SUBJECTS: WA transport infrastructure announcement; WA Covid update; Campaigning; Russia / Ukraine; Aged care; Australian manufacturing; Majority government; strong Labor team; Commonwealth / State & Territory relations; Debt reduction; Government appointments; Curtin electorate; Labor’s clear agenda.
 
MATT KEOGH, FEDERAL MEMBER FOR BURT: Good morning, everybody. I'm Matt Keogh, the Federal Member for Burt. It's great to have you all down here at the William Street level crossing here in Beckenham and it's my pleasure to be joined by Labor leader Anthony Albanese and WA Premier Mark McGowan and of course WA Transport Minister, Rita Saffioti. Here in Beckenham, we see at this level crossing in William Street huge congestion every day. Beckenham is a suburb like so many around it that is experiencing huge urban infill and population growth. That means congestion is only going to be getting worse, as we see more traffic on our roads here. We're also blessed to have the Metronet project of the Thornlie-Cockburn Link coming online in a few years’ time, which will be a huge benefit to our community. But of course, it's going to put even more trains through this railway line. At the moment, this level crossing is already closed for nearly four hours every day. That situation, of course, will get worse. And so it's really important that we address these issues of congestion in our local community to make everybody's here their lives better. And that's something that I've been pushing for, that I know the local government here has been pushing for, the State government has been pushing for, it's so important for our local communities to resolve that congestion. And also make sure that everyone’s journeys are safer. So I'm so pleased to be able to have Anthony Albanese, our Labor Leader here to make a very important announcement on behalf of our community, on behalf of Labor.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: Well, thanks very much, Matt. It's great to be back in your electorate again, and also to be joined by Premier Mark McGowan and Rita Saffioti who enjoy a long term relationship with building things here in Perth and throughout Western Australia. Today’s announcement is about busting congestion. It's about improving road safety. This level crossing here closes 266 times, each and every day. And what that does is hold up traffic, and also as a safety issue as cars are heading in the direction of here all of a sudden have to stop here each and every day. What we want to look for is to partner with Western Australia in projects that will improve productivity, improve road safety, and make a difference to people's lives. And this project here, which will be jointly funded from a Federal Labor Government that I lead together with Mark McGowan's Labor Government here in WA will make an enormous difference to this growing community. And I thank Matt for his advocacy in this project. These bells ringing that we're hearing now, 266 times every single day, can be stopped, they can be stopped by this investment. And it's an investment that Federal Labor and the State Labor Government will join to deliver, making a difference, creating jobs as well while this infrastructure is built. I hand now to the Premier of WA, Mark McGowan.

MARK MCGOWAN, PREMIER OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA: Thanks very much Anthony, before I comment on this, I'll just give you the latest figures up till 8pm last night, we were reporting 7,998 new cases. So just under 8,000 new cases of these 3,255 were confirmed through PCR and 4,743 were confirmed through RAT tests, which I think shows the value of our free RAT program in WA. To 8pm last night, there were 256 cases in hospital out of those eight were in ICU, which is a slight reduction on yesterday, which is good news. Overall cases have dropped down to 45,766. We had 15,773 PCR tests yesterday. There were no deaths recorded yesterday. However, there will be three historical deaths that will be reported today or people who sadly passed away in the last few weeks with COVID, so that will be reported today.

Today's announcement by Anthony Albanese is much welcomed. This level crossing here has been a terrible blight on the community now for many decades and has caused immense disruption to the lives of people living in Beckenham and surrounding suburbs. Removing level crossings is an important part of our Metronet program, particularly on the older lines such as the Armadale line, and we're removing five further up, we're dealing with Denny Avenue. And we're also now looking forward to a federal commitment, if federal Labor is elected, towards this level crossing here. This one closes up to 260 or so times a day, which obviously is immensely disruptive to local people and elevating the rail line creating a new rail station will be a huge quality of life improvement. It will create jobs and doing so it'll make life more and business more efficient in this area and enhance urban infill through here. So all around, it's a huge win for Western Australia and I'd like to welcome this commitment by Federal Labor, I'll hand over the Transport Minister to say a few words.

