SUBJECTS: NSW reopening; Labor’s Buy Australian Plan; Net Zero; Action on climate change; Scott Morrison unsure on attending Glasgow summit; release of Hekmatullah; division within the Coalition over climate change; National Farmers’ Federation demanding compensation for land-clearing laws.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY:It’s great to be here at Willie the Boatman with Pat and the team at work today. It is fantastic that people in Sydney and throughout New South Wales are able to enjoy some more freedoms today. People have really been missing that personal contact that comes from being able to go to a restaurant, go to a pub, go a local small business like this one here. But what we know is, the job is not done yet. People need to still follow the guidelines which are there. People need to cooperate and pay respect to the small businesses who do have to do their checks. They have to check that people are vaccinated, they have to keep up with the QR codes. We can’t afford to be complacent and to slip back further because we know the consequence, because on a number of occasions we’ve thought that we were through this and the truth is that we weren’t. We need to continue to get those vaccination rates up. So if you can get vaccinated, go and do it today, if you can. It is very important that we’re able to return to life as normal, that people are able to return to work, that people are able to go back to our way of life, which is very much about social interaction. So, congratulations to you, Pat. Pat has struggled during this period. I spoke about it in Parliament. The fact that small businesses kept people on because of their commitment to their workforce. And I say congratulations.

We also need to think about how we open up. And on Saturday, I launched the latest part of our Future Made in Australia, our Buy Australian Plan, the ten-point plan that we need to make sure that we maximise the benefits of government purchasing, that we have a Future Made in Australia office in the Department of Finance, working with the Department of Industry to make sure that we maximise opportunities. We need industry policies, that assist Australian participation wherever governments are involved. Now, this makes sense in terms of short-term job creation. But it makes sense as well in terms of long-term economic development. We need to develop our economic sovereignty. We need to develop our businesses. Because one of the things that COVID has exposed is our vulnerability to international shocks. Now, we know that this one has been a health pandemic. But we know we’re also vulnerable to issues like cyber and to the uncertainty in the international environment which is there. So we need national resilience. We need a plan to build back stronger, to make sure that we take advantage of the opportunities that are there as well from taking action on climate change.

Now, I welcome the Business Council of Australia adopting net zero emissions by 2050. I welcome the campaign by News Limited that we’ve seen launched today as well of heading towards zero by 2050. This is, as Labor has said the whole way along, an opportunity to create more jobs, to create more economic activity, particularly in regional Australia. But after so long, we cannot trust the Coalition Government. Even if they belatedly, after they’ve negotiated between themselves, come up with net zero by 2050 prior to Glasgow, it won’t mean much. We know that. The Howard Government went to the 2007 election saying that they supported an emissions trading scheme, saying belatedly that they would ratify the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. So what we see is that a Coalition in its dying days discovers the need to take action on climate action. It will take a Labor Government to take up the opportunities that are there for job creation in our regions, the opportunity that is there to make sure that we join with the world in meeting this challenge in the interests of this and future generations. Happy to take questions.

JOURNALIST: Mr Albanese, can you appreciate that some people are nervous about the reopening today?

ALBANESE: Look, it’s understandable. This is a big deal and we need to make sure that we get it right. But Australians have shown incredible resilience and a preparedness to make sacrifices for each other. And I’m confident that Australians will continue to do that. Australians out there have looked after themselves, their families, their local neighbours and their community by getting vaccinated. They’ve made enormous sacrifices. But there comes a point in time whereby there needs to be a reward for those sacrifices. And that reward is being able to return to a normal way of life. So I welcome the fact that businesses are able to open up today. I welcome the fact that people are able to be re-employed today. We need to make sure that we continue to be cautious, we continue to be careful, and that’s why it’s not a full opening up. There are guidelines there, people need to follow them, people need to be careful. But for the people of Sydney and New South Wales, this is a good day.

JOURNALIST: The BCA are now supporting a policy that Labor put forward (inaudible). Is this enough for Labor to now reconsider its medium term (inaudible)?

ALBANESE: Well, what we’ll do is we’ll put out all of our framework after Glasgow. I’ve said that consistently. I haven’t chopped and changed Labor’s view. On becoming Leader, one of the first announcements I made was for net zero emissions by 2050. And what we’ve consistently said is that the climate crisis is Australia’s jobs opportunity. That we can be a renewable energy superpower for the world. But in order to do that, it requires government leadership. And no one believes that this government is capable of that. They’ve had more than 20 different energy plans. And, as of today, there is no energy policy in this country. There is no climate policy in this country. Just a crossed fingers and a contradictory debate within the Liberal Party, within the National Party and between the Liberal Party and the National Party. It will take an Australian Labor Government working with business, working with unions, to take advantage of those opportunities which are there.

