SUBJECTS: Visit to WA; resources sector; ex-tropical cyclone Seroja; climate change; net zero emissions by 2050; vaccine rollout; gas; importance of WA during the next Federal election; WA state election; Ben Roberts-Smith; Kerry Stokes; WA Labor; Andrew Laming; Australia Post. 

MADELEINE KING, SHADOW MINSTER FOR TRADE AND RESOURCES: Thanks, everyone, for coming here today to the Karratha Gas Plant. My name is Madeleine King. I am the Member for Brand but also, very proudly, the Shadow Minister for Trade and Resources. So it is an absolute honour to have the Labor Leader, Anthony Albanese, here today at the North West Shelf Project. This is an iconic project that was started over more than 35 years ago here in Karratha. Karratha, and Dampier itself, has been built off the back of Hammersley Iron, first mining iron ore but now the unbelievable productivity that is associated with LNG and also domestic gas powering Western Australia. Today, Woodside have told us, our host this morning, that it is the 5,688th shipment that has left the North West Shelf Project since it began decades ago. It is a magnificent achievement. It is a testament to the ingenuity of the resources industry, the gas extraction industry of Australia and Western Australia, that sees gas power great cities of the world and also the great city of Perth and all the suburbs that surround it. 

I also, before I go on, just want to acknowledge our friends in the communities that are suffering in the wake of ex-tropical cyclone Seroja. We know that Kalbarri has been severely hit, and other towns as well. So our thoughts are with the communities that are trying to live through this. I know there's been a loss of power and there will be lots of damage to people's property. And I want to acknowledge the work of the new Emergency Services Minister, Mr Reece Whitby, who is working to help all Western Australians and visitors affected by the cyclone. And with that, I'm really pleased to be able to hand over to Anthony, a great supporter of the minerals and resources industry in Western Australia and right across the nation. Anthony?

ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: Thanks very much. It is great to be here, back here in Karratha. Once again, I do want to begin by acknowledging the hardship that many in this community in Western Australia are suffering at the moment due to ex-tropical cyclones Seroja. We've seen many houses lost. Hopefully we won't see a loss of life. And that is a great credit to the emergency services personnel who do such an amazing job in this country of ours in a time of need of local communities. So I say once again, thank you to those personnel for doing what they can to alleviate the damage which has been caused, but also to keep people safe. The important thing is you can always build back property, you can't build back lives. That is why it is so important, the work that our personnel do, at times like this. 

Can I say also here where we are in Karratha, we have been guests of Woodside, having a look at the facility here, the gas plant and also at Pluto. What we have is literally one per cent of Australia's GDP right here. Contributing to jobs, contributing to powering our country, but powering other countries as well, and contributing important revenue that goes towards schools and hospitals and services, playing such a critical role in our national economy. Of course, Woodside, as well, have a commitment to reducing emissions. And we have been talking with them today about their plans. Woodside is one of the companies that has committed to net zero emissions by 2050 and has a plan for a staged reduction in their emissions, including the use of offsets to make sure they reach those important goals.

Can I also make some comments today about the vaccine rollout or lack thereof of? Australians did it tough in 2020. They made sacrifices. And the response was world-leading by Australians. Everyday Australians who helped out their families, their neighbours, their communities, their state and their nation, including here in Western Australia where we've had no community transition, a remarkable achievement under Mark McGowan's Government, and one that I had discussions with him about just last night. But it is also the case that whenever the Commonwealth have been responsible for action to deal with the pandemic and the aftermath, the Commonwealth has not had a great record. We, of course, know that Australians were told that if they downloaded the COVIDSafe app, it would keep them safe. And we know that it basically had a negligible role in keeping people safe during that time. We know also, when it comes to the Commonwealth response, that they were responsible for aged care. And we know the problems that have been there with the considerable loss of life in our aged care facilities. But if Scott Morrison had one job this year, it was to get the rollout of the vaccine right. And it's quite clear that it's just a debacle. And the fact that last night, Scott Morrison made an announcement through Facebook, which is of such significance that it should have required the Prime Minister to front up to a full-scale press conference and explain why it was that the Government was abandoning any targets for the rollout of the vaccine. But he simply didn't do so. We know that the previous targets have not been met, that this is a Government that always over-promises and under-delivers. They said four million Australians will be vaccinated by the end of March. And we know that they have just reached one million in mid-April. We know also that they said that everyone would be vaccinated by the end of October. They then changed that to just having the first jab by the end of October. And now they've abandoned any pretence and won't even say if Australians will receive a first jab by the end of this year. We know also that vulnerable Australians are missing out. We know that people in the disability sector, for example, people in the disability sector are being told that they can't even guarantee when they will get a jab. And there's major disability service providers whose clients haven't received any vaccinations whatsoever, even though they were in the first category. This is an absolute failure by the Federal Government. It was failing before the issue with AstraZeneca. It was failing before. But the AstraZeneca issues have been used by the Government as an excuse for why that failure was occurring. The truth is that the Government needs to be transparent. It does need to have objectives. And it does need to get it right. Because the opening up of the economy is dependent upon these vaccinations. And if it doesn't get it right, not only will there be an impact on health, but there'll be a considerable impact on our economy and on our way of life. You'll continue to see lockdowns from time to time in particular places. This is a failure by Scott Morrison. And the fact that Scott Morrison has changed the advice that he was giving the Australian people on Thursday night, and has now changed the advice again last night just through a Facebook post, is really not acceptable for a Prime Minister. And it's a failure of his leadership to do so. Happy to take questions.