RITA SAFFIOTI, WA MINISTER FOR TRANSPORT: Thank you Premier, we welcome this commitment by Federal Labor to remove this level crossing here. As you can see, the existing station is split into two. This is a very, very busy area. And we also want to support further redevelopment in this area. New housing opportunities, the removal of this level crossing will facilitate that. We welcome the commitment, and should Anthony Albanese become Prime Minister we'll get onto this project as soon as possible and of course, this is part of our whole package at Metronet, which is creating over 10,000 jobs at the moment, and also building world class infrastructure for the future. Thank you.

ALBANESE: Thanks, we’re happy to take questions.

JOURNALIST: (inaudible) At yesterday's press conference, did you catch up with him afterwards? What did he want, and what do you make of the confrontations between the Prime Minister and voters in Newcastle last night?

ALBANESE: Look the gentleman was associated with the truck that was there yesterday. This wasn't someone just passing by. With regard to the Prime Minister yesterday, I think that people should engage politely wherever possible and it is important in this country that we're able to have civil discourse and it's good that here in Australia we can have our politicians get out and about. Yesterday with the Premier, we went to Westfield Carousel for some period of time, there in the electorate of Swan. We engaged with many, many dozens of people during that visit. And not just from Perth, there was one fellow who was getting his car serviced from Albany, he had driven up from Albany and we engaged with him. It was a terrific opportunity to hear the issues firsthand from people and I'll be doing that as much as possible during this campaign.

JOURNALIST: You have previously been lockstep with the government when it comes to Ukraine, but now you're calling for Russian diplomats to be kicked out. How come? And are you suggesting the government is soft on Russia?

ALBANESE: No, I'm not suggesting that at all. What I'm suggesting is that the government should consider doing what countries like France and Italy and others in Europe have done, which is to expel diplomats in response to the outrageous atrocities that are being committed by Russian forces. In Ukraine. We have war crimes being committed, we have civilians being murdered, we have rape being used as a weapon of war. And we need to send the strongest possible message to Russia, and join with our allies in Europe, who've made this decision.

JOURNALIST: Are there not reasonable operational reasons for keeping Russian diplomats in Australia like managing our citizens and our diplomats in Russia?

ALBANESE: Well, we haven't suggested the expulsion of the Russian Ambassador to Australia, what we suggest is that we join with other like minded countries in sending a very strong message to Russia. And we make that suggestion to the government, we have been very supportive of the measures that the government have made up to this point in time. But with the information and the escalation that has occurred from Russia, it's very clear that Vladimir Putin doesn't seem to be getting the message from the rest of the world, the rest of the world, we are all saying Australians are united in their opposition to the intervention in Ukraine, it's important that we continue to send the strongest possible message. And one way we could do that is expulsion of some diplomats.

JOURNALIST: In a video over night purporting to show Ukrainian troops shooting Russian prisoners of war, is it important that the horrors of war (inaudible) and both sides need to be held to account?

ALBANESE: Look, it's absolutely important that we have a ceasefire and a stop to these atrocities. The truth is that Ukraine is a sovereign nation that's been invaded illegally by Russia, there is no justification for Russia's intervention, and for the atrocities that have been committed. And of course, all sides, all sides should engage in in a way that is appropriate. There is never any justification for the murder of civilians. What we're seeing is a ruthless intervention. We're seeing bombing of civilian targets we're seeing the murder of civilians in Ukraine.

JOURNALIST: (inaudible) on aged care about having a nurse in every aged care home within a year, you said that was your objective, is that a commitment or an aspiration?

