OLY PETERSON, HOST: Well, the Prime Minister has hit the hustings in Perth today on the campaign trail, particularly in the seats of Swan and Hasluck, with a big announcement at Midland Hospital. Anthony Albanese joins me on the program right now. Prime Minister, good afternoon.
 
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good to be with you, Oly, on my 30th visit to the West. You will remember I promised ten visits a year. I've hit that KPI, and I quite clearly will exceed it because I'll be back here over the next few weeks.
 
PETERSON: Yeah, there's a bit going on. I just want to take you to your press conference this morning firstly, Prime Minister. I need you to clarify something for us. Standby.
 
PRIME MINISTER: If you ask me, do you rule out governing in coalition with the Greens? The answer to that is no, no.
 
PETERSON: So, do you want a coalition with the Greens? If that's what you need to do, will you negotiate with them or is that a yes?
 
PRIME MINISTER: No, I don't, that was a misspeak. Quite clearly I have said, and if you play the full recording, you'll see that I've said on 385 occasions that we would not govern with the Greens. I made that clear prior to 2022. We've made it clear again. Every time I have been asked, the answer to would we be in coalition, is of course, no. We will govern in our own right. And indeed, I'm only, the only leader of a political party that's trying to govern in my own right. The Coalition, of course, by definition, are a coalition of two different political parties. They're running against each other in Bullwinkel, and in various seats around the country. They don't really like each other, but they don't like each other within the parties either. The Liberal Party here, of course, is at war with itself after the rather appalling outcome that they got in the WA State Election.
 
PETERSON: Can you exploit that, do you think locally, can you use that to your advantage?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, I think in Bullwinkel it's diabolical that you have two candidates running against each other versus Labor's candidate, Trish Cook, an amazing nurse who would represent the electorate named after one of Australia's most famous nurses in Bullwinkel. So, I think we can exploit that. I think that voters will be confused with the resources being used against each other on the conservative side of politics. And of course, it is Peter Dutton and the Greens who have combined to block and delay so much of our agenda, like housing, like other legislation that we have put forward where they get together and have delayed it for month after month, or in some cases for a couple of years.
 
PETERSON: Those polls out today, you got three of them. They're all pointing a more clearer picture there for your Government. Are you buoyed by what you're reading in the newspapers this morning?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Polls will come and go, Oly, what I'm determined to do is to continue to say that this is a choice that Australians face, a choice between a Labor Government building Australia's future, providing cost of living relief, strengthening Medicare, and a Coalition led by Peter Dutton determined to cut everything except for people's taxes. I find it extraordinary that they're going into an election saying they will increase the income tax of all 14 million Australians.
 
PETERSON: You mentioned Medicare. The Liberals are making the same funding announcement as the Government. So why do you keep saying they're going to cut it?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Because Peter Dutton has said that if you want to look for future performance, look at past record. Peter Dutton, when he was the Health Minister, ripped $50 billion out of the hospital network. He tried to introduce a GP tax every time people visited a GP, he tried to introduce an emergency department tax, believe it or not, where people would have got hit with a bill every time they ended up at a hospital, and he tried to increase, jack up, the price of medicines by $5. Now what we've done, we've tripled the bulk billing incentive to overcome what we inherited, which was bulk billing in freefall, because Peter Dutton as Health Minister froze the rebate for GPs. And that meant that less and less people had access to a bulk billed doctor. We're going to turn that around. We've already tripled the bulk billing incentive for concession card holders, but we're also going to triple that incentive for all 27 million Australians. And we're opening Urgent Care Clinics, we've got eight in WA. We'll open another six. That is making an enormous difference. All people need is their Medicare card, not their credit card. And they have been hugely successful at providing that midpoint between visiting a doctor and ending up in the emergency department for something that's not life threatening, but it is urgent. You've broken your arm, or you've got a cut that needs fixing up or your kid is sick. What we have found is that 1.3 million Australians have already benefited from that. And we know that Peter Dutton has his $600 billion nuclear plan. He can only fund it if you're making cuts, because the private sector won't go anywhere near it, because it doesn't stack up. So, it'll be totally funded by taxpayers. So, there will be cuts under Peter Dutton.
 
