SUBJECTS: Federal election; lack of trust in Scott Morrison and his Government; last sitting fortnight of Parliament for the year; religious freedom bill; vaccine mandates.
 
ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: Well, Parliament's here for the last two weeks. And it occurs in the context of the pre-caretaker period before the election. The election that will see a Government that's been in office for three full terms shooting for a second decade in office. One that has no legacy and no record to point to from their first three terms, but are saying to the Australian people, 'Just elect us and we'll get better in our fourth term, in our second decade'. Well, I think Australians will look at the Coalition today, a Coalition that are all over the place when it comes to their own Party room, that have Government members threatening to cross the floor, threatening to withhold support from legislation. If you can't control the Parliament, you can't actually run the country. And it's very clear from this Government that towards the very end of the third term, they've got out all the promises that they made before the last election that they've just forgotten about, that they've ignored. Commitments to a National Anti-corruption Commission, commitments to a religious discrimination bill, commitments to a Voice to Parliament and advancing Indigenous constitutional recognition in this country. At the end of this term, they have nothing to show for those measures. They also don't have any big economic reform, any social policy reform, there's not a major infrastructure project that has begun during this term of office. And on climate, they're still all over the shop. They now have a vibe, but they don't have a policy. This is a Government that do not deserve another term in office, led by a weak Prime Minister who's incapable of even condemning without then adding a but for the sort of images and violent statements that we've seen in Victoria and other places.
 
JOURNALIST: Do you believe in vaccine mandates?
 
ALBANESE: I believe in health orders and following health orders. And what I know is that yesterday, when I got a cup of coffee at the coffee shop in Illawarra Road, Marrickville, Warren & Holt, a very good local business, shout out to small businesses out there, who had been through a difficult time. But guess what? Whether it's there or whether the General Gordon Hotel in St Peters I went into on Thursday night, you have to show your vaccination certificates. You have to do that. That's in New South Wales. I support the New South Wales Liberal Government in what they are doing to keep the citizens of New South Wales safe. I don't understand why it's difficult for a Prime Minister to say that he supports state governments and the health orders that they have made based upon health advice. But this Prime Minister plays political games. There are constraints as we speak now. I can't go to Tasmania. I can't go to South Australia yet, I don't think. That's opening up pretty soon. I can't go to Western Australia. I can't go to Queensland. That's the way it is. Those measures have been put in place. Yes, they are difficult. But business is saying that they want the certainty, as well as the feedback that I've gotten from those small businesses. And guess what? The coffee shop yesterday, I had to wait outside for a table. It was full. The General Gordon Hotel on Thursday night was full. People are getting out there. And we're moving back to resuming a normal way of life. I've visited Victoria twice in the last couple of weeks. On both occasions, I've seen people out and about, and I have had a couple of terrific meals at restaurants in Melbourne. Had to show my vaccination certificate on the way through.
 
JOURNALIST: Have you seen the final religious discrimination act? And on principle, do you support schools being able to hire based on faith?
 
ALBANESE: Well, I haven't seen it. And let me just say this. This is at the end of the third term, the last two sitting weeks when the Prime Minister declared that we're in pre-caretaker mode a fortnight ago. And he's in the middle of an election campaign. That's what his own spin doctors have been up here talking to all you fine folk in the media, telling you in the last fortnight. I agree with a very prominent religious leader from one of, if not, the largest churches in Australia, who has expressed to me a great deal of disappointment that there hasn't been a reaching out across the aisle. This should not be a partisan issue. It should be an issue which just unites the country. We shouldn't support discrimination on the basis of someone's religion. And why is it that we're here, Parliament's sitting today, and we still haven't seen the legislation, it hasn't been released publicly, you have your selective drops. I don't know what's in it.
 
JOURNALIST: You say that the Government has forgotten about the election promises. But given we have been dealing with the pandemic for the last two years, do you think that is a pretty reasonable excuse for having to delay some of those things?
 
ALBANESE: Not at all. They were elected in 2019, in May. I don't know if you're here in 2019, but I was. This Government were able to put forward legislation. What happens when a government is elected normally, and I make this commitment, when we're elected, the commitments that we make, we will introduce early in the term. That's what you do. That's what governments do. That's the way democracies function. The fact is that this Government have had time to introduce a whole lot of legislation based upon its political whims. They've had the opportunity to do that. Parliament has sat in normal ways for this term, in terms of this entire session has been uninterrupted. Labor has been very cooperative the whole way through to make sure that Parliament functions properly. We allowed the fast passage of legislation when it was appropriate to do so in terms of legislation for impact on the response to the pandemic. The Government has no excuse. Where is the religious discrimination act in terms of, we still haven't seen it? Where's the National Anti-corruption legislation? Where's the Voice to Parliament? This Government should have, because of the pandemic, it requires more than normal for it to release drafts for it to be transparent about the way that it operates. But with this Government, it is always about the 24-hour political cycle for Scott Morrison. And that's why he gets into trouble. Because it's always about what he says today and what's on the front page of particular newspapers today. Never about what he said a week ago. That's why he can say he never said that electric vehicles would end the weekend, even though there's this thing called the internet that you can look up and see him saying those things. That's why he says he's not accountable for his own words. Because for Scott Morrison, it is always about that 24-hour media cycle. And that's why he can't be trusted. That's why he's incapable of taking Australia into the future, because he’s incapable of shaping the future. Because it's always just about that very short-termism. And that's why they don't deserve a second decade in office. Thanks very much.
 
ENDS