JOURNALIST: On the gas projects here in the Pilbara, what sort of plans are in place to reduce emissions? 

ALBANESE: Well, what they're doing here is, both in terms of the way that they operate the plants but also in terms of having carbon offsets, they are a very efficient plant in terms of Pluto, for example, in making sure, in the way that the production occurs that they minimise their footprint. And the company, like the rest of business, is committed to taking action. What's extraordinary is that you have companies like Woodside, companies like Rio Tinto, BHP, peak organisations, be they the Minerals Council of Australia, the Business Council of Australia, the National Farmers' Federation, all committing to net zero emissions by 2050. And yet what we have is a Federal Government that's failing to commit to that. The Federal Government needs to acknowledge that because the whole world is moving, it's having an impact on the way that business operates. And that is why, in terms of risk mitigation, business is responding to this new environment. And this year, we'll have a considerable conference soon hosted by President Biden. And then we'll have the Glasgow Conference towards the end of the year. There's no doubt in my mind that as the world further examines these issues, then we'll see more and more action in a globally coordinated way.

JOURNALIST: Will WA be a battleground in the next election?

ALBANESE: WA will certainly be a battleground. I was with Premier McGowan last night with 700 of our closest friends. 700 people committed to the election of a Federal Labor Government to follow the re-election of the McGowan Labor Government. And if you look at the WA Liberal Party, what you see is that there's already been a considerable loss of talent in Julie Bishop, in Mathias Cormann, in Michael Keenan. I doubt very much whether you'll see the ministers who have been elected or re-appointed to the Cabinet, Christian Porter and Senator Reynolds. You have Christian Porter, who we now know that the New South Wales Police were not able to travel to South Australia to conduct interviews that would have been appropriate had there actually been an investigation take place into those allegations that have been made. But he remains in the Cabinet, even though there hasn't been an appropriate investigation to see whether he was a fit and proper person to continue in that role. And we see Senator Reynolds still sitting in the Cabinet, even though she referred to Brittany Higgins as a lying cow. I think they will have a position over a period of time whereby they will have to reconsider their involvement. And what we see is that other members in WA, including Minister Wyatt, potentially not running again that the next election. And Steve Irons who was demoted in the last reshuffle as well. So I think the prospects for the Liberal Party here were shown to be devastated by the state result. And I believe that Labor can do very well in Western Australia. We've got an outstanding team, led by Madeleine King, in our Shadow Cabinet, but an outstanding team. We've got the quality. What we need now to match that is the quantity. And we'll be putting forward very good candidates, strong candidates, in all of the seats at the next election. And we see WA as a battleground. We'll be reminding people, as well, that Scott Morrison supported Clive Palmer in the legal action that he took place against the WA Labor Government keeping Western Australians safe. In a choice between Mark McGowan and Clive Palmer, Scott Morrison chose Clive Palmer. Well, Western Australians overwhelmingly chose Mark McGowan at the state election. We stand with Mark McGowan. We will leave Scott Morrison to explain his alliance with Clive Palmer and the response and the impact of that in the lead-up to the Federal election. I understand Scott Morrison is actually visiting Western Australia this week. It's amazing that he can find it. Because this is a bloke who has his own plane but hasn't been able to find his way to Western Australia. I was here in 2020, even though with the lockdowns, pre-lockdown I was here three times in the first few months of 2020. This is my second visit here so far this year. That's five visits while Scott Morrison hasn't troubled the scorers since late 2019.

JOURNALIST: On Ben Roberts-Smith, what did you make of the allegations made by Channel Nine last night?

ALBANESE: Well, given these matters before the courts, it's not appropriate to comment on them. People will draw their own conclusions. But I don't intend to comment.

JOURNALIST: Should Kerry Stokes remain in his War Memorial roles while these matters are before the courts?

ALBANESE: I think Kerry Stokes has done a very good role as Head of the War Memorial. And I think they are very distinct issues.

JOURNALIST: Should Western Australians give you the same support they gave McGowan during the next election?

