SUBJECTS: Announcing Zhi Soon as Labor’s candidate for Banks; Labor’s Cheaper Child Care Plan; the Morrison-Joyce Government’s inaction on climate change; Barnaby Joyce is Australia’s Acting Prime Minister; Scott Morrison’s trip to Glasgow; Scott Morrison’s phone call with Emmanuel Macron; repairing Australia’s relationship with France; COVID-19 outbreak in Melbourne asylum seeker hotel.

KAY TURNER, SDN CHILDREN’S SERVICES CEO: Good morning everyone. Welcome to SDN Children’s Services at Riverwood. We are known as SDN Riverwood. I’d likely to first of all acknowledge the traditional owners of the land that we’re on this morning. They are the Bediagal people. And I’d like to pay my respects to elders past and present and to any Aboriginal people here this morning. And even though SDN Children’s Services has had a presence in this community since 1947, the Aboriginal people have had a presence in this area for 60,000 years and they know this land well and we look after the land and are teaching the children to look after the land as well. I’m really pleased that our early learning centre has been chosen for this this morning because it really recognises the indisputable evidence that quality early childhood education lays the foundation for lifelong learning and that qualified teachers and educators are so important for providing that education and that they need to be valued and respected and paid a wage commensurate with their skills and experience. SDN has been delivering high quality early learning for more than a hundred years and in this particular service, just this month, the service has been recognised with an excellent rating through ACECQA, the quality authority, and that is really rare and really important. And the team here, the team of staff, provide not just high quality but recognised excellent early childhood education for all of the young children in their care every day. So welcome to SDN Riverwood. We love being here in this community. We love welcoming people. And we’re loving to be here in person today after the easing of restrictions that have been pretty tight in Canterbury-Bankstown. So welcome to the Honourable Anthony Albanese, the Leader of the Opposition, and to Mr Zhi Soon and his family. Welcome to SDN Riverwood. We love to have you here. And I’d like to hand over to you now. Thank you.
 
ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: Well, thank you very much. And it’s great to be here at SDN Riverwood to launch the campaign, our new candidate, Mr Zhi Soon, the candidate for Banks. And I want to acknowledge, as well, the presence of Daryl Melham here today, who did such a fine job representing this community in our national Parliament. But Zhi will take it one step further, come the election. Because Zhi will be a part of changing government in this country. And we need a change of government. Zhi brings to the position of candidate for Banks a great deal of experience. His primary concern now and job is in the education sector. But he’s worked as a diplomat for Australia, including in Afghanistan. He’s been an adviser to the UK Government as well as an adviser to Australian governments. He has lived in this community for his whole life and was educated at local schools here in this community around Revesby and then, of course, went to Hurlstone agricultural college, one of Sydney’s finest public schools. I’m absolutely delighted that Zhi was selected as the candidate for Banks. This is a seat where it just hasn’t been represented in a fair dinkum way. The commitments that were made at the last election simply haven’t been met. This is a community that’s been left behind, that’s been divided, as the state government, with the acquiescence of the federal Morrison Government, left behind communities like Canterbury-Bankstown, didn’t roll out the vaccine soon enough, which meant that this local community was in very strict lockdown for a period of time, people unable to work, people unable to engage in their day-to-day activity. And that’s a result of Scott Morrison’s lockdowns. We should have been better. We should have secured enough vaccines early enough. And we said that at the time. This isn’t looking back. This is what Labor was saying at this time last year. And Scott Morrison was saying it wasn’t a race. And the local member, who’s moved out of the electorate, wasn’t here advocating strongly for his community but just went along for the ride. What we need is strong representation for this local community and Zhi will bring that, as a strong advocate, as someone who will stand up for the people of the Banks electorate.
 
Can I say also that I’m delighted to be here at an early learning centre. Because what we’re about is making a difference for the youngest Australians, who are represented here at this centre. Investment in child care and early learning is the most significant announcement that I’ve made as Leader of the Labor Party and is certainly not by accident. I made that as the centrepiece of my first Budget Reply. Because what I understand is that investment and move towards the universal provision of affordable child care will make a difference to workforce participation for women, will make a difference to our economy by lifting up productivity, but, most importantly as well, will make a difference to the young people such as the young children here at SDN. Because over 90 per cent of human brain development occurs in the first five years. And that’s why, good for workforce participation, good for our economy through productivity lifting, but good for children themselves and good for working families. The truth is at the moment that a whole lot of working women are penalised for wanting to work full time. For wanting to work a fourth or a fifth day. And it actually costs them money. It’s a system that doesn’t work for them. And the Government, having rejected our proposal to remove the cap on child care subsidy, of course backflipped on that but then haven’t backflipped on providing more support for working parents. What they’ve said is that if you have multiple children in child care at one time you will get some support. But the truth is that children as they go through child care are often just one child in child care at a particular time, but as members of families with much more than one child, or two or three or four or five children. And this community needs the support that a Labor Government would bring.
 
