BBM 98.7fm National TalkBlack With Trevor Tim

SUBJECTS: Visit to Cairns; NRL; NAIDOC Week; importance of First Nations people; Indigenous tourism; Closing the Gap; need for the Morrison Government to fix vaccine rollout and national quarantine; climate change; Great Barrier Reef; renewables. 

TREVOR TIM, HOST: A very good morning to you, my friend. How are you, sir?

ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: Good morning. I'm pretty good.

TIM: Rugged up there with a jacket on?

ALBANESE: What's going on, mate? We are in Cairns.

TIM: Liquid sunshine. Liquid sunshine.

ALBANESE: It is raining. I was promised sunshine.

TIM: They say lovely one day and perfect the next but they lied, haven't they? I apologise about the rain but it's warm rain, can I say that?

ALBANESE: It is indeed. It's a lot warmer than Canberra, let me tell you, which is where I've been for the last couple of weeks. It's been very chilly. I don't think it ever gets sort of minus four minus six here.

TIM: No, nothing like that. And I think the weather has affected the Canberra Raiders. Because they are not doing good at the moment.

ALBANESE: They are rubbish, frankly. Poor old Ricky Stuart. He's going to have a heart attack.

TIM: Is that your team?

ALBANESE: No. I have a red eye and a green eye.

TIM: Are you Rabbitohs?

ALBANESE: I'm a former board member of Souths. I grew up and played in the Souths district when I was a kid, junior rugby league. And I became a member of the board in the 90s, fought to get it back in the comp. It is 20 years ago yesterday we won the court case against the big guys to get the Rabbitohs back in. And we're going to win the comp this year.

TIM: There you go. Fantastic.

ALBANESE: Big support from First Nations people.

TIM: Exactly.

ALBANESE: And we, both off the field, but on the field as well, Latrell and Walker.

TIM: Exactly. You have got to be a New South Wales man, are you?

ALBANESE: Absolutely. Although I do enjoy the quality of the footy in State of Origin. So I hope the third game is tight. We'll wait and see.

TIM: Well, it's not a dead rubber. They play to the full extent. So it is going to be a good game either way. Now, Mr Anthony Albanese, let's talk about NAIDOC. Happy NAIDOC.

ALBANESE: Happy NAIDOC Week to you.

TIM: And you are here in the in the thick of things. We're celebrating NAIDOC here in Cairns. We had the NAIDOC breakfast yesterday morning at the Pullman Hotel, and big shout-out to the Cairns NAIDOC team that did a fantastic job. So how are you celebrating NAIDOC? What's NAIDOC mean to you as the Opposition Leader, Labor Leader?

ALBANESE: Look, it's just an opportunity to remind ourselves of how much work there is to do to give justice to First Nations people. And just a month ago, or a bit over a month now, I travelled to Uluru and met with the Central Land Council there with Linda Burney, our spokesperson, to reinforce our commitment to the Statement from the Heart. And of course, the issues that this NAIDOC week is talking about includes truth and treaty.

TIM: Yes.

ALBANESE: As well as a constitutionally recognised Voice to the Parliament. And it's an opportunity, I think, to celebrate how lucky we are to live with the oldest continuous civilisation on the planet.

TIM: Exactly. And we should embrace that as Australians.

ALBANESE: It's just a wonderful thing. I was lucky enough to grow up around a community where a lot of the Indigenous people around Redfern were people I went to school with, I played footy with, and getting access to their culture at a young age and learning that respect. But as time has gone on, when I got elected to Parliament in 1996, the first committee I went on was the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Committee. And we had an inquiry into greater autonomy for Torres Strait Islanders. And it was an opportunity for me to get out and about. I knew about the inner urban communities and their issues, but to get out and about around the country. I was the Assistant Shadow Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs for a while. And that was a great learning experience. What I've always found, and today's an example of that, is that First Nations people are so welcoming. They want to share their culture. And as a white fella, half Irish, half Italian.

TIM: You’ve got a bit of Paddy blood in you, have you?

ALBANESE: I do. What a privilege it is to live in this country. We're in the studio here with amazing artwork just around.

