SUBJECTS: Scott Morrison’s inability to say the word ‘sorry’; Brisbane Olympics bid; vaccine rollout; need for national quarantine; Scott Morrison failing Australians during a pandemic; confusion around messaging during a health pandemic.

JASON HAWKINS, HOST: Yesterday on the show, we had ScoMo join us. And I just wanted to not talk to a politician. I wanted to chat with a leader and just a genuine person and say, 'Hey, mate, just a bit of accountability, say sorry for the vaccine rollout and let's all move forward'. But he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Anthony Albanese, who's currently celebrating the Olympics in Brisbane at the moment. G'day, Albo. How are you?

ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: I'm very well. Yay Brisbane. And yay Australia. We all needed something positive, I think, to happen. And it was a fantastic outcome last night.

HAWKINS: Yes. It's awesome. It's all I'm a Brissy boy. And I think it's exactly what that city needs up there at the moment. You got across the ScoMo interview that we did on the show yesterday. Can I ask just a genuine question? What were your thoughts? And is there a reason he cannot say the word 'Sorry'? Like, I know you guys are media trained and stuff like that. But if he admits fault, does that make the Government accountable? What's the backstory for it?

ALBANESE: I reckon he was channelling Elton John. Sorry seems to be hardest word. I think he would have been better off saying sorry. And everyone has made mistakes. No one's perfect. 

HAWKINS: Exactly. 

ALBANESE: The problem is, you know, he said so many times that it's not a race. And the truth is it is a race. It always was a race. And yesterday morning, in another interview, he tried to say that was about the approval of the drugs. And that's not true either. That's not true. So at least you just got a dead bat in a refusal, you didn't get something that wasn't true. It could have been worse. 

POLLY HARDING, HOST: If you were the Prime Minister at this point in time, how would you have done things differently?

ALBANESE: Well, we would have done what the experts were saying and done five or six deals last year. And we were saying it. We were saying you've got to hedge your bets here. Because all of this was new. All this is new. The scientists were out there. We were doing something in Brisbane, remember, with the CSIRO that didn't work out. But he put all his eggs in the AstraZeneca basket. And the problem is, when that had issues, there was nowhere else to go, unlike the UK where they went to Moderna, they had extra Pfizer. He went for AstraZeneca. It was a mistake to do just that. Not a mistake to do it, but a mistake to put all your bets on 32 red, basically. And it's been a major stuff-up and now 14 million Australians are locked down.

HAWKINS: So if that was you in that situation, if mistakes happen and you're in charge, are you the person that's going to say sorry, and then we move on? Would you have said sorry?

ALBANESE: Absolutely. Because it would have been an opportunity for closure. 

HAWKINS: That's what I wanted.

HARDING: He just couldn't say the word.

HAWKINS: I'm a frustrated person just living in lockdown like the rest of us. I just wanted someone to take accountability and then I would have been in full support and moved on.

ALBANESE: Well, he doesn't hold a hose, this bloke. There is always someone else to blame.

HAWKINS: Yesterday, I did a little spelling quiz with him. I even spelt it out. 

- What does this spell? S O R R Y. - 

HAWKINS: I've got an idea. If you get in as PM, would you do this? I'm just going to spell something out. L O W E R T A X E S. Albo?

ALBANESE: Free beer, that is what is spells. 

HAWKINS: That's not what it spelt, but I will take a beer. Don't go robot on me and avoid the words. I got one more. Okay, if I voted you in, what about T H R E E D A Y W E E K E N D?

ALBANESE: Every week?

HAWKINS: Come on. 

ALBANESE: Every week? A three-day weekend? What is a weekend? I have been working every day.

HAWKINS: Free beer and a three-day weekend. He knows the way to my heart. Hey, thanks for jumping on this morning, mate. And you're frustrated like the rest of us. If you see him in Canberra, just have a word to him and say, 'Just give the bloke a call and say sorry'.

ALBANESE: Yes, I'll try. I'll do my best. No promises, given the track record there. But everyone, stay safe.

HAWKINS: Good on you, mate. Anthony Albanese joining us there.

ENDS