SUBJECTS: WA GST; Scott Morrison not standing up for West Australians; Dolly Parton; NRL Grand Final; South Sydney Rabbitohs.

HOST: Mr Albanese, how are you? 

ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: Good morning. I'm very well. Greetings from Sydney lockdown.

HOST: Are you doing okay?

ALBANESE: Doing okay. It is difficult because my beloved rugby league team, the Bunnies, are in the Grand Final on Sunday and I can't get to Queensland to go. So, apart from that, I'm going okay.

HOST: No, you're a politician and the same rules don't apply.

ALBANESE: Yeah, but they do. 

HOST: That was a test.

ALBANESE: That's why I'm not in your studio. I'd love to be there, but I got to watch the AFL Grand Final played in Perth and you did a great job there.

HOST: Thanks. We felt the same. If you've seen the classic scenes ever since the Grand Final, we're going to be bidding for it for the next 50 years, apparently.

ALBANESE: I'm sure you will. 

HOST: We're going through a little down moment now, Albo. We had the big show and now we don't know what to do with ourselves.

ALBANESE: It was fantastic. It was a great spotlight of Perth with the river and the stadium and everything. And the crowd really got into it.

HOST: Now, Mr Albanese, speaking of you trying to make your way over to the NRL Grand Final. I mean, if there was anybody that I thought that might be able to get the job done, it's you because you can pull some strings. And we mentioned in the little opener there that you saved Dolly Parton's tour. I was looking into this and had no idea, when you were the Infrastructure Minister, that she had a bit of an issue because apparently, what was it, her tour buses were too big for Australian roads. Is that right?

ALBANESE: They were. She had two buses and they were coming across by ship. And they've been excluded from being used on Australian roads. And she uses them as well as a dressing room and to stay in. I got to go inside when they got there. They're pretty big. And the bureaucrats said, 'Oh no, there's no way that they can get in'. And she was about to cancel the tour. And it was worth around about $30 million of ticket sales, it was worth a lot particularly for the regions. She was doing some of the wineries, those big outdoor concerts. And what we had was, I spoke to the Secretary of my department and I said, 'For goodness sake, just give me something to sign giving it an exemption'. Surely, as a one-off, you can have a car in front and a car behind saying, 'Wide vehicle'. And we got it done. And Dolly Parton, graciously when she arrived at Sydney Airport, gave me a bit of a shout-out.

HOST: Did she give you a cuddle?

ALBANESE: I did get a cuddle at her concert, and she invited me in for a big cuddle. She's awesome. She's a great human being. And she, of course, has put a whole lot of money into the COVID issue in the United States as well. She's got a real social conscience about her.

HOST: Awesome lady. Now, Albo, what do we hear about you eastern states types trying to get your fingers into our GST?

ALBANESE: Exactly. Some of the eastern states, you can't trust those Liberal guys. Scotty Morrison backed in Clive Palmer and that legal case there in WA. But we've made it very clear that the deal that's been done, and now legislated, will stay under a Labor Government that I lead. I want to help Western Australia. I want to acknowledge that were it not for Western Australia, the resources, the exports and the economic growth that comes from there, the economy would be in more strife than the Penrith Panthers will be on Sunday night.

HOST: It is a big week for you and ScoMo, Anthony, because you've said that ScoMo is weak for not attending the climate conference.

ALBANESE: Well, it's pretty appalling. This is a major international conference. It isn't just about the environment, of course, it's about our economy. And Australia faces economic sanctions and costs if we don't participate along with the rest of the world, but also, we have incredible opportunity. So, when I was in Perth a while ago now, I went to the nickel refinery there down at Kwinana. There are enormous opportunities to come from embracing the future, embracing renewables. And we can be a renewable energy superpower, creating jobs, supporting traditional industries, but also establishing new ones, like for battery manufacturing that we should be doing in Australia.

HOST: Okay, this is, I guess, relatively serious, and it's something that you would have to deal with if you were in government. This deal that we've done with our nuclear submarines with the US and the UK, I mean, obviously, we've annoyed China, one of the big players in our area and one of our big trading partners. I mean, do you see this as a good deal strategically and all of the above?

ALBANESE: We support the arrangements with the UK and the United States. They have been traditionally strong allies of ours. And we support nuclear-powered submarines. It's clear from the advice that they're the best form going forward. 

HOST: Albo, nice to catch up with you, mate. Take care.

ALBANESE: Great to catch up. And stay safe, everybody. Get vaccinated if you can.

HOST: Go the Bunnies.

ENDS