SUBJECTS: Chaos and disunity within the Coalition; Jenkins Review; religious discrimination bill; parliamentary sitting week.
 
ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: Well, this is the first day of the parliamentary year. And there's only 10 sitting days of the House of Representatives, and even fewer for the Senate. This is a Government that don't have an agenda for this term, let alone an agenda for the future. And that's why they don't deserve a second decade in office. They haven't dealt with the immediate concerns which are there. And I know they're distracted by their internal hatreds and feuds. The problem isn't that. The problem is that because of that, their distractions, their dishonesty and their disunity is stopping them looking after the interests of Australians, particularly those people in aged care. But also, dealing with the many challenges which are there for our country as we deal with the pandemic and need to come out of the pandemic even stronger. They don't have a plan for the future, which is why they don't deserve another term in office with whoever leads them.
 
JOURNALIST: Will you support the Government's religious discrimination bill?
 
ALBANESE: If you work out what it is, let me know. Because I don't know what it is at this point in time. The truth is that they don't know what it is either. And we support the idea, of course, that you shouldn't be discriminated against on the basis of your faith, just as you shouldn't be discriminated against on the basis of your gender, or your race, or your sexuality. And it shouldn't be beyond the capacity of the Parliament to deal with this in a way that builds consensus. But at the moment, we don't know what will come out of their processes. The Prime Minister wrote to me, way back when the Parliament was sitting last year, on the Wednesday night, and asked to have a meeting and a discussion. I wrote back to him, agreeing to do just that, to have a discussion. And crickets. I've heard nothing from the Prime Minister. Because they don't know what their position is.
 
JOURNALIST: (Inaudible).
 
ALBANESE: Look, it's critical. It was the first recommendation of the Jenkins Review. The Speaker and the President of the Senate will issue that statement of acknowledgement. And then it should be followed by a statement from the Prime Minister and myself.
 
JOURNALIST: You mentioned gender identity. Are you concerned about the report today that transgender students might not get admission into schools? (Inaudible). Do you believe that is a breach of that commitment?
 
ALBANESE: Well, we need to see what they come up with. I've just had concerns raised with me from the Hindu Council as well about some of the legislation. So, we'll examine it carefully. We want to make sure that in protecting people of faith, we don't introduce, through either intended or unintended consequences, discrimination against others. We want a society in which no one is discriminated against.
 
JOURNALIST: (Inaudible).
 
ALBANESE: Everyone should be protected. That is the objective. We'll have a look at what comes out of the process. We remain, as we have been the whole way through, prepared to sit down and discuss constructively. But as I said, the Prime Minister wrote to me, asked for a discussion. He asked for the immediate passage through the Parliament, through the House of Representatives, of the legislation. We said, not surprisingly, that there was a committee process in place, and we needed to have that process and have people participate in the discussion of the legislation. That process has been rushed. These problems arise because the Prime Minister promised four years ago that something would happen in this area, and has waited until the last days of Parliament to have a discussion. It's a bit like the need for a National Anti-corruption Commission, for which it's not even scheduled for debate in this Parliament. If this Government can't deliver on what it said it wanted to do this term, how can they be entitled to another term in office?
 
JOURNALIST: Have you seen the legislation, Opposition Leader on that religious discrimination bill? Have you seen what they're proposing?
 
ALBANESE: Well, they haven't seen it yet. They're having a party room meeting this morning.
 
JOURNALIST: I thought I read that it had been shared with you.
 
ALBANESE: Well, I've said to you that the Prime Minister wrote to me and asked for a discussion and a meeting on the Wednesday night when Parliament was sitting. Those discussions haven't taken place.
 
JOURNALIST: What have they shared with you?
 
ALBANESE: Those discussions haven't taken place.
 
JOURNALIST: They've given you a copy of the potential draft legislation.
 
ALBANESE: Those discussions have not taken place. They don't have it yet. For those people following the news, they're having a party room meeting and they're in dispute. I know what I read in the paper, various people having disputes about the legislation within their own party room. Quite clearly, publicly, they're saying they haven't come to a position on those issues. Thanks.

ENDS