SUBJECTS: AUKUS, National Cabinet, Scott Morrison's failed vaccine rollout, net zero, interstate borders.

ANDREW CLENNELL, HOST: Well, Mr. Albanese thanks for joining us. Paul Keating says you and the government have lost it on foreign policy not working with China, working against China. What do you say to that?

ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: Well, China, of course has changed its posture in recent times it has got far more forward leaning. It's important that Australia stand up for Australian values and we will continue to do that. And of course, at the same time, it's important that we have economic relations with China and other countries in our region.

CLENNELL: Well, he said that you got a late night briefing on AUKUS. And by 11am, the next day you'd endorsed the AUKUS deal. Is that a fair representation?

ALBANESE: Look I had a national security briefing, as is appropriate for the alternative Prime Minister and it was important that we give consideration to the national interest. We did that. I convened a meeting of my national Shadow Cabinet the next morning, and we endorsed AUKUS, which of course, shouldn't have come as any surprise, it was the Labor Party that forged the ANZUS alliance in in the wake of World War Two, it was John Curtin who turned to America during World War Two in 1942. And ever since then Labor governments have always supported the US Alliance. And of course, we have an important historic relationship with the UK.

CLENNELL: So Paul Keating has just got it wrong, has he?

ALBANESE: I speak for the Labor Party. Paul Keating is perfectly entitled to put his views. He's a former prime minister. He is someone who's an outstanding Australian and someone who I have every respect for.

CLENNELL: So if elected, you're proceeding with AUKUS. That's the Labor policy, you want these nuclear submarines with the technology from the US and UK?

ALBANESE: Yes.

CLENNELL: Okay, if elected, would you keep National Cabinet?

ALBANESE: Well, National Cabinet is basically a renamed COAG. There's nothing really that is binding on it as a National Cabinet in the way that we consider cabinets to operate. And that's been determined by legal processes, of course. So what I will do is forge reform of the Federation to get much better cooperation between the Commonwealth and the state, the so called National Cabinet, there's been meetings that Scott Morrison has chaired where state premiers tell each other what they're doing. And then Scott Morrison goes out and announces that. We've seen, I think, not enough national coordination, and not enough national leadership from Scott Morrison through that process. 

CLENNELL: So what's the what sort of reforms are we looking at, because there's been prime minister after prime minister's who has tried Federation reform and nothing happens?

ALBANESE: Well, we need micro economic reform to drive the productivity agenda. When I was a minister, I reduced the number of transport regulators, for example, from 23, down to three, that boosted the national economy by $30 billion, over 20 years. We need properly defined relations. I've been critical, for example, that the Commonwealth has walked away from its responsibility to control our international borders to control customs to control quarantine. And it's pretended that it's not its responsibility, even though it clearly is under the Constitution.

CLENNELL: All right, well, what's going to be your 2030 Climate Change target? Is it your intention to go more ambitious than them for 2030? Or do you think he could stick with them and just say, 2050 is what matters?

ALBANESE: Well, Andrew with with respect to this programme, that make regular appearances on, this morning is not when I make our announcement. We do want to see the response, finally, from what comes out of the Glasgow conference, but we'll make decisions based upon the national interest because we believe that action on climate change is an opportunity that we should be seizing to grow the economy to grow jobs to take advantage of Australia's emerging as a renewable energy superpower. 

CLENNELL: Well, it sounds like you're going with a with a higher 2030 target.

ALBANESE: Well, we'll make our announcement down the track but we'll make it fully informed in a responsible way, which is what you would expect. 

CLENNELL: Okay, just on another subject the vaccination policy $300 per person getting vaccinated is that officially dumped now and do you admit we didn't need that?

ALBANESE: Well Andrew, the the shutdowns that happened as a result of a failure to secure vaccine supply and the low rates of vaccination rates, has left billions of dollars being lost in the economy. 

CLENNELL: Are you dumping it now?

ALBANESE: No, the policy was Andrew, as you will well recall that it was it was applicable up until December the first. That was the policy that we had. That was the policy that was announced. 

CLENNELL: Okay, so you're offering up to bring up offering it for boosters, if you get elected, we offer it for boosters or not?

ALBANESE: Well, the way we've never said that we would do that, Andrew, we had a consistent policy about bringing forward vaccination rates. Well, I said, at a time when Scott Morrison was saying that it wasn't a race, we were saying it was a race.

CLENNELL: Okay, I just want to get to a couple more things we you seek to tax trusts, similar to the proposal at the last election, that is a standard minimum tax rate of 30%. On those adult beneficiaries family trusts.

ALBANESE: We have no policy in that area, we'll have policies when we announce them, Andrew.

CLENNELL: Will you have one in that area?

ALBANESE: Well, we will have policies when we announce them Andrew.

CLENNELL: We're seven months out now. So when is that? 

ALBANESE: We haven't given any consideration to that. What I said when I became the Leader was that we'd lost the election in 2016, we lost the election in 2019. We weren't going to re litigate the past, I'm about the future. We will have more to say, on the economy, on social policy and on environmental policy in the lead up to the election. But what I will also be saying is this Government had been in office now for almost a decade. They're seeking a second decade in office, if at the next election, whenever it is held, whether it's March or whether it's May, whether there's a surprise, and there's an election call today, for December. What I will be saying is do you really think this is as good as it gets? 

CLENNELL: Should WA open up at 80% double dose vaccination yes or no?

ALBANESE: Well, that's a decision for WA they should open up whenever it's safe to do so. Based upon the health advice, which is there. I don't want to see any restrictions in place for longer than is necessary. But I recognise the extraordinary job that Mark McGowan has done in keeping Western Australians safe.

CLENNELL: So 90% is okay, if he wants 90% for opening up?

ALBANESE: Well he has kept West Australians safe. And one of the things that I haven't done a snipe at state governments, unlike Scott Morrison, who's done that selectively. And the fact is that WA has been open. Here in Sydney, where I'm speaking to you from a short period of time ago, kids couldn't go to school, people couldn't go to work. People couldn't engage with people, or have people into their homes in WA. They've been going to school. They've been going to university, they've been going to work. They've been going to the footy, they've been going to restaurants. It has been life as usual, for people in Western Australia. And that's because Mark McGowan has done an extraordinary job in spite of the fact that he didn't get enough vaccine supplies from Scott Morrison and his government.

CLENNELL: Mr. Albanese, thanks for your time.

ALBANESE: Thanks very much Andrew.

ENDS