ALBANESE: Well, call it what you like. It's working with the community to deliver on our commitment. That's what we will do. And we've had a number of suggestions made in the way in which you could do it, but there's two sides, what you can do, is you can sit back and say it's acceptable, that there isn't a nurse in every nursing home, we won't worry about the Royal Commission recommendations, we won't try to make things better. Or you can do what we're doing, which is to say that we'll implement the recommendations of the Royal Commission, a central, one of which is a nurse in every nursing home. Now, there are a range of ways in which you can do that. One is by attracting people back into the workforce. So it's a constructive suggestion by Seniors Australia yesterday about another way in which you could do that. Of course, we know that in our nursing sector, there's a range of migration issues whereby people can be attracted to Australia. And of course, as well, we've said we'll have 20,000 additional university places. In addition to that, we'll have over 400,000 fee-free TAFE places targeted at areas of skill shortage, including the aged care sector. I just find it astonishing that this government called a Royal Commission into aged care, it made very clear recommendations, a nurse in every nursing home, 215 minutes of care, better food and nutrition, better regulation. What we're doing is saying that we will do that, the other recommendation that they made was about wages for people in aged care. We make no apologies for saying that people earning $22 an hour for the tough, physical and emotional work that comes from working in the aged care sector is not enough. And we'll make a submission to the Fair Work Commission saying there should be an increase in wages for people in the sector. Now the government will have to fund that whoever is in government, whatever the Fair Work Commission decides will have to be funded. That is the law. It's not something that's an option. So we have this nonsense from this government, a government that has presided over a crisis in aged care, and has no plan to deal with it.

Labor looks at the problems which are there and is putting in place mechanisms to deal with the issues that confront Australia and the challenges going ahead. Whether that be better infrastructure, whether it be dealing with the crisis in aged care, whether it be cheaper childcare and doing measures to improve people's living standards, whether it be more secure work for each of those areas, we have plans. And we also have a plan here in Western Australia and throughout the Commonwealth that we've had talks about, again, today about a future made in Australia. Here in Western Australia they're making train carriages, they're making things here and guess what, they'll fit the stations, unlike what's happening under Liberal governments in other states, whereby they're purchasing infrastructure and train carriages and light rail carriages overseas, and they're not fit for purpose. We need to make more things here. That is one of the big objectives that we have, a major part of our campaign will be our Future Made in Australia. And we'll be making more announcements about that if ever the Prime Minister gets around to formally calling the election campaign, if ever he decides that he has spent enough taxpayer money on ads in the lead up to the election.

JOURNALIST: Five of the lower house Independents have all ruled out doing a deal in the event of a hung Parliament. Does that concern you at all?

ALBANESE: No. I'm campaigning for a majority Labor Government. And I'm the only person running for Prime Minister in this election who is saying I will seek to form government in my own right. That's what I'm asking for, I'm asking for people to vote Labor. We've seen Scott Morrison who's part of a Coalition now with the National Party, whereby Barnaby Joyce gets to decide what the climate change policy is for this government. No wonder there are issues in electorates like Curtin and others for people who want serious action on climate change, or who want a national Anti-Corruption Commission, or who want people to be safe and to be treated properly. This government at this election, Scott Morrison can't say that he wants to form government in his own right, because that's not going to happen. It's not the case now. I want to form a majority Labor government and I want to work with State and Territory governments across the political spectrum, to have a better future for this country.

JOURNALIST: What will happen in the event of a hung Parliament?

ALBANESE: I'm campaigning for a majority Labor government. That's what I'm campaigning for.
JOURNALIST: Will you negotiate with the Greens if you have to?

ALBANESE: No.

JOURNALIST: If you have to?

ALBANESE: No.

JOURNALIST: Will you work with Independents then?

ALBANESE: Look what I will do, and you don't have to theorise about this, I've been the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, I've been the acting Prime Minister of Australia. And after 2013, when I became the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, we didn't do, that was in a minority government, we didn't do arrangements with any of the crossbenches. We went into that Parliament, we said if you want to vote for the other side and change the government that could have occurred on the morning after I became Deputy Prime Minister. So my position is very clear. We will implement the agenda that we're putting forward at this election is the one that we will implement in government. That is the proposition that we have going forward. And I'm the only candidate, I'm the only candidate for Prime Minister in this election, and there's only two of us, and the only one who can say I'm seeking to form government in my own right.

