SUBJECTS: Trip to WA; weight loss; Australian Women’s Weekly; leadership; policy agenda; climate change; treatment of women; Grace Tame; quokkas; Rottnest Island; no ukuleles or welding; gym session.

HOST: The last time we spoke with him, the Federal Opposition Leader, Anthony Albanese, did say to us he was going to be the first person through the gates when the borders opened. And sure enough, man of his word, 12.05am he was here in WA as the borders did open. And he joins us now.
 
RECORDING: He's a big music fan who has co-hosted an episode of Rage and once used his political power to save a Dolly Parton tour. He also happens to be the Leader of the Federal Opposition and the Leader of the Australian Labour Party. Please welcome the thorn in Scott Morrison’s side, Anthony Albanese.
 
HOST: Albo, how are you, mate?
 
ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: I'm very well. I like the way that you prioritise hosting Rage and saving Dolly Parton's tour, and then the sort of third item in my CV is happens to be the Leader of the Labor Party.
 
HOST: Hey, we’re a radio station mate.
 
ALBANESE: Indeed. Nice version of Rocket Man there.
 
HOST: Now Anthony, the last time that we spoke to you, we kind of mentioned that, you know, you’re looking a bit fit, looking a bit firing. It was a couple of months ago, it was back in January, believe it or not. And you responded with this:
 
ALBANESE, RECORDING: I’m just doing my best. I’ve got to be match fit. I'm in a grand final this year. So I'd started to get a bit fit, but I've kept going. And I'm quite pleased with how it's gone.
 
HOST: Very humble.
 
HOST: And then of course, mate, out comes the Australian Women’s Weekly.
 
[MUSIC]
 
HOST: And there he is.
 
HOST: Strut.
 
HOST: You’ve made it. Albo, you’re looking good.
 
ALBANESE: I’ve made it. I hit my target pretty soon after we did it, I would have hit the target that I had, which was 80 kilos, to get to that. I’ve hit it and I’ll keep it now. It’s a lot easier to keep it than it is to get there, I’ve got to say, when you’re in your 50s.
 
HOST: Well, it takes a lot of energy as well to campaign and, at the moment, wanting to run any country in any world at the moment, I don't know why anyone would want to do it. So the fact you’ve still got your hat in the game. But also, you’ve got a new lady in your life. So did you get match fit for her? Or is it like, you know, to get back in the market?
 
ALBANESE: No, no, no. It was all about my health. Although she has encouraged me to get fit. And I think it's good having someone to chat to at the end of the day, or at the beginning of the day. I haven't spoken to her yet this morning. It was my birthday yesterday. We saw each other for a brief period of time. I woke up in Brisbane yesterday, was looking at the damage of the devastating floods that have occurred there, and then headed home to Sydney where there was a bit of flooding in my local suburb as well, down the bottom of my street, before heading across here to fulfil the commitment that I made on your program.
 
HOST: And you did. And Anthony Albanese, you mentioned also in that replay that you're in a grand final year. We have a Federal election coming up very, very soon. And god knows we all feel like some aspirational leadership. Are you the man to do it?
 
ALBANESE: I am. I've got a plan for the future. I think this Government is tired and has reached the end of the line really. They don't have a plan for today, let alone one for tomorrow. I want to take advantage of the opportunity that’s there from clean energy to transform new industries, create new jobs, see new growth. I want to provide young people with opportunities for the jobs of the future and to retrain existing workers as well. We have a plan for climate change, it’s been supported by the business community, been supported by the union movement, been supported by the National Farmers’ Federation. So it's not a bad troika that we've managed to land there. And the disasters that we’re going through on the East Coast, there are more extreme weather events, they're happening more often and are more intense. And we know that we've always had issues in this country with climate, with natural disasters. It's a tough country. And it’s happening even more.
 
HOST: We’ve just had our hottest summer ever.
 
ALBANESE: Absolutely. You look at the trends and they're all there. And we've got to take it seriously. And I want to end the climate wars, which will be good for the economy as well.
 
HOST: To be honest, you know, you’ve got all these big problems to solve. I just want to live in a country where we respect women and we don't have these ridiculous issues that I keep seeing and all the stuff that was going on with Grace Tame and the Prime Minister at the moment, Scott Morrison. And, you know, the issues of just talking so much about Grace Tame not smiling and things like that, when I'm like, we've just got other things we need to deal with. And the bare basics of respect and the lack of, you know, trying to change discrimination in this country, that's all I'm after. It's not even a bit ask.
 
ALBANESE: Absolutely. No, it’s not. And Grace Tame did a fantastic job as the Australian of the Year. I got to know her last year and I regard that as a great privilege. And she has put the issue of treatment of young women, I mean, she was groomed by a teacher, and that teacher, as she said at the National Press Club, did it to a number of people, it wasn't just her. And her courage is quite extraordinary. The courage of Brittany Higgins. We need to address gender equality in this country. We need to treat every woman with respect. I’m stunned that the Government, more than a year now after receiving the Respect@Work report, can’t even say that they'll support the recommendations that was brought down by Kate Jenkins, including the need and an obligation for employers to do their best to have safe workplaces. It's not too much to ask in 2022.
 
HOST: Albo, just quickly before we let you go, did you get your quokka when you walked through the gates?
 
ALBANESE: I didn't get my quokka.
 
HOST: Oh, what?
 
ALBANESE: I don’t know what’s going on. I got my RAT.
 
HOST: Would have preferred a quokka to a RAT.
 
ALBANESE: No quokka. I spent a Christmas Day many years ago in the 1980s on Rottnest Island. I had a few days there. I was over here for six weeks. That's where I fell in love with the West. And it was a great place. It was a bit quieter those days, Rottnest Island.
 
HOST: Before selfies were a thing.
 
ALBANESE: That was before, that’s right. But the little quokkas, I made some friends with them over there. They’re a great little attraction for WA. Everyone identifies, when you see a quokka, you think Western Australia.
 
HOST: There you go, all the big issues we’ve covered today with Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese. Quokkas. 
 
HOST: Just say off the ukulele and you should be fine. 
 
ALBANESE: Oh no, I’m staying away from that. I am. I do note this morning I’m off with Tracey Roberts at a rail place, Aries Rail, at what she hopes to be her electorate there in the northern suburbs. And I do note, it’s got, as part of my brief, it’s got ‘observe welding’.
 
[LAUGHTER]
 
HOST: Ah, the April Sun in Cuba.
 
ALBANESE: I’ll stay away from welding. And I’ll give this commitment. Under a government I lead, no prime minister will go near a ukulele.
 
HOST: Very good.
 
HOST: Good on you mate, that’s great to hear. Good on you, Albo. It’s nice to talk to you. It’s nice to have you here in the state. And before you go, I would like to extend an invitation to your fit self to do a gym session with myself. So just before you get out of it, just love to toss together a pump class with you. Okay, give me some time.
 
ALBANESE: That’s a big call. Maybe next visit we can line that up. We can do a live. I’d prefer to do a gym session with you live on radio rather than on TV, for obvious reasons.
 
HOST: It could be your ukulele moment, man. Albo, good on you mate. We’ll catch up soon.
 
ALBANESE: Thanks, guys.
 
ENDS