SUBJECTS: Extension of lockdown in Sydney; vaccine rollout; Scott Morrison failing Australians during a pandemic; Federal Government failing on delivering; JobKeeper; increase in COVID Disaster Payments; Year 12 face-to-face learning.

KIERAN GILBERT, HOST: Joining me now is the Opposition Leader, Anthony Albanese. Thanks very much for your time, as always. You've been saying the Government needs to reinstate JobKeeper. They basically got the payments back to where it was at its peak last year. Is that good enough in your mind?

ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: Well, any additional support is certainly welcome, Kieran. This is the fourth iteration of government support. It's changed every few days. You do have to ask yourself why it's been so difficult for the Government to acknowledge the hardship which workers and businesses are going through. We don't understand why they wouldn't have just moved back to JobKeeper given that we know that that was a system that worked in keeping that direct contact between employees and employers. But we welcome increased support. We're concerned that people will still fall through the cracks. A range of businesses will be indirectly impacted apart from those that are in lockdown. Ones that depend, for example, when I was in Queensland, depend upon people visiting Queensland for example, in terms of the tourism sector. There are people in the arts sector who can't perform even though they might live somewhere that's not impacted by a lockdown. But they can't travel and perform where the lockdowns are taking place. So there's a whole range of individuals and businesses that will see their incomes hurt substantially. And we're worried that they're falling behind. So we'll examine this detail. But we do say that the Government has taken a long time to move to a better position. 

GILBERT: We are in the eye of the storm, so to speak, with the lockdown continuing in Sydney. But the Treasurer, I spoke to him a few moments ago, he's right when he says that the Federal Government's used its balance sheet effectively to help save Australia from the worst of the COVID downturn. Comparably, we've done incredibly well, haven't we, as a nation in an economic sense?

ALBANESE: Well, this is a Treasurer who had doubled the debt before the pandemic, Kieran, as you'd be aware. And one of the things about this Government, they'll always talk themselves up. But we still have a failure today of the 28th breach from hotel quarantine, and no sign about a hole being dug in a new federal quarantine facility. We know that that's one of the things that is needed. We still have today five per cent of workers who are delivering homecare services to older Australians being vaccinated. We're now 18 months into a pandemic. The Government had two jobs to do. Rolling out the vaccine and national quarantine. And they've really fallen behind on both of those fundamental jobs that they have.

GILBERT: But on that vaccine question, if you look at the situation of lockdown in Victoria versus New South Wales, last year, Anthony Albanese, tragically, we saw hundreds of deaths in Victoria with an extended lockdown. Thankfully, so far in Sydney, and we hope, we very much hope that that remains single figures, the numbers of the elderly dying, but not the hundreds that we saw last year. Isn't the Government's approach that vaccinating the vulnerable first vindicated by the real-life experience of what we're seeing in Sydney?

ALBANESE: Well, of course, the Government said it would vaccinate vulnerable people first, including category 1A which included aged care workers. And still not half of the aged care workforce are fully vaccinated. And homecare workers are aged care workers. And they're not even on the list for priority. We think, clearly, they should be. These are people who visit multiple numbers of aged people, aged Australians, needing care in the home. And surely this is something that has got to be addressed. And of course, last year, we know what occurred in aged care was in spite of the fact that the Government funds, regulates and is in charge of aged care, they were told that the issue of aged care workers working in multiple facilities would lead to a dangerous situation in terms of health outcomes. And we saw that play out. Now, they need to address these questions as an urgent priority. These are people who were told they'd be fully vaccinated by Easter. We're now in late July. 

GILBERT: It's going to be a difficult month ahead, the rest of winter in lockdown for Greater Sydney. Construction will resume. Year 12 to resume in face-to-face learning. And vaccinations to be expedited for those Year 12 students in West and Southwest Sydney. Is that a good idea for the New South Wales Government to do that?

ALBANESE: Well, it certainly is going to be really tough, Kieran. I've had Zoom hook-ups today with people in my electorate, including small businesses. Some of my electorate has been subject to the strict lockdown that has taken place in the Canterbury-Bankstown Council area. We need to make sure that we continue to get this right and provide support. Certainly, those young people going through the HSC will find it very difficult. And we do need to make sure that they're looked after. And in general, one of the things that I'm getting through is because of the way that this lockdown has progressed. With first of all being told, I saw earlier on your program, the footage of Scott Morrison congratulating Gladys Berejiklian for not locking down, for keeping Sydney open. That's not too long ago. That was the last time Parliament sat. And then, of course, we had something that wasn't called a lockdown. It was stay-at-home orders. And then we've had it spread bit by bit, today with new parts of Sydney including Georges River and Parramatta subject to the strict lockdown. I think it is creating real issues for people. The fact that they keep being told that just around the corner, is freedom and opening things up, and it's just not happening, Kieran.

GILBERT: Opposition Leader, Anthony Albanese. I appreciate your time. As always, thank you.

ALBANESE: Thanks very much, Kieran.

ENDS