JOURNALIST: Sorry, just in relation to the release of the Afghan soldier, Hekmatullah from Qatar. Does Labor blame the US for this outcome?

ALBANESE: Well, I think that this is a very regrettable day. This is someone who shouldn’t have been released. And this will be very difficult for the families and others who were directly affected by this tragedy. It is very unfortunate and we certainly opposed the release of this person, who shouldn’t enjoy freedom, given that he took away the lives of so many.

JOURNALIST: Do you think the Australian Government handled the situation correctly?

ALBANESE: I don’t seek to make this a partisan issue. This is an issue of our national interest and I think that all Australians will regret the fact that this has occurred and it will be particularly difficult for those who are directly affected.

JOURNALIST: If you were Prime Minister, would you go to Glasgow?

ALBANESE: I would go to Glasgow, like other world leaders. It’s extraordinary that we have an Australian Prime Minister who’s not sure whether he wants to go to the G20, discussing the future of our economy, connected as we are as part of the global economy, as we come out of the pandemic. It’s extraordinary that we have an Australian Prime Minister who doesn’t seem to understand that climate change isn’t just about our environmental future, it’s also about our economic future. It’s about our jobs, it’s about our integration with the globe. And the fact that the Prime Minister is not certain as to whether he’d go or not just says it all about the uncertainty which is there from this Coalition Government. I have written to the Prime Minister asking for Labor to be represented as part of Australia’s delegation. And we have a couple of people who are very keen on going to that as part of the Australian delegation. This is important. You will have President Biden, you will have Prime Minister Johnson, you will have world leaders all there discussing the challenge of climate change, which is about our economy, which is about our society and about our environment. And it’s important that Australia be represented at these talks. Now, the fact is, Scott Morrison’s been absent from the debate on climate change globally and it would be a pity if he was absent in person from when that debate is held in Glasgow going forward. Because this will have an impact on the Australian economy for a number of years. And Australia should be represented there.

JOURNALIST: What do you think about Bridget McKenzie’s suggestion for a pause on emission cutting if the regions are worse off?

ALBANESE: Bridget McKenzie and the Nats are a handbrake. They’re all over the shop. This is a Cabinet Minister in the Federal Government. We have a Deputy Prime Minister who, a few years ago, stood in a paddock full of cows, looking at the sky, talking about the need for the Government to get out of his life and the Government to get out of action on climate change, just before he decided he wanted to run again and return as Deputy Prime Minister. People cannot take this Government seriously. And one of the things that this Government could cost, because they’re into costing things, so they say, what I want to see is a cost from this Government on how much it’s costing the Australian economy in jobs and in growth, their inaction over eight years, eight long years since 2013. We know what they were against, we never knew what they (inaudible) because there’s been no action. And that has cost Australia. We have enormous opportunities going forward. I’ll be meeting with Twiggy Forrest tomorrow. The Business Council of Australia have made it a very clear comment. All of Australia’s leading companies now understand the advantage that is there with action of climate change. If there are positive benefits for acting on climate change in 2021, then the obvious statement to make is that there were more advantages had we acted in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, ’18, ’19, ’20 or ’21. There has been a very real cost to Australia from this Government’s inertia. This is a Government that are afraid of the present but terrified of the future. And they’re unable to shape the future because they simply don’t have the vision and capacity to lead Australia in the way that is necessary. We have an incredible opportunity and I want, very much, to lead a Labor Government that takes that opportunity, that takes advantage of the jobs and growth which can be created, particularly in regional Australia. Not just through new industries like hydrogen, but by lowering the cost of manufacturing goods here in Australia. If we do that through the provision of clean, cheap, renewable energy, then we can be an incredible superpower for the world in coming years and coming decades.

JOURNALIST: What do you think about the National Farmers’ Federation saying they should be compensated for the land that they gave up?

ALBANESE: If you look at where any gains have been made by emissions reduction under this Government, they’ve been for two reasons. One, the former Labor Government’s Renewable Energy Target of 20 per cent by 2020. A target that they opposed, a target that they tried to wreck, a target that they tried to stop at each and every opportunity. And the other issue was that of land clearing. Land clearing, changes by state Labor governments that were resisted by the Liberal and National parties at every opportunity. They’ve been the two big benefits Australia has had. Nothing that the Coalition have done over eight long years has been of benefit when it comes to climate change action. They tried to abolish the Clean Energy Finance Corporation. They tried to abolish the Australian Renewable Energy Agency. This is a Coalition Government that are wreckers. And that’s why they don’t deserve a fourth term. It’s time that Australia took up the opportunities that are there from action on climate change. I’m optimistic about Australia’s future. But I’m only optimistic on the basis that we have a government that is as strong and resilient and forward-looking as the Australian people are themselves. I’m confident that we can do that under a Labor government. That is the platform that I’ll be taking to the next election. Thanks very much.

ENDS