JOURNALIST: (inaudible)

ALBANESE: We’re running a very clear position going forward, I’m the Leader of the Labor Party. I'm very proud of my team, we will be the most experienced incoming Labor government in history. Labor has formed government three times since the Second World War, under Gough Whitlam, Bob Hawke and Kevin Rudd. None of those three gentlemen, fine Prime Ministers that they were, had ever served as a Minister. I've served as Deputy Prime Minister. I've served as a senior Minister in the government, in infrastructure, communications, regional development, local government, a range of portfolios. I've been leader of the government in the House of Representatives and chaired the Parliamentary business committee and seen through every piece of legislation that was carried during that time, and I've been acting Prime Minister, and we will have senior members of the government who've served as senior Ministers before, Penny Wong has been the Senate leader in the past and will have new Ministers like Matt Keogh, behind me, who’s come in as part of the team, and people like Matt Keogh and Madeline King, and potentially others as well. But those two have made a real difference representing WA in the most senior levels of the party, and I look forward to them being joined by more members of the WA Labor Caucus.

JOURNALIST: Does Matt have a chance on being on the front bench? 

ALBANESE: Well that of course is a decision for Caucus. And I don't want to preempt that process. But let me tell you, he's done a fantastic job. And I look forward to him serving as a Minister. I didn't know Matt, I've got to say before he ran in the by-election here, I met him, the first time I met him I was impressed. And he's been outstanding. He has played a key role in areas like small business and defence. He'll continue to play a key role as will other members of the WA team, we have the quality, what we're missing is the quantity. And it's up to the people of WA and I hope that they send more members from the Labor Party to Canberra.

JOURNALIST: Will the Labor Government extend the deal to share the health costs of COVID-19, the deal to split that between State and Commonwealth, Premier McGowan said after the Federal Budget he’s disappointed it’s still expiring in September and he wanted it extend it into next year, is that something a Labor Government will commit to?

ALBANESE: Well, everything stops after the election. That's one of the big distinctions at this election is that you have a government that is arrogant, that is shooting for a second term, a second decade in office, but handed down a Budget where all the handouts and everything else end as soon as people have cast their ballot papers, whether it be the changes to petrol, whether it be the one off payments to people in aged care, the one off payments to pensions, what they're hoping is that they might as well have stapled cash to the ballot papers, because it all ends, and what we'll see from the government is what we saw in 2014. That’s cuts to essential services, cuts to support for the States, a return to the sort of values that were reflected in that 2014 Budget. What this government needs to do, and what I aim to do, but they won't, is to have a plan, not for six weeks that expires at the end of May. We need a plan for this country's future. A plan for job creation, a plan for new industries, a plan to deal with the opportunities that come from dealing with climate change, a plan to make more things here, a plan to address living standards by lowering energy prices and lowering childcare costs, a plan for the country. That's what we have. They have a plan to get themselves through an election. And everything all stops, straight afterwards. So I will have a constructive relationship with State and Territories, I'll sit down and we're not getting ahead of ourselves. But we'll sit down and be open to discussions at any time about issues which are of concern. I want cooperative Federalism going forward, not the sort of scene that we've seen, whereby you have a Prime Minister in Canberra who has described Western Australians as cave dwellers, and who sided with Clive Palmer to say the border should be opened up here.

JOURNALIST: What’s your plan for debt reduction?

