SUBJECTS: COVID outbreaks and restrictions around Australia; food during lockdown; NRL; vaccine rollout.

HOST: Anthony Albanese, thank you so much for calling through this morning, mate. Great to have you on.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: With apologies to The Eagles there. 

HOST: Anytime you're on our show, we're going to roll that out, so no need to apologise. They love it. I think they get about 28 cents every time we play that grab. 

ALBANESE: Excellent. I am sure they need it.

HOST: I believe you've become a bit of a foodie since you've been in lockdown in Canberra.

ALBANESE: I wouldn't put it quite that far. But it did create a bit of a kerfuffle. When you're sort of locked down in Canberra in a flat for week after week, I went back to some just old-school food types, given I'm here by myself.

HOST: Meat and two veg. Is that your rule?

ALBANESE: Meat and two veg, a simple meal. It was a Friday night watching the footy. Steak, peas and corn. 

HOST: And what is wrong with that. And the king of desserts, the absolute king of dessert. I actually save this purely for my birthday. But the Streets Viennetta.

ALBANESE: As a kid I grew up with just my mum. And Viennetta was something that I literally only had on your birthday. You got Blue Ribbon ice cream at Christmas time. Otherwise, it was home-brand and Neapolitan if you were lucky. But Viennetta was for really special occasions. And I saw it in a supermarket here in Canberra when I was at the shop. And I just had a bit of a nostalgic look back by having that. And I'm sure my late mum would have been looking down and going, 'Good on you'.

HOST: The unit that you're in there, do you have your own little pad in Canberra when you're there working that you go to or do you just like jump between hotels?

ALBANESE: No. I've got a flat. I find that much better in terms of just having the gear and toiletries and all of that. I spend a lot of time in hotels around the country so having somewhere here that's constant, I'm very pleased, given I have been here because Canberra went into lockdown. I came here straight from Brisbane from the last time I think we had a chat about six weeks ago, seven weeks ago. So I am going home this Friday from lockdown in Canberra to lockdown in Sydney. But that will be the first time for three months.

HOST: Have you got a little herb garden going with a legal sized marijuana plant, just like every other person, to feel like you're a Canberran?

ALBANESE: I don't have any sort of garden here. And it's a pretty sparse old flat, which is what the meals I am putting on Instagram showed. One of the things that I found, because you work late hours, leave the flat early and arrive back late, I usually have dinner out. I only discovered I've been in this flat for a long time and only discovered the oven doesn't work, the grill doesn't work. That's limited some of the cooking options, I've got to say, now that I've got to cook every night. 

HOST: Got no herb garden, we got that. We wanted to ask you as the Leader of the Opposition and we always say, ultimately, Annastacia Palaszczuk's boss, there was so much heat yesterday because people are so upset about the borders and not being able to get exemptions for loved ones who are dying. But yet, the NRL brought in a plane full of wives and girlfriends to come in. Do you 100 per cent support Annastacia Palaszczuk allowing that to happen?

ALBANESE: I think she's done a fantastic job of keeping Queenslanders safe. And one of the things that has kept the country going, I've got to say, I've never watched so much Rugby League on television. All of it broadcasts from Queensland. And it's been fantastic that Queensland has been able to do that.

HOST: Honestly, we love our football. But what about the wives and girlfriends being allowed to come in? 

ALBANESE: Well, I think after such a long period of time, I am not across all of the details of that decision, but a bit of common sense should apply. I'm not sure what the quarantine arrangements are. But it is a good thing that Rugby League has been able to continue. I think at this difficult time it has given people something to chat about. It's giving people something to watch on TV. It's much better than reality TV, let's face it.

HOST: With those decisions, is that something she consults you on? Do you guys talk regularly about that? Or is that just a decision that she would make and then it goes through?

ALBANESE: Annastacia makes her own decisions. But we talk regularly. We had a couple of chats last week, including about the fantastic decision that she made to go it alone and build quarantine facilities in Toowoomba at Wellcamp near the airport there. When I was up in Queensland a couple of months ago, I visited the site and talked to John Wagner there who's the proponent. And, quite frankly, the reason why there are restrictions now is that the Federal Government didn't fix quarantine and they didn't roll out the vaccine early enough. And the state premiers have all had to deal with that, Labor and Liberal have had to deal with the consequences of that. Which is why there are restrictions in just about every single state around the country at the moment.

HOST: Well, mate, always a pleasure to have you on. We're glad to hear you're doing well there in quarantine in Canberra. 

ALBANESE: You don't want me to come and cook for you next time I am in Queensland?

HOST: Mate, of course. Put the barbecue on at the front of the B105 building.

HOST: I will become an Australian citizen and I will vote for you.

HOST: He says that to all politicians.

ALBANESE: Bacon and eggs and Viennetta as dessert. How is that? Sounds good?

HOST: And also, next time you are talking to Annastacia, we've never had her on our show. We'd love to take a phone call. We've never managed to get her on and have any questions. So if you could pass on that, we'd love to have her on and have a chat. That'd be great. 

ALBANESE: Okay. I am onto it. 

HOST: Good on you, mate. Thank you for your call.

ENDS