TIM: We are storytellers you know. And our culture is very strong to us and dear to us, but it's also a tool of education. It's a tool of proudness. And it's a voice for our people. So when we're talking about closing the gap, let's have that conversation, Mr Albanese, regarding closing the gap in all facets - employment, housing, education. There’s still a lot of gaps to close.

ALBANESE: Life expectancy, there is still a huge gap. The issues of healthcare. We need to do so much. And the proudest moment I've had in the Parliament is being Leader of the Government in the House when Kevin Rudd issued the Apology. But that, of course, was a step. And the Closing the Gap targets, some of them have been met. There is advance going. I think you've got to be optimistic. And I've seen, in my time in the Parliament, my Caucus be joined by some great Australians in Linda Burney, Pat Dodson and Malarndirri McCarthy. That has made an enormous difference to our operation.

TIM: Well, exactly, and First Nation people at that level, we need more black successes. And that is a success in its own right, leading from the front. We need more of that.

ALBANESE: We certainly do. A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of having a chat with Cathy Freeman about her foundation as well and what she's doing to support educational opportunities for young Indigenous people. Another great role model. Hopefully after the next election, we'll have Marion Scrymgour as the Member for Lingiari there in the Territory, and have Donisha Duff, as well, who is running against the LNP candidate who is replacing Andrew Laming. Another shocker of a candidate, frankly. And I think that Donisha has a good show there. She is a Torres Strait Islander woman and someone who's passionate.

TIM: We need more black successes, but not only on the football field. When you look at the likes of Michael Long, for example, who did the Long Walk. He's retired since AFL but using that fame as a tool and making a difference for our people. You mentioned Cathy Freeman and her foundation. It's so important that we put it out there and we use NAIDOC as a tool as well to educate the people of the world and moving forward in 21st century together and in the same vehicle to head in the same direction.

ALBANESE: Well, absolutely. And there's so much that we can learn, as well, from cultural practices and environmental practices. We've had the issue with the bushfires.

TIM: Backburning and all that.

ALBANESE: If we actually followed the way in which people lived here for at least 65,000 years in harmony with their environment, respecting their environment through backburning, through the way that they managed land and indeed water conservation as well, we can learn so much from First Nations people.

TIM: Well, when you talk about 60,000 years, we are professors in our own right on all industries. So take a page out of our book, so to speak. Very important there. Let's talk about the vaccine rollout. I've just had an uncle ring the show on Monday. And he's 65 years old and is in bad condition regarding his health. He's really scared because he hasn't had the vaccine, hasn't had the jab yet. He's also incredibly concerned about people who are not taking the jab. But the rollout is still a slow process.

ALBANESE: This is a stroll out, not a rollout.

TIM: There you go. Your words.

ALBANESE: It's a shocker. We are last in the developed world. Stone cold last.

TIM: We should be leading.

ALBANESE: We are under 10 per cent. We should be doing much better. We're not in the top 100 of countries. And they didn't do enough deals with enough companies. They didn't do the deals fast enough. They were too slow and not in enough quantity.

TIM: How do we get that push? How do we move that forward?

ALBANESE: Hopefully they've being given a push because I think the lockdown in my home turf of Sydney and New South Wales is a real wake-up call. It's just been extended for another week, by the way. So we're talking about a three-week lockdown in Australia's largest city and state. The consequences of that for jobs, for the economy, as well as for people's health, both physical health and their mental health as well. Scott Morrison had two jobs this year. He had to fix the rollout of the vaccine and he should have set up national quarantine facilities. And he's failed on both.

TIM: And so there's still a lot of work to be done there. And while people are dying, work has stopped, people are losing their jobs. It is just the snowball effect and they need to get their act together.

ALBANESE: And regarding your uncle, the fact that elderly people who were supposed to get access to the vaccine, we were told that every aged care resident, every aged care worker, would all get the vaccine by Easter. Well, we're now in July.

TIM: Exactly.

ALBANESE: And we're still struggling. Another case of an aged care resident, another aged care worker today testing positive to COVID.

TIM: Is there an excuse that the Government's giving you as the Opposition Leader?

ALBANESE: No. There's no excuse. They said we were at the front of the queue. They were too busy patting themselves on the back.

TIM: High fiving.

ALBANESE: You got to get the business done.

TIM: Grandad used to say well done is better than well said.

