SUBJECTS: National Cabinet, Hotel quarantine, sexual assault allegations, equality in politics, increasing JobSeeker payments, Rupert Murdoch.

GEOFF HUTCHISON, HOST: Anthony Albanese, good afternoon.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: Good to be here.

HOST: If you become Prime Minister, if COVID-19 was to continue to bedevil us, and we hope it doesn't, would you be perfectly happy for Mark McGowan to continue to have a controlled border? Or would you like Scott Morrison be appealing to premiers to try and take them down at their earliest opportunity?

ALBANESE: Well, I think what has happened with the so-called National Cabinet process is that there's not too much that's national about it. Scott Morrison, I'd like to see much more co-operation, rather than states just making their own decisions. So more consistency about how it's happening. Scott Morrison has handed that power to the states, not just in terms of state borders, but international borders as well. Because, in spite of the fact the Federal Government is responsible for quarantine, it's been very much a hands off approach, something that's really characterising Scott Morrison's Prime Ministership is the summer of, perhaps put best by himself, "I don't hold a hose mate" during the bushfires.

HOST: Interestingly, today, National Cabinet, or to use your words, so-called National Cabinet, we learnt that Howard Springs capacity is going to be increased to accept 2000 returning Australians a fortnight. Now, it might take some time to get there. Is that completely appropriate? Would you have done anything different in terms of seeking to bring Australians who want to come home, home?

ALBANESE: I would have had more people home already. The Prime Minister said Australians would be home by Christmas. He broke that promise. Howard Springs, I've been in the facility there just outside of Darwin. The Northern Territory Government wanted people to go there. The Northern Territory economy needed people to go there, the boost that came from it. It's an appropriate facility.

HOST: So, again, if you were Prime Minister, would you want to take that federal responsibility away from hotel quarantine, that returning Australians or visitors to this country would indeed go to these facilities to spend their two weeks? Also taking the potential risk from hotel quarantine out of population centres?

ALBANESE: To me, the idea that you have the quarantine in the centre of our CBDs, in some of the most densely populated areas, isn't the best solution when other solutions are on offer. Take the suggestions that have been made, like the Exmouth suggestion, like Howard Springs being properly used. Another constructive suggestion such as the Avalon Airport suggestion. The suggestion to be using the land around Toowoomba, the world camp site in Queensland. We're a big country, there's lots of places that have facilities that could have been used and the Federal Government hasn't taken up, in my view, its responsibility. And I would have.

HOST: On the Drive program this afternoon with Geoff Hutchison, ABC Radio Perth. My guest is the Leader of the Federal Opposition, Anthony Albanese. When Parliament resumes and the Attorney-General returns to work, will you pursue him during Question Time?

ALBANESE: Look, I think it is just impossible to conceive of a circumstance in which, if there is no further investigation, questions won't continue to be answered, whether that be in the Parliament or indeed through the media. I can't imagine a circumstance whereby, if nothing changes from where we are now, it's possible for Christian Porter as Attorney-General and the first law officer of the land to give a media conference, to give a major speech somewhere, where he's not asked about some of the detail here and the circumstances, that he is indeed fit and proper to continue to hold that role.

HOST: Do you acknowledge that Christian Porter probably has no criminal case to answer yet? You can't prove the criminality of this alleged offence.

ALBANESE: The New South Wales police have made a very clear statement, which is that they're not able to conduct an investigation leading to a prosecution because of the tragic death of the woman at the centre of these allegations. I don't seek a politicisation of this issue or a partisan resolution. I've said that the Prime Minister needs to come up with a process which is an examination that builds confidence in the system.

HOST: Allegations of sexual assault in Parliament has led to a lot of community anger and demand for change. But we've learnt today that there'll be a review of the workplace culture of Parliament to be conducted by Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Kate Jenkins. What do you think of that?

ALBANESE: Well, it’s a good thing that it's happening. It's something we called for. Myself and Tanya Plibersek put out a media release calling for just that. And it's got to be comprehensive. It's got to look at the way that the Ministerial and Parliamentary Staff Act works. It's got to look at support services. It's got to look at independent processes so that anyone with a complaint can come forward in confidence and indeed be confident that those complaints will be dealt with appropriately.

HOST: A lot of people have said this is a watershed moment for Australian political life and former Democrat Senator Natasha Stott Despoja was on AM this morning saying what's needed now is real cultural change, the end of gender inequality, more women, more diversity in the Parliament, and maybe blokes have to give up more of their seats for that to happen. Does Labor accept that that's what the future should look like?

ALBANESE: Well, it’s happened within Labor. It's not the future. It's the present. We in Labor, if you look at our team, 47 per cent of our caucus are women. It would have reached 50 if we'd been more successful at the last election. Half of my shadow cabinet, 12 out of 24, are women. Two out of four of my leadership team are women. We have a woman leading us in the Senate and a man in the House of Representatives. If you look at other diversity issues, you have the leaders in those respective houses being someone with an Italian name and someone with a Chinese Malay name in the form of Albanese and Wong. We have, for a long period of time, made a conscious decision as a party that we needed to reflect society. And, quite frankly, I think it does make a difference.

HOST: On the Drive program this afternoon, you're listening to Federal Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese. You mentioned briefly the last election. You're coming up to eight years in opposition now. Three consecutive election defeats. Why isn't Labor cutting through with enough voters? Always close, but never close enough?

ALBANESE: Well, we haven't done well enough. That's the truth. We need to do better. We need to make sure that we have a clear narrative about making a difference to people's lives. The clear theme that we're putting forward is that we're on your side. That we're on your side when it comes to job creation, giving people opportunity through education skills. We're on your side.

HOST: A lot of Labor people thought that you as a party squibbed the issue of raising the dole or JobSeeker at the last election. You supported an increase, that it had to be higher, and I think there was the promise to hold a review. You didn't say how much an increase in JobSeeker payments would be under a Labor Government. Will you say, next time around? Will you say soon the $25 a week is not enough and name a figure?

ALBANESE: I know there's some people who say, for example, that the small increase that the Government is proposing and that it will want to legislate when Parliament sits in the next fortnight we should just say, no, that's not enough.

HOST: Well, why don’t you?

ALBANESE: Quite frankly, because that's self-indulgent, because that will mean that people who need that extra few dollars won't get anything. And this is a change that's small, but it does cost $9 billion over the forward estimates. The idea that you deny $9 billion to people who need it is quite frankly, self-indulgence.

HOST: So do you say, and send a message to those people, we will pass this legislation, but also know that if we become Government, we will increase that to a level that truly reflects the benefits that we've seen from JobSeeker during COVID times, where people have been able to lift themselves out of an extremely precarious position.

ALBANESE: And the fact that $40 a day wasn't enough, I regard it is a victory the fact that we've won that argument

HOST: Last question, a little hypothetical. We're two weeks out from the election. You've got good momentum. Campaign seems to be reaching voters. Rupert Murdoch calls and invites you to lunch. Do you go?

ALBANESE: Well, I've never met Rupert Murdoch, so I don't think that's very likely, frankly. But, you know, I engage with a range of people in the media every day.

HOST: Is that a yes?

ALBANESE: No, that's something that hasn't happened and is unlikely to happen, frankly.

HOST: Anthony Albanese, thank you for your time today.

ALBANESE: Thanks a lot, mate.

ENDS