PETERSON: Josh Wilson, it's emerged, your Fremantle colleague, an MP, of course, says AUKUS isn't in the national interest. Some comments that he made on a podcast late last year, which have emerged in the last 24 hours or so. Have you had a chat to him?
 
PRIME MINISTER: No, I haven't, but Josh is a great representative for Freo. He's a fantastic, hard working MP. We're very committed to AUKUS. I've been there and been indeed on a nuclear-powered sub that the US sent across. We're rolling out AUKUS. This is major jobs for Western Australia. Western Australia and South Australia will be the big two beneficiaries of our AUKUS program.
 
PETERSON: There's obviously a ship from the Chinese Navy currently off the South Australian coast. Is this what they're trying to do to influence our election? Would you rather it wasn't there?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Of course I'd rather it not be there, but they've been there before. This isn't the first time. There was a similar ship there in 2020. We are monitoring what's going on there. They have been in New Zealand in a joint research exercise with the New Zealand Government. Now, New Zealand Government is certainly not hostile to Australia. They're returning to China the long way. We're monitoring that. And our Defence Force and intelligence agencies, I have every confidence in them.
 
PETERSON: You were standing side by side with Premier Roger Cook this morning. Are you going to announce a similar battery home policy as he did for West Australians for the nation during this election campaign?
 
PRIME MINISTER: We'll have further policy announcements during the election campaign. Roger Cook was successful beyond what people expected. I know that you did the program there, day by day, going through what the expectations were. It’s an amazing result to win 46 seats in a parliament of 59. And that's to Roger's credit. It's been a really smooth transition from Mark McGowan's leadership. The WA Government are a very, very good government that are building Western Australia's future. And I want to continue to work with Roger, as we have been able to do in signing a schools agreement. Today, the joint funding of the upgrade of the Midland Hospital, $200 million from the Commonwealth, $155 million from the WA Government. And we'll have further announcements as well. We're on sync over energy policy with the renewables rollout backed by firming capacity of gas and batteries and hydro. We are working very closely together, and I look forward to working with Roger over the years ahead.
 
PETERSON: Just finally, are you in sync with him when it comes to Nature Positive laws, and in sync with him in regards to the extension of North West Shelf? Do you believe that you owe West Australians a commitment, prior to May the 3rd, about exactly what your Government would plan to do with both the North West Shelf and Nature Positive laws in a second term of an Albanese Government?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Well on the first point, North West Shelf, we of course support increased gas, we’ve been very clear about that in our Future Gas Strategy, but what we won’t do on any specific project, and bear in mind that this isn't due to come online this decade, it's the 2030s we're talking about here. There'll be proper environmental approvals will occur, and assessments. We won't pre-empt that. And you know why we won't pre-empt it? Because if you do, you make sure that it gets knocked over in the courts. Peter Dutton's irresponsible comments would ensure that if he is elected and if there is then a decision to fast track, there'll be legal action and it'll get knocked over because it's against the law to pre-empt those processes. On a future federal Environmental Protection Authority that was recommended by the Samuel Review, that was initiated by the Coalition Government, not by us, we will have a future EPA will consult with the WA Chamber of Minerals. I had a chat to Rebecca just last week. I've had a chat to other people in industry as well as environmental groups. Everyone recognises that the Howard legislation is outdated and needs fixing up, but we'll fix it up in a way that assists industry for proper approvals processes taking place but also build sustainability. That's what I'll do, and we'll get it right. And I am totally confident that the WA Government, that also recognises the need to get these laws right, will be supportive, and we, of course, will engage with them, like we'll engage with other stakeholders.
 
PETERSON: Prime Minister, thanks for your time. Where are off to next?
 
PRIME MINISTER: I'm not allowed – the process is rather strange here. You get on planes and the media crew don't get told where we're going. So, it's a bit of a magical mystery tour. But we're headed east, I can confirm that. We’re not going further west from here. And we're going to have a big week this week. But I will be back in Western Australia very soon where I will exceed that KPI I set myself for my 31st visit, and I look forward to having a chat on my return.
 
PETERSON: Anthony Albanese, thanks for your time.
 
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much, Oly.