ALBANESE: Well, our plan, our plan is exactly as we have outlined, we have a plan to actually prioritise growth and productivity. This project here today is an example of an investment that will produce a return. If you make it so that people don't have to stop 266 times a day, what you are doing is boosting productivity. That's our priority in terms of infrastructure. The reason why we picked areas like childcare is that it's not about welfare. It's about increasing women's workforce participation, increasing productivity, so it's an investment that produces a return that helps to make a difference over a period of time to the balance sheet. That's why we want to make more things here, so we have more jobs here, we have more revenue generated here as well. So our agenda is very much for that, we've been responsible in the commitments that we've made. And the other thing that we will do, this is a government that has spent five and a half billion dollars, five and a half billion, more than double the costs of our aged care package, that they say they can't afford to give older Australians decent food. But they've spent five and a half billion dollars on the French subs deal that has produced nothing except a torn-up contract. They, as we are speaking now, continue to spend taxpayers’ funds on advertising for partisan political purposes. They continue to make appointments to government boards, there'll be more today, they'll roll them out today, more appointments of mates to government boards, using taxpayer funds. That is such an enormous waste. The problem with this government is that it doesn't draw a distinction between taxpayer funds and Liberal Party funds, which is why we need a National Anti-Corruption Commission, why it's something that I will deliver, unlike what this government has done, which is promising it in 2018 and not deliver one. Just a couple more.

JOURNALIST: In Curtin, one in four voters in that electorate still haven't made up their mind about you, is that a sign that your small target strategy is a little bit too small?

ALBANESE: Well I'll give you the big tip. Whilst I hope our Labor candidate for Curtin is successful, it won't be the 76th seat that we win at this election if we're successful going forward. So we make, we make no apologies for the positions that we've put forward. It is true, it's just a fact that during the pandemic, you had not politics as usual. You had State Premiers, and Territory Premiers and indeed, our Chief Medical Officers, who no one had heard of, before standing up every day, and doing prime time media conferences, you had Married at First Sight broken into with addresses to the nation. That was a time where if you're an Opposition Leader, it was difficult to get as much cut through as you would if it wasn't the case. But I'll tell you what, the Opposition Leaders that did get cut through are the ones that were irresponsible, and the one that didn't put the interests of their State or nation first. Opposition Leaders like here in WA, and they failed to support the good actions of Mark McGowan and his government. What I did was put the national interest first, I make no apologies for that. We didn't allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good. We suggested programs like wage subsidies that the government dismissed and said were dangerous at the time, that became JobKeeper. We continue to be constructive. Some of our ideas were adopted like that. Other ideas, like the fact that it was a race to get people vaccinated, the government ignored. And we know the consequences of that was that the impact of the pandemic was worse than it would have been if the government had shown leadership. So I make no apologies for the way that I've conducted myself as Leader of the Labor Party. On the day I became Leader I said I wanted to be known as the Labor Leader, not the Opposition Leader, because I wanted to be constructive and people had had enough of politics as usual. This government continued to act like the opposition in exile on the government benches. We've seen, for example, how people sit around and think it's clever, I know will register albanese.com.au so that we can redirect people to the Liberal Party site. That's their priority, because they don't have an agenda that they're proud of themselves, and they don't have an agenda for a next term. I have a clear agenda. It's one that I'll continue to advance. Last one.

JOURNALIST: (inaudible) we’re heading towards a trillion dollars of debt, we're gonna need more than that, are you going to increase taxes, or reducing spending or cutting spending?

ALBANESE: No, no. All of our policies are out there for all to see. They're very clear. They're very clear and we've said it, as much as some in the media seem to be cheering for policies that don't exist, they've been ruled out by us. I can't be clearer. And we'll be we'll be held to account for the agenda that we're taking to this election, because an agenda that will improve people's lives by boosting productivity, boosting infrastructure by making childcare cheaper by making more things here, by making work more secure, dealing with these issues, practical measures like 10 days paid domestic and family violence leave to make a difference to people's lives. We make no apologies for that. It's a constructive agenda for a better future where no one is left behind and no one is held back. Labor's is the party that looks after the disadvantaged, but we're also the party of opportunity and aspiration. We want a better life for people. We want people to aspire to a better life for their kids than they themselves have. That's my life story. That's my life story. And that's a good thing. Thanks very much.

ENDS