JIMMY SMITH, HOST: Nath, Em, please get the round of applause ready for a leader who has dedicated his career to public service and advocating for the betterment of all Australians. Growing up in public housing with a single mother, he learned the values of resilience, hard work and community principles that have guided his approach to leadership. Over the years, he has focused on strengthening the economy, investing in infrastructure and supporting policies aimed at creating opportunities for Australians from all walks of life. With a commitment to progress and collaboration, he has worked to drive innovation, support working families and ensure a strong future for the nation. He may be a little upset that his Bunnies went down 24-16 to the Storm and Trell Mit, the Taree Ferrari, may be out for a little bit. He's pretty close on the price of eggs, it's $8, not $7, but at least the other bloke, I mean, that was pretty bad $4.20, what was he thinking?
 
EMMA CHOW, HOST: How out of touch.
 
HOST: He did win two of the four debates. One of them didn't have a winner, but in my heart it was Anthony Albanese. And please welcome him to the show the Leader of the Labor Party, the 31st Prime Minister of Australia. It is the Honourable Anthony Albanese!
 
NATH ROYE, HOST: Hello Albo.
 
HOST: Hey Albo.
 
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Wow, what a welcome.
 
HOST: Mate, we had to big you up after the Bunnies going down over the weekend.
 
HOST: I too was sad.
 
PRIME MINISTER: Melbourne Storm, what is it? We just cannot win. I think we're zero for 20.
 
[LAUGHTER]
 
HOST: Yeah.
 
HOST: Yeah. I didn't want to mention that part.
 
PRIME MINISTER: There's more chance of Peter Dutton supporting the vulnerable than there is of us beating Melbourne.
 
[LAUGHTER]
 
HOST: Burn!
 
HOST: It's my favourite thing, you know, you've got a horse in the race. I'm going to vote for you, Anth, and the Labor Party. I'll be honest about it. But the fact that you had to go at the other fella and incorporated rugby league. You've made my morning.
 
HOST: Albo, you've combined two of my favourite things.
 
PRIME MINISTER: That's the way I roll, you know.
 
HOST: Hey, Albo, since we were talking about it, Million Dollar Monday it is today. We've got Tegan after 8am who is hopefully going to take home $1 million. She's picked number 34 out of 100, which, out of interest, not that she can change her number anyway, what number would you have picked for $1 million between one to 100?
 
PRIME MINISTER: I probably would go for 31 because I'm the 31st Prime Minister. But, you know, when I go from one to 10, seven because I was a pretty ordinary halfback. So, seven is the number I usually pick.
 
[LAUGHTER]
 
HOST: Right, okay.
 
PRIME MINISTER: But that's too low. I reckon it won't be single digits. So I reckon you've got to go for a double-digit number. Although you could be sneaky and just, you know, no one would pick number two or number one or something.
 
HOST: No, that's true.
 
HOST: Albo, you’ve -
 
PRIME MINISTER: A million bucks, that's big dollars.
 
HOST: It's big money. And you were such a politician then because I think you said like eight different numbers then, Albo.
 
PRIME MINISTER: No, 31!
 
HOST: 31!
 
HOST: He's sticking with 31! We'll call you back if it wins.
 
PRIME MINISTER: Hey, if it's 31, do I get anything to help fund the campaign?
 
HOST: No.
 
HOST: Nah.
 
HOST: I’m just looking out at our legal team.
 
HOST: Sorry, Albo.
 
PRIME MINISTER: $31?
 
HOST: Yeah.
 
PRIME MINISTER: Can I pick up the $31 if it's 31?
 
HOST: Okay, Okay, Albo, here's the thing. If it's 31, I will personally give you $31. And you can –
 
PRIME MINISTER: Alright, done.
 
HOST: Another one of those little plastic billboards with your face on it, potentially.
 
HOST: Albo, we want to chat about this massive health revamp, the promise to rebrand Health Direct as 1800MEDICARE. I mean, Em, you were talking about it earlier. I mean, a lot of the times when, you know, you are sick, it's not the hours a GP opens.
 
HOST: No, it's not. Like, why do you get violent diarrhoea in the middle of the night? You need to talk to a doctor and they're not open. And also, when you do telehealth at the moment, you still have to pay.
 
HOST: And you've got to stop calling us when that happens, Em. Sorry, Albo.
 
PRIME MINISTER: It will make such a difference for people. Our Urgent Care Clinics have been fabulous. There's 1.3 million people have been through them and all they need is their Medicare card there. But there is a gap there with telehealth. And particularly for families, you know, if your kid gets sick or if you have a Mum or Dad or Grandfather or Grandmother and they're going, “oh, I'm okay,” you know, they're toughing it out. And you just need to speak to a nurse to get advice on the line. Having a 24-hour number that you can ring and guarantee that you get access will make an enormous difference to our health system. And it'll take pressure off emergency departments, as well, because quite often, you know, people will take their kid because they’re worried and they can get that advice when they need it.
 
HOST: Yeah, well, Albo, as someone who lives like opposite a hospital, you can see at all hours of the day how busy that thing is constantly. So, any way to reduce the strain that our medical systems face each and every day, I think is an advantage, yeah?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, absolutely. And that's why primary health care is so important, getting that access to advice and support. They'll tell you, it might be that the person on the end of the line, and of course, it will be possible as well to FaceTime and to actually have a face-to-face discussion, show if there is something physical showing to show the nurse over that video link and so it will make an enormous difference to people and of course it will be free. It'll be up and running by the 1st of January of next year, 2026. And we've really done a lot of work on what are the gaps in the health system, how can we fill it, how can we make sure that Medicare is at the centre of everything that we do and do it for free. It's one of the things that gives me so much pride as Australia's Prime Minister is the fact that unlike the American system where people who haven't got health insurance essentially don't get the health care that they deserve, here in this country people need to get the health care they deserve when they need it, regardless of their status in life, their income, regardless of who they are. It's something that is at the heart of the fair go. That makes us the best country on earth.
 
HOST: Absolutely. Anthony, we've been told that we've got to wrap up and let you go because we know you're a busy man and we wish you all the best of luck this Saturday, May the 3rd, and we encourage everyone to get out there and vote. But I just want to leave you with this, mate. Would you rather, you know, we're talking about million-dollar choices and stuff, would you rather become Prime Minister again or your Bunnies win the NRL Premiership this year?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, I'm going for the double. It's not either or.
 
[LAUGHTER]
 
PRIME MINISTER: I think as Prime Minister, that's what I encourage the boys when I go into the shed, surely.
 
HOST: Yeah, that's true, Albo -
 
HOST: They've got some trouble -
 
PRIME MINISTER: I haven't been to a game this year. I'm just looking forward to after May 3. I've already slotted in the diary, home game versus the Broncos, Friday week, and hope to be able to get there.
 
HOST: Well, I'm just looking at May 3rd, if they're playing on May 3rd –
 
HOST: They play the night before.
 
PRIME MINISTER: We're playing the Knights in Magic Round.
 
HOST: There you go, the Knights -
 
HOST: So you'll be in Brisbane then campaigning?
 
PRIME MINISTER: [LAUGHS] No, I won't be.
 
[LAUGHTER]
 
HOST: Albo, thank you very much.
 
PRIME MINISTER: I might be checking out the score though, let me tell you.
 
HOST: [LAUGHS] Good on you, mate. We appreciate it. Good luck on Saturday and thanks for coming on the show, bud.
 
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you so much.
 
HOST: See ya Albo.
 
ENDS