ALBANESE: That’s exactly right. Well, a wise man.

TIM: Act on it. Act on it. You're in Far North Queensland here in Cairns. Our biggest industry up here is the tourist industry. We have struggled big time through the tourist industry regarding COVID-19. But also, the Year of Indigenous Tourism, which they made it run again, so ’20 to ’21, which is fantastic. That's a beautiful space. And the other hat I wear, Anthony, is the Dream Time Diamond Snorkel. It’s a tourism product with experience taking tourists out to the Reef, to visit Nemo, diving, snorkelling, with a cultural aspect. Now, we work closely with the traditional owners on their sea land country. So the Year of Indigenous Tourism is fantastic. But we need support in the whole industry of tourism.

ALBANESE: That’s right. I have just been at a place called Divers Den here and talking with tourism operators there. And they're just really struggling. This should be the peak season.

TIM: Well, exactly.

ALBANESE: And our international borders are still up. And one of the things that there is great prospect for, I know, internationally, as well as domestically, is Indigenous tourism. People when they come here, they want access to the culture and to that experience.

TIM: Exactly.

ALBANESE: And it can be a source of great economic activity. Tourism, I think, sometimes too, it's seen as a bit of a job that people might do casually or while they're at uni, or what have you, or during breaks. It’s got to be seen as a career.

TIM: It's a career pathway. And people have their dive certificates, with their bus drivers’ licence, driving tourists to the fantastic areas and activities we have here. So it is a powerful industry as such regarding employment but also business opportunities. And like I said, exciting for First Nations people with the Year of Indigenous Tourism.

ALBANESE: Well, there is such prospect here on the cape, in the hinterland or around, up at Kuranda and around there, but also in the Torres Strait. The Torres Strait is extraordinary beauty. We need to make sure that's protected. But I think there is more scope to have greater activity there. I know that when I was the Minister, we provided some funding to extend the airport there to fix up some of the facilities there. Because you know, it's just a magnificent part of Australia.

TIM: It is. Someone in the Torres Strait has also told me that the global climate and rising sea water and what have you, Torres Strait Islanders are looking at it very carefully and are concerned in a way. What should be done in that space?

ALBANESE: Well, some of those islands, of course, are basically coral atolls. I had the opportunity to visit York and some of the islands that are pretty low lying there. And that is why we need to deal with the challenge of climate change. We need to do it for Australia. But we also need to be part of the global effort. At the moment, you've got Angus Taylor and Scott Morrison pretending they're doing well.

TIM: And that global climate is non-existent.

ALBANESE: We're just pariahs too at those global conferences. We have more to lose than most countries. We are a dry continent. We have pristine environments with the Great Barrier Reef, Kakadu, all of which are great assets for us. But if climate change does occur, if we hit three, four degrees, then they disappear, as well as rising sea levels already having a bit an impact.

TIM: Exactly. Our elders speak about Mother Earth and it's struggling breathing. And that's what our elders are saying. So we need action to let Mother Earth breathe because it's where we live. It's home. So we need to nurture that space.

ALBANESE: Absolutely. And if we do it, Mother Earth will pay us back.

TIM: Well, exactly.

ALBANESE: It will look after us. There’s all sorts of issues with regard to food and water supply, agricultural practices. We just need to be smart about this and recognise that it is a challenge, but it's also an opportunity. Because we have such abundant natural resources. There's no limit on the sun or the wind, in using renewables. They are called renewables. Not like you dig up a lump of coal and you use it. It’s done.

TIM: Exactly.

ALBANESE: You can't reuse it.

TIM: And they are digging it in this country, aren't they?

ALBANESE: Exactly. And that leaves a legacy, which is why the shift that's on to renewables, potentially as well, creates jobs, lowers energy prices while looking after the environment.

TIM: Exactly. Three birds, one stone, so to speak. Fantastic. Thank you so very much for coming in, Anthony Albanese, Opposition Leader, Member for Grayndler. Thank you very much. All the best to you and big shout-out to your mob down there in Canberra. Cold area. And you are welcome anytime here at Bumma Bippera Media.

ALBANESE: Thanks very much and happy NAIDOC Week.

TIM: Happy NAIDOC. All the best to you. Thank you very much.

ENDS