALBANESE: Well, it could have been fair dinkum. He could have not had a meeting between the Defence and Foreign Ministers of Australia and France on the 31st of August, and released a communique, saying everything was all okay. He could have not stood up in the Parliament, as ministers in his Government have consistently all year and for years since the Coalition Government signed this deal, and said it's all on track and all okay. He could have been consistent in what he has said. Last week, the Secretary of the Department of Defence said the program wasn't over budget, he was still saying as after it had been changed, that it was still all on track. It's so unclear what is going on. And the other thing that Scott Morrison could have done is act like leaders do, which isn't to release text messages that are private text messages from the Leader of France, to the Leader of Australia's private phones. That's not the way that diplomacy is conducted. You know, yourself. I'm sure that as a journalist, I doubt whether you've ever released a media release, I hope not, because it's against the AGI ethics code of ethics, to release something that has been sent to you by a politician, Labor, Liberal, Green, Independent, don't care who. That's against the ethics of the way that things work. Now, there isn't a World Leaders’ Code of Ethics. But there doesn't need to be to know that releasing private text messages damages relationships. And I note that this morning, Simon Birmingham has gone even one step further. First we saw Scott Morrison say at the press conference, that it was journalists taking selfies with President Macron, which wasn't true. We now had this morning, Simon Birmingham, the Government Leader in the Senate, say that it was journalists’ fault for asking questions of President Macron, that President Macron responded to, in an honest and frank way. But it's not just France that is an issue here. It is also our most significant ally, the United States of America. And the fact that President Joe Biden has called out the fact that he believes he wasn't properly informed about the engagement that occurred between Australia and France, prior to the AUKUS announcement, but that's just the way this Government operates. I received a phone call about going to a briefing in Canberra on short notice from the Prime Minister. I respect the Office of Prime Minister, as the alternative Prime Minister, I have a responsibility to act in the national interest. I flew to Canberra for that briefing. I kept it confidential on the Wednesday at lunchtime and flew back. I did it privately, I didn't tell anyone outside the room what occurred in that room and what the announcement was to be the following day. Scott Morrison's office went out and briefed that I had travelled to Canberra, that Labor had been fully briefed on the exciting proposal that was being announced at 7am the next morning, which meant that I then had to respond, or not respond, to questions from the media. Again, another breach of ethics, this Government and this Prime Minister only ever looks at the 24-hour cycle. It's only about the next headline. In today's headlines, frankly, you know, Prime Minister is going to visit people and talk to people on the front page of the newspaper. Well, that's something I do every day. So news flash, I'll be talking to people. I'm here on the Central Coast here. I'll be here tomorrow as well. And I'll continue to engage next week, the week after, every day in the lead up to the election, whenever it's called. Quite happy if the Prime Minister calls up for December 11, because this Government needs to be changed. This is a Government that aren't capable of leadership. This is a Government that can’t even reject a proposal like PEP 11 for a Petroleum Exploration Permit off the coast here. That just shows they're not fit to lead. They're just occupying the space. We need a better government. We need a government that protects and enhances our environment. We need a government that supports jobs in new industries. We need a government that supports the health system and properly funds hospitals, provide support for GPs. We need a government that provides education and skills for people and provides opportunity, a government where no one's left behind and no one's held back. That's a Labor Government. Thanks very much.

ENDS