COVID; rapid antigen tests; price of rapid tests; economic recovery; Omicron.

LAURA TINGLE, HOST: Well, Professor Lewin was happy to talk to us tonight about the outlook for the pandemic, the list of our leaders from both federal and state governments who were unavailable tonight to talk us through how they were planning to deal with the crisis is even longer than last night's. It therefore seems only appropriate to ask the alternative Prime Minister, Labor's Anthony Albanese, for his views on what is happening and what a Labor government would be doing differently. Mr Albanese joined me a short time ago. Anthony Albanese, it feels like everyone now has a story of someone they know catching COVID - what's yours?

ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: Well, my worst story is that of Katy Gallagher and her young daughter, Evie, who of course caught the disease at a time when she wasn't able to be vaccinated and I think it's every parent's worst nightmare in a circumstance where they feel they can't provide assistance. Katy certainly did that but it was a traumatic time for Evie and the whole family and I think right now there are so many families that can't get their children tested and can't get their children vaccinated who will be going through the same thing at the moment.

TINGLE: I suppose I meant what about the experience now, the fact that everybody seems to be catching COVID across the community?

ALBANESE: Well, I spoke with Meryl Swanson today who is a member of parliament, of course, part of my team, the Member for Paterson, she has caught COVID. Her daughter has caught COVID. Her husband couldn't get a test, as of today, was driving around and trying to get tested for COVID, just adding to the trauma for that family.

TINGLE: Well, the numbers are clearly exploding. What should the Government be doing about it?

ALBANESE: Well, the Government should have prepared for this. The use of rapid antigen tests, for example, were there in September, were approved by the TGA, came into force from 1 November, and now we have supply issues. We have supply issues with boosters. So people can't get boosters, they want to go and get tested, they can't get tested, they're waiting in queues for hours only to be sent away, then they get told, well, you can't do those tests, go and get yourself a rapid antigen test and they can't find them and if they can find them they can't afford them. This is a public policy failure of momentous levels.

TINGLE: But is it something that you could fix overnight if you were suddenly in government?

ALBANESE: Well, you can't fix this sort of debacle overnight, but what you can do is actually plan forward. This Prime Minister likes to speak about 'shake and bake.' Well, this Prime Minister is characterised by 'set and forget', he just sits back and even when he turns up it's almost like he's still missing in action.

TINGLE: The Prime Minister said yesterday the federal government wouldn't subsidise all rapid antigen tests - you seemed to agree with him?

ALBANESE: No, I think that anyone who needs a rapid antigen test shouldn't be excluded from it because of their income. Our health system is based upon the principle of Medicare - that people get the healthcare they need when they require it.

TINGLE: But based on...

ALBANESE: And at the moment they're not getting that support.

TINGLE: But, Mr Albanese, based on Medicare, everybody should be able to get access to these tests, shouldn't they? I mean everybody can get access to the PCR tests at hubs?

ALBANESE: Absolutely, and I have no problem with that at all if the Government was to do that. They need to make sure, though, as a priority, given where they're at, one of the things that we're trying to do is to encourage the Government to make sure that no-one's excluded. The circumstances whereby, for example, the Exodus Foundation had to spend $13,000 of money raised, that Bill Crews raises to feed the homeless and look after the vulnerable on PCR tests so people could attend Christmas Day lunch and now they're having difficulty getting access to rapid antigen tests to provide for these vulnerable people.

TINGLE: But Sharon Lewin says the tests should just be free for everybody - do you agree with that?

ALBANESE: I would have no problem with that whatsoever. The truth is that at the moment, people can't get access to supply and if they can, for so many people it's simply unaffordable.

TINGLE: For much of the pandemic, you've put forward a pretty straightforward plan for how Labor would deal with COVID - that was to fix the vaccine rollout, build dedicated quarantine facilities, have an effective public information campaign and start making mRNA vaccines. Do we still need quarantine facilities and who would you see using them?

ALBANESE: We do. We still have Australians who were told they would be home to Australia last Christmas, who still haven't been able to get home. We still have an issue with regard to quarantine, and it's good that Annastacia Palaszczuk has stepped into the gap to help with the Wellcamp facility outside of Toowoomba. The fact is that it is a tragedy that a year ago we were raising those very issues and now a year later, we still don't have an effective rollout of the vaccine - in this case boosters. People are getting their appointments cancelled. We still don't have purpose-built quarantine. The public information campaign is confusing to say the least - anyone who can understand the Prime Minister's last press conference - it was incredibly confusing and contradictory. And of course we're still not producing mRNA vaccines here in spite of the fact that the industry minister of the time, a couple of industry ministers ago, said that by now we would be producing it.

TINGLE: One of the first measures the Government took when the pandemic started was to close the borders. Given what's happened with Omicron, do they still need to be closed, or would it be better to open them to help us get the skilled workers in that we need?

ALBANESE: Well, we need to get Australians home. In many cases that's precisely the example, as well, of where purpose-built quarantine could assist with that process, and also assist with getting the skilled workers, many of whom are needed, to keep our economy and businesses going.

TINGLE: What's your reading of the economic impact of the morphing of the pandemic in the last month, and does the Government need to consider further economic assistance to households and businesses?

ALBANESE: What this Government has never understood is that unless you get the health outcomes right, the impact on the economy will be more negative. So you need to get the health outcomes right first, and that will minimise the economic impact, it will minimise the impact on jobs and economic activity.

TINGLE: Yes, but there is an economic impact - should the Government be doing more now?

ALBANESE: Well, the Government should be getting the health outcomes right first, but also monitoring any assistance which is required. There are still whole sectors that are just missing out, such as those in the arts community, who are having events cancelled, who haven't had an income now for a couple of years. We still don't have an appropriate insurance scheme, for example, providing support for events organisers. That's having a real impact on their viability.

TINGLE: Anthony Albanese, thanks for your time tonight.

ALBANESE: Thanks very much, Laura.