SUBJECTS: Visit to Adelaide; Peter Malinauskas; Adelaide State Election; Federal and State relationship; Medicare; healthcare; passing of Senator Kimberley Kitching; Federal election; Labor’s policy agenda.
 
DAVID PENBERTHY, HOST: The Leader of the Labor Party federally, Anthony Albanese. Albo, good morning.
 
ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: Good to be with you.
 
PENBERTHY: You're on the trail with Peter Malinauskas. I should say from the start, Albo, that we thought this week that we'd get national leaders from either side, past and present, to come on and extol the virtues of their preferred premiers. We had John Howard, a man that you've recently compared yourself to the other day, singing Steven Marshall's praises. And you're here giving support, obviously, to Mali today?
 
ALBANESE: Absolutely. I was with him last night handing out at prepoll at Modbury. And then I was with him at the Village Tavern at Golden Grove.
 
PENBERTHY: You didn't have a parmy, with your new health kick, did you?
 
ALBANESE: I did not. I had a nice steak, I've got to say. Nice steak and a salad.
 
PENBERTHY: No beers?
 
ALBANESE: I did have a beer. But Mali didn't.
 
PENBERTHY: He's off the turps.
 
ALBANESE: He is completely. I suspect it might be just for the campaign. I'm not sure. I didn't ask him. But he certainly is. He had a Coke Zero, I can confirm.
 
PENBERTHY: You've been in a lot of campaigns over the years. I know you're obviously not based here in South Australia. Do you think that there will be a change of government?
 
ALBANESE: Well, I hope there is. And I've got to say that I've got confidence from last night. We were talking with people, including a bunch of young nursing students. And they were talking about ambulance ramping as being an issue of the campaign that they were concerned about. We were talking to other punters, just to whoever was in the pub. And the response to Peter was extremely supportive. It was very, very positive, as it was on the booth there at Modbury as well.
 
PENBERTHY: So much of the state campaign has been fought over service delivery. It is a state election campaign at the end of the day. And health is the biggest issue. Is there anything that you've observed that you can take from - let's just take the polls, what they are at the moment, looks pretty promising for Labor - and apply to the upcoming Federal election, specifically about campaigning in South Australia?
 
ALBANESE: Well, I think health will be an issue in the Federal campaign as well. We know there's an aged care crisis. And so, we know also that there's issues with the costs of senior GP are going up, there's been issues with changes to the Medicare schedule. And part of what Labor stands for, part of our iconic brand, is our support for Medicare as the centrepiece of our healthcare system. And that's something that's identified with Labor for very good reasons. Because we genuinely support it. And the other side have to be dragged, kicking and screaming, into it.
 
PENBERTHY: We spoke with the Federal President of the AMA the other day. And they were highlighting, touring around the country, the report card on hospitals. And one of the points that he made here in South Australia was about the lack of beds that were leading to some of the issues like ramping that have been state election issues. And he made the point in that interview that this is a joint funding issue from the State and Federal Government. Can we expect to see any more money from an Albanese Federal Government that will support South Australian hospitals?
 
ALBANESE: Well, Labor will always be better on healthcare at a Federal level.
 
PENBERTHY: Well, that is a slogan. Is there any money to back it up?
 
ALBANESE: Well, we're not here to make funding announcements today on FiveAA.
 
PENBERTHY: You can if you want.
 
ALBANESE: I'm sure you would like that.
 
PENBERTHY: We love free money here in South Australia.
 
ALBANESE: I'm not sure that my Finance Shadow Minister, Katy Gallagher, and Jim Chalmers would approve of that. But those are subject to negotiations between the Commonwealth and states. And what we know is that the last time we were in Government, we put more money into the hospital system. And the Government, when it changed, they changed those funding arrangements and reduced it. So, Labor has always been more positive. And I think one of the lessons about the pandemic is that if you don't get health outcomes right, then you can't get the economic outcomes right. One flows from the other. And that's why it's such a strong part of our campaign for the overall theme that we are running on - a better future. And the other thing that we've seen in federal-state relations, to say the least, they have broken down a fair bit. You have less uniformity than you've had before. And one of the things that I'm saying is that we need a more cooperative system between the Commonwealth and state governments of whatever political persuasion. I have a record of being able to negotiate with state governments. I have a good relationship with premiers around the country. And I'm sure that Mali would be someone who I'd be able to sit down with and negotiate a good outcome for South Australia.
 
PENBERTHY: Albo, can I ask, there's been some strong criticisms made this morning of a culture within the Labor Party by a former Labor MP, Emma Husar. There's been other people, former MPs, Michael Danby, very critical about the circumstances leading up to the tragic death of Kimberley Kitching. Do you think that there is a bullying culture within the ALP that you need to address?
 
ALBANESE: No, I don't. And I think that the people who've been targeted here, Penny Wong, Kristina Keneally and Katy Gallagher, are people I'm very proud to have as part of my team. That's not to say that we can't always look to do better. Politics is a really tough business.
 
PENBERTHY: Should it be that tough? I mean, was it made too tough on the late Senator that it contributed to her demise?
 
ALBANESE: Well, that's not what the indication is in terms of health. Senator Kitching's death is an absolute tragedy. 52 years of age. She has family and friends who are mourning her. And the entire Labor family is mourning Kimberley Kitching. And the idea that this be politicised in the way that it has, I think, is unfortunate.
 
PENBERTHY: To that point though, I get the sensitivities of it. But isn't the reality that there are people who are mourning here in different ways and that there are clearly people within the Labor Party who are mourning her out of anger because they feel that she was treated so shabbily that it contributed to her death?
 
ALBANESE: I just don't think that's a fair assessment, David.
 
PENBERTHY: But that's not my assessment. That is their assessment.
 
ALBANESE: Well, there are issues within the Victorian branch that have been well-documented. That is why you had National Executive into the Victorian branch. Because of some of the conflicts that were there, the way that things were playing out. And that's why we stepped in and had Jenny Macklin and Steve Bracks do an entire review of the branch. Kimberley Kitching is someone who I appointed to the frontbench. She rose pretty quickly in her second term. She was appointed to the frontbench. She was making a contribution. And it's an absolute tragedy that contribution was all too short.
 
PENBERTHY: Absolutely. Well, good luck on the hustings today, Albo. And who knows? Things could change tomorrow.
 
ALBANESE: We will see. I am somewhat stunned to have learned last night off Mali that they don't count all the people who are voting early until Monday. What is the go there?
 
PENBERTHY: It makes election night coverage very difficult.
 
ALBANESE: What explains that?
 
PENBERTHY: Sunday's sacrosanct.
 
ALBANESE: It would be like 40 per cent of the people.
 
PENBERTHY: If you want some completely uninformed analysis, tune in at 5:30PM to FiveAA on Saturday night.
 
ALBANESE: Saturday night? I will tune in and someone will say, 'We don't know'.
 
PENBERTHY: We won't say that. We don't need to say that. It'll be obvious to the discerning listener from the very start.
 
ALBANESE: It is a very strange system. And I think that has to change. Whoever wins on Saturday, people deserve to know the outcome of the election on Saturday night.
 
PENBERTHY: I agree.
 
ALBANESE: So, there's my two cents worth.
 
PENBERTHY: Good stuff. Well, thanks for coming in. Apologies. If I'd known you were coming in, I wouldn't have worn my thongs. Anthony Albanese, great to see you in the studio.
 
ALBANESE: Yes, you would've, mate. That is just not true. And Will would have still worn shorts.
 
WILL GOODINGS, HOST: I'm not going to pretend to be someone that I am not.
 
ALBANESE: He's not pretending.
 
ENDS