ALBANESE: Well, I'd like to say that, I've got to say. But whilst were very hopeful of gains, we're not expecting the stratospheric results that Mark McGowan achieved. But we do want to see stronger representation from Western Australia in a Labor caucus and in a future Labor Government. And it's very clear that the Liberal Party used to regard Western Australia as being very important, and that has diminished. So we think that the additional people at the next election, we'll be looking at a range of seats, including here as well, of course, was once represented by the Labor Party during the Hawke Government. And we think that one of the lessons of the Western Australian election is that no voter can be taken for granted. I think one of the things that we've seen over a period of time here in the West is a Liberal Party that has got complacent about its support base here has taken voters for granted. And that shows. And I think that voters will respond at the next election to that. The fact that Scott Morrison thought he could just go along with Clive Palmer's court case. And remember his excuse. He said he did not have a choice. Well, he changed that decision. So both things can't be right. That exposes, once again, Scott Morrison's habit of changing his views and pretending that the first views that he had held right up to the point in which he changes his mind, he's never ever held, and thinking that people don't have any memory. And that's what he's trying to do on the rollout of the vaccine as well. He's trying to put it that somehow nothing's changed, that he always knew that this would be difficult and that's why we can't set targets, because of uncertainties. Well, there were uncertainties there from the very beginning, which is why you needed to do five or six deals in order to mitigate risk. Scott Morrison rolled the dice. He put all his eggs in the AstraZeneca basket and the chickens have come home to roost. That's the problem here. 

JOURNALIST: When do you think all Australians will be offered their first COVID-19 vaccine dose based on how the rollout is tracking? 

ALBANESE: Well, based upon the rollout, it isn't tracking hardly at all. That's the problem. And the Government needs to be transparent about this. And what I do know is that the delay in the rollout of the vaccine will have an impact on people's health, but also on our economy and on jobs. 

JOURNALIST: Will you commit to elevating more Western Australians to your Cabinet? 

ALBANESE: I want more Western Australians in the Caucus and more Western Australians in all positions throughout the Parliamentary Labor Party. I think that will be very important. One of the things that we had a few years ago was we had a complete turnover in the House of Reps, at least, of the Labor members, with Madeleine, Anne, Josh and Matt, coming in. And over a period of time, then Patrick in a by-election. They're all relatively new. But what's happened over a period of time is that they've stepped up, whether it be in frontbench roles or the important role that Anne Aly is playing in terms of national security. They're all talented people, along with our senate team, which is led, of course, by Sue Lines as the Deputy President, but also, of course, Louise and Glenn Sterle and the team there. So we have a very good team from Western Australia, but what we need is quantity. And I'll be here, as I have been, on average ten times a year over a period of more than a decade now. I know Western Australia. I spend time here. Not just in Perth but in the regions. And I look forward to really making a difference. I'll be campaigning right around the country. Later this week I'll be in Queensland and also in Tasmania. 

In Queensland, can I say this about Andrew Laming? Scott Morrison said that Andrew Laming was a problem. He asked him to apologise. Scott Morrison then watched while Andrew Laming apologised to the Parliament on the Thursday afternoon just before Parliament rose, and then the day after said didn't know what he apologised for. Scott Morrison then said that he had a discussion with him, and it was announced that Andrew Laming wasn't running again. Andrew Laming, we know today, is running for pre-selection for the Liberal National Party. Scott Morrison gave a reference to Andrew Laming prior to the 2019 election, when locals in the electorate of Bowman said that he wasn't fit to continue as their representative. Scott Morrison chose him just like he chose Craig Kelly in Hughes, to intervene in support of. It goes to Scott Morrison's judgment. Andrew Laming is not fit to be a Member of Parliament. And Labor will be raising a range of issues around that when Parliament resumes. 

JOURNALIST: What's your response to the announcement of a new Australia Post CEO and the timing of that announcement? 

ALBANESE: Well, you have Christine Holgate, who's due to appear before a Senate committee tomorrow. And the decision being pre-empted with this new CEO being announced today of Australia Post. This is a Government that takes forever to make decisions. That leaves positions vacant for a very long period of time. And now we have a circumstance whereby Christine Holgate, before her appearance before the Senate committee, we have a new CEO announced for Australia Post. I think that Australians will draw their own conclusions there. And can I say this? Australians will also look at the response of Scott Morrison to Christine Holgate, where he demanded that she go, on the floor of the Parliament, on national TV, before everyone in the House of Representatives during Question Time, said that if she didn't step aside, she could go. They were the words that he used on the floor of the Parliament. And yet Andrew Laming can stay in the Liberal National Party. People with clouds over them can stay in the Federal Cabinet. There's no consequences for Angus Taylor and his actions. There's no consequences for the Robodebt debacle. There's no consequences for any minister for the vaccination rollout debacle. And yet Christine Holgate was effectively asked to go on the floor of the Parliament. And then Scott Morrison said that she voluntarily stepped aside. Anyone who looks at what he actually said, and what he said over the weekend, knows that it just doesn't stack up. Scott Morrison needs to actually stop with the spin cycle on everything and actually be honest and transparent. That's what national leadership requires. And that's what they're not getting from this Prime Minister. Thanks.

ENDS