The other issue, of course, that’s of critical importance to these children isn’t one as direct, but it’s just as important. And their parents know it. And that’s the issue of climate change. We know that we need to act in our own economic interests, that Australia can benefit through a growth in jobs, lowering energy prices, as well as lowering emissions. That even if climate change wasn't real, as some of the Coalition Government, it still would be important to act because there's economic benefit from that action. But the truth is, we do have a responsibility to future generations as well. And that's why the Government's pathetic announcements this week, that were all about the style, not about the substance, is typical of Scott Morrison's Government. We've actually had a week in Parliament where the Government railed against legislating. Someone should tell them that's what Parliaments do. If they were fair dinkum, they’d be legislating for their net zero by 2050 target. If they were fair dinkum they’d actually release the modelling that they're keeping secret until after the Glasgow talks. And if they're fair dinkum, they wouldn't do what we've seen from Scott Morrison overnight in a call with President Macron. What we've seen is that this Government have one message in Australia and a different message when they go to Europe, that the truth is that you can't spin your way through a substantial issue like climate change. And the rest of the world knows that Australia is not doing enough when it comes to tackling the challenge of climate change. And the tragedy of that is that we have an opportunity to benefit so much. With the holding back by Barnaby Joyce, who, as we speak now, is the Acting Prime Minister. The Acting Prime Minister of Australia does not support action on climate change, opposes net zero and has described climate change science as a scam. Australia needs better. That's why we need to replace this Government. And that's why the election of Zhi Soon will be an important step in doing that. And I welcome him to speak today.
 
ZHI SOON, LABOR CANDIDATE FOR BANKS: Thank you very much for that Anthony. In 1989, my parents came to Australia in search of better opportunities for their family and for their children, also with a great enthusiasm to contribute to their new country. We first lived in Hurstville before settling in Revesby. I now live with my partner Bridget in Padstow, close to my parents in Revesby Heights and my sister and her husband in Penshurst. From a young age, my parents imbued in my sister and I the importance of education, both in terms of ensuring we can access opportunities, but also opening our eyes to the world. They also imparted to us the importance of community as well as the importance of hard work and in society supporting one another. Driven by these values. I embarked on a career in public policy that has taken me from the public service here in Australia through to serving as a diplomat in Afghanistan and as a public policy expert in the United Kingdom. I'm running because we need a federal government that cares about this area, that cares about this community. We've all had to do our bit through this pandemic. But the Banks electorate has done more than its fair share through having to endure the harshest lockdowns in this state as a result of the Federal Government's management of COVID-19. Like others in this area, I felt it, I've had to live through it, and we are frustrated. However, the pandemic is only part of part of the picture. For years, this electorate has had to endure a lack of service and support in many areas. Growing up in Revesby, I've had to look at the intersection outside Revesby police station for years as a safety hazard for both pedestrians and drivers alike. Similarly, when visiting the Roselands Riverwood catchment area, I've often questioned why more investment hasn't gone into comprehensive health services for the residents of that area in order to take pressure off local hospitals. This area needs better federal representation. It needs representation that represents the diversity and richness of this area. It needs a federal government that has its back. And this is why I'm running. We also need a Labor government here in Australia that looks to provide economic opportunities for all, that is willing to protect universal healthcare, that is also focused on education, including in early years, as well as commitment on climate change and housing affordability. I am proud today to be standing here with Anthony to launch my campaign here in Banks at SDN Riverwood, with a real focus on early childhood education. We know from the research how important early childhood education is. And I'm proud to be representing a party that is committed to ensuring the families of Banks and families across Australia have access to high quality services and affordable service, just like this. Thank you. So look, I would like to now hand over to Samantha, one of the early childhood educators here at SDN to say some remarks.
 
