SUBJECTS: Federal election; 2019 election results; Labor’s policy agenda; car accident; Scott Morrison’s failures during the COVID-19 pandemic; DJ Albo.
 
HOST: Well, we do get Scott Morrison on all the time. We do have an election around the corner. So, we thought it's only fitting to get the Opposition Leader on this morning. Welcome to the show, Anthony Albanese, Albo.
 
ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: Good morning.
 
HOST: Mate, it is so good to have you on. I know you are an Inner West boy, you still come in for a beer in Balmain every now and then. So, we appreciate you coming.
 
ALBANESE: Indeed. You're a constituent, mate.
 
HOST: I am. And there's a couple of things that I need to talk to you about Balmain. But we'll do that off-air.
 
HOST: He wanted to get some zip lines put in for quicker access to the city, didn't you, Fitz?
 
HOST: Could we do that, Albo? Some zip lines from our Balmain East straight over to Barangaroo.
 
ALBANESE: Sounds good. Not sure it is Federal Government responsibility, but, hey.
 
HOST: It is now. Hey, if you thought, Albo, if you take out the top job on election day and the votes come in for you, have you and Jodie had a conversation about how it will change your life? And what does she think?
 
ALBANESE: Well, one of the things that we're doing is not talking about getting ahead of ourselves. Anyone in the Labor Party, we know in 2019, it was a pretty bad night for us in May, in part because there was this big expectation. I was live on one of the TV programs. And it was not good. Things aren't going well when the people who are supposed to be ringing you with the results, no one's ringing or texting.
 
HOST: That happens with our radio results as well. When we don't get a call, we know we are in a bit of trouble.
 
ALBANESE: You know it's not good when that happens.
 
HOST: It would be a sickening feeling, wouldn't it, Albo?
 
ALBANESE: It was devastating. I was expecting us to win. And we had the exit polls that day say that we were 52-48 ahead. And it was the reverse of that. So, my job has been to hang on to the 48, but to add to that with just three in every 100 more and it puts us on 51. So, we'll wait and see what happens. But you can't take the Australian people for granted. And I think that, three years on, this Government is now shooting for a second decade in office. I think Australians will say themselves, 'Okay, is this as good as it gets, or can we do better?' And we've been busy trying to hold the Government to account, but also putting forward some positive ideas for free TAFE and extra uni places and dealing with climate change.
 
HOST: Free welding, Albo?
 
ALBANESE: If you want a guy to shampoo your hair and weld without a mask on and all that, then play a ukulele, kind of, then Scott is your guy.
 
HOST: Where do you think, on that front, I mean, Scott Morrison's popularity has never been lower, where do you think, specifically, he's gone wrong? Where's the worst point we've seen?
 
ALBANESE: I think people are wanting him to do his job. And his job was to order enough vaccines. His job was to order rapid antigen tests. His job was to plan. The crisis in aged care is there right now. Too many people can't visit their mum or dad or grandpa or grandma. And you had to plan ahead, given the warnings that were there. I mean, it's one thing if you don't know, and it's been a difficult time, to be fair, any government would have had some difficulties. But we knew that the vaccines were the key to keeping people safe. And that wasn't really delivered on time. They knocked back the orders that could have been put in from Pfizer very early on. And they never ever did anything about purpose-built quarantine, which is where the outbreaks came from.
 
HOST: Albo, can we talk about your lovely lady? Because, you know what, the focus will be on her as well. We saw on 60 Minutes with Scott and Jenny. And I know you're going on 60 Minutes soon. You've done a lovely shoot for Women's Weekly as well, which looks lovely. It's funny that when you had that accident, which I didn't know how serious it was, Albo, but Jodie says it was in that moment, it was very scary, and in that moment, you realise how much you love this person. That was the moment when she realised how much she was in love with you. Did you set that up on purpose just to get her, Albo? Is that what you did?
 
ALBANESE: Well, it's a big call to say that I talked to a guy in a Range Rover and said, 'Please, please give me a head-on crash and write off my car and put me in hospital'. Everyone who saw the car, I was still in it, stuck in it, they say when they first saw the car, they stopped for a second and thought, 'Well, he can't have survived that'. I've got to say, sitting in the car as the car came towards me on the wrong side of the road, I thought, 'Oh, well, this is how it ends'. It was an extraordinary moment in my life. And it's not surprising that, at a time like that, you really think about what matters.
 
HOST: Albo, you've done some time as a DJ as well. If you come onto this show and doing wrap-up the week or maybe a song, have you got a favourite song?
 
ALBANESE: I've got lots of favourite songs which reflect my age, probably. I usually finish my sets with The Passenger, which, of course, you can get some audience participation to Iggy Pop there with 'La la la la la la la la'.
 
HOST: Have you done a DJ set recently?
 
ALBANESE: I haven't done one recently. I've been a bit busy. It's kind of a full-time job.
 
HOST: Well, I was going to say, on polling day, it's not a bad idea with you to be on the decks down at your local constituent and do it there, Albo. People would love that.
 
ALBANESE: I did at Annandale Public School one year. I did a bit of Taylor Swift with the kids there. Peter Oxley, former Sunnyboys legend, is one of the people involved there. And Melanie, I think she's now the principal at Annandale North Public School.
 
HOST: What is the one song to get everybody going on the dance floor, Albo?
 
ALBANESE: Shake It Off.
 
HOST: Shake It Off by Taylor Swift.
 
ALBANESE: You've got to dance to that.
 
HOST: Well, we've had Gladys perform. Mike Baird did a bit of Midnight Oil. Dominic Perrottet reckons he might do Circle of Life by Elton John. So, we might have to get Albo, if you do win the election, that's your promise to us. You will perform Shake It Off on the Fitzy and Wippa show?
 
ALBANESE: That is a done deal. That could be the difference in this election.
 
HOST: That could be.
 
HOST: You never know.
 
ALBANESE: There will be hundreds of thousands of people go, 'I want to hear that, so I'll vote Labor'.
 
HOST: Well done, mate. Albo, we appreciate your time. Thanks for coming on the show.
 
ALBANESE: Good on you. Have a great day, everyone.
 
ENDS