SAMANTHA ZEDTO, EDUCATOR:  Hello, my name is Samantha and I'm an early childhood education teacher at the excellent-rated centre SDN Riverwood. It is such a privilege to be the voice of children who are the youngest citizens of our world. I am proud to say that as an early childhood education teacher, I have seen firsthand how early childhood education supports children and families to thrive, especially during this pandemic. Not-for-profit early childhood education is the key to providing the best outcomes for all children. Supporting not-for-profit early years education is investing in sustainable futures because it focuses on the high quality of education for all children and improving outcomes for all children. Thank you Anthony for supporting us. And thank you Zhi for supporting us.
 
ALBANESE: Thank you very much. We're happy to take questions.
 
JOURNALIST: We’ve heard the UN special adviser on climate change say that countries relying on future technological breakthroughs to meet that net zero targets are reckless and irresponsible. What do you think the reception will be for Scott Morrison when he’s at Glasgow?
 
ALBANESE: Well, when Scott Morrison attends the Glasgow summit, he'll want to take more than just spin - the sort of nonsense that we've seen with him holding up mobile phones as if that's a revelation, the argument that government shouldn't legislate that we saw in Parliament this week. If you don't legislate, if you don't actually commit to net zero through legislation, then you won't be taken seriously. And the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and other countries that have legislated that net zero by 2050 will be shaking their head at Scott Morrison. If we hear the sort of nonsense that we hear from the Government, where this week in their glossy brochure had what they were doing and what they weren't doing that was just something straight out of a marketing proposal. We know that the Prime Minister is called Scotty from Marketing not for nothing. But we know that when he's on the world stage, that just doesn't cut it. Because when we're talking about the future of our economic structures, when we're talking about the future of jobs, the future of the planet, you need more than spin. You need substance. And that's why, when you look at the map that was out there without any modelling, where it just has a hope and prayer for future technologies to fill the void from serious government action, then the rest of the world will question it. The other thing is that the rest of the world are aware of this new technology called the Internet. And they’ll look up a Prime Minister who said that electric vehicles would end the weekend, that renewable energy targets were nuts and that a big battery for storing renewable energy is as useful as a Big Prawn or a Big Banana. And they’ll scratch their head about how it is that Australia, an enlightened country that has a proud history of punching above our weight on the global stage, is represented by a man who's just not up to it.
 
JOURNALIST: What would you have liked to see? You're saying that his plan doesn't have any substance. Was there something specifically that you wished he taken to Glasgow?
 
ALBANESE: Well, he should have taken a serious target of net zero by 2050, one that clearly had a commitment to legislate. He should have been prepared to, he says that the target is 26 to 28 per cent of Tony Abbott is going to be exceeded but he hasn't upped the target. This conference’s agenda is about 2030. Future conferences will be about future years. But the Prime Minister is taking no serious update there at all. And what we know is that when we look at the substance of where any reduction has come from, that it is the Renewable Energy Target that Labor introduced when in government, that I was the architect of when I wrote the climate change policy in 2006 under Kim Beazley, that put in place the commitment to the renewable energy target of 20 per cent by 2020. At the time, the target was two, it was then increased up to five and it was quadrupled under Labor. That's what made a difference, that and an end to land clearing by state governments, an end to land clearing measures in places like Queensland that were opposed by the LNP. And the rest of the world, as well, will look back at Australia and look at our Acting Prime Minister in Barnaby Joyce, and have a look at him in a video in in a paddock with cows looking up at the clouds, saying he wants government out of his life. Well, the truth is the government has a role to play in leadership on this issue and on others. That's why we seek to govern the country. That's why Zhi’s running to be a member of the House of Representatives, to make a difference each and every day. This Government think that it'll all happen just by crossing their fingers.
 
JOURNALIST: You mentioned the phone call between the French president Emmanuel Macron and the Prime Minister. Do you think it demonstrates the relationship being repaired?
 
ALBANESE: Well, there’s a long way to go. What we had from a prime minister was an Australian Prime Minister advised the French President of the breaking of the most significant contract between our two countries by text message the night before it was announced to the world. That is not an appropriate way to act diplomatically. So there'll be a big repair job required here. It's good that the Prime Minister is at least having a conversation with the French President. But we need to make sure that we have good relations with our neighbours. And of course, the French have a very significant position in the Indo-Pacific, not the least of which is, of course, their presence as a near neighbour.
 
JOURNALIST: The COVID outbreak in the asylum seeker detention facilities in Melbourne is growing. Do you think enough is being done to protect their health right now?
 
ALBANESE: Well, I certainly encourage all the authorities to do whatever they can to keep people safe. This is of concern. I know that the health authorities will be continuing to act and monitor what is happening in these facilities. But we need to keep people safe wherever they are. Thanks.

ENDS