SUBJECTS: Gregory Coal Mine worker death; cybersecurity; Christian Porter and his pecuniary interest register; Labor Party preselections; Federal election; seat of Fowler; climate change; RBA.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: Can I begin by expressing my condolences to the families of the mine worker who died in an industrial accident north of Emerald at the Gregory Coal Mine last night. This is another reminder that miners do dangerous work. And I express my condolences to his family but the broader family of mine workers who will all be feeling this today.

For eight long years, this Government has not done enough about cybersecurity. In 2020, they actually abolished the dedicated ministry for cyber security. And what we know is that there's now been $33 billion lost through crime in the last year through cybercrime. This Government needs to step up its effort on cybersecurity. But overnight we have the OECD report that will be released today. What this shows is that the economy was weak before the pandemic and is even weaker right now. It also shows that Australia needs to do more on climate. It indicates again that Australia needs to adopt a position of net zero emissions by 2050 and then adopt policies to encourage low emissions technology to be taken up. And the fact is that this Government still respond to everything with just slogans. This Government needs to do more. Angus Taylor has clearly failed. And when Australia attends the Global Summit in Glasgow, it needs to actually attend as part of the global community, not as a roadblock to climate action. There are real consequences of this. And the OECD has warned yet again Australia needs to do more on climate change. We are particularly vulnerable to the environmental impact of climate change. And good action on climate change will create jobs, lower energy prices, whilst also improving our environment.

Can I also make two other comments this morning? One about Christian Porter. Now this bloke is, I think, just an extraordinary person to continue to sit in the Cabinet. Christian Porter has updated his pecuniary interest register to say that there is all this money coming in to pay his legal bills but it's through a blind trust. He doesn't know where the money's coming from. He's not indicating where the money's coming from. And by listing it on his pecuniary interest register, he is saying that that money is a personal interest for him to pay his personal legal bills. But he won't tell Australians where it's come from. The idea that he doesn't know, that just somehow out there random people are discovering this trust, finding out for themselves where to put the money and depositing the money with no knowledge to him, is, quite frankly, just unbelievable and absurd. It is time that this minister understood that being a Cabinet minister requires transparency. And it's time that Scott Morrison took action here. Christian Porter needs to explain today exactly where this money is coming from and exactly how much it is and what interest there is in people putting forward this money into his trust. He is someone who is in a position of considerable influence as the Industry Minister, he’s responsible for many hundreds of millions of dollars and billions of dollars of funds being given out for industry, for private sector industry and private sector interests, and it is simply untenable for this blind trust to be used as an excuse. It is yet another reason why we need a National Anti-Corruption Commission. And if there was a National Anti-Corruption Commission, it'd be up this like a rat up a drainpipe to find out exactly where this money has come from. It's precisely the sort of issue that undermines confidence in our political system.

Can I make some other comments about New South Wales preselections and about our need to get candidates in the field? Labor is preparing for the potential of an election later this year. We want to make sure that we're ready. We have had issues with COVID which mean that people can’t attend branch meetings, people can't participate in the Labor Party in the usual way. So today I'm writing to the New South Wales General Secretary for them to write then on to the National Secretary to put in place timetables for preselections here in New South Wales. In New South Wales that will include the National Executive Committee, I'll be asking them to meet tomorrow, and the National Executive to meet on Friday, to call nominations for seats to close the following Friday. Those seats will include Hunter, Fowler, Reid, Banks, Robertson and Page. We will then have a timetable and discussions about a timetable for the remaining seats. But I want all the candidates in the field by the end of October throughout the country. This evening, I'll be hosting a campaign launch online for Latrobe, Deakin, Casey and Chisholm, where Labor has already selected very good candidates for those target seats in Victoria. I'll be asking for the held seats, Hunter and Fowler, to be determined, if necessary, by the National Executive. And there I believe we will come out of that process, I think it is likely they will be unopposed, with Kristina Keneally continuing her contribution to our Caucus and to the national Parliament in the House of Representatives as the Member for Fowler. And Dan Repacholi, an outstanding Australian, a Cessnock Hall of Famer, someone who's been a five-time Olympian, someone who has been a small business person currently operating in the mining industry, to be the candidate for Hunter, will be my recommendations if there are contests in those seats. In other seats, there will be a suspension of the rules to allow for online voting in the non-held seats. We have to do that because we simply can't conduct ballots in the usual way as possible. But in Reid, Banks, Robertson and Page, we will have a range of candidates from diverse backgrounds who are quality candidates, who I believe can all enter our national Parliament as part of a Labor Government. These are target seats and we have outstanding candidates putting themselves forward. In a couple of those seats, it's likely there will be ballots because we have more than one outstanding candidate putting themselves forward. I'll have more to say in the coming week about those candidates. And on Friday, I'll have more to say about our Senate team going forward for the election, which will also represent a very strong team to maximise our chances of ensuring that we retain three Senate seats here in New South Wales. Happy to take questions.

JOURNALIST: Just on cybersecurity, how worried should Australians feel that they're being targeted online by criminals and spies?

ALBANESE: Well, we know that cybersecurity is a real issue. And I think that Australians will be, like the ones that I've spoken to, and indeed, on my own phone, increasingly getting messages from people attempting to log in. We had a cybercrime event last year on the New South Wales branch membership of the Labor Party. That was a significant event. There have been attacks on businesses, on banks. When I met with the Australian Stock Exchange executive board just two months ago in Canberra, it was the number one issue that they were raising. This is of real concern. We can address this. I've met with the security agencies, including the Australian Signals Directorate and others. We have world class agencies to deal with this. But we need it to be a priority of Government. That's why I have had Tim Watts address cybersecurity as part of my frontbench team, along with Kristina Keneally. This is a major challenge for Australia, for Australian businesses, for Australian citizens. And I'd say to people - be wary of what you click on your computer, on your email, on your text messages. And I think that this really requires a whole of government response, because this is a very serious issue indeed. And I call upon the Government to allocate a dedicated minister, frontbench position, to deal with the issue of cybersecurity, as Labor has, as the Government used to before Scott Morrison abolished the position in 2020.

JOURNALIST: Mr Albanese, just on the preselections, Tu Le, the candidate for Fowler (inaudible).

ALBANESE: Tu Le is a relatively new member of the Labor Party. I think she has a great contribution to make in the future. She's 30 years old. I'm the Leader of the Labor Party, I'm a fair bit older than that. But I got preselected for my seat for the first time at age 33. That was one of the younger members. I think, at the time, I was the youngest member of the Caucus at that time. I think Tu Le will make a great contribution to the Labor Party in the future. I am very supportive of her. And the fact that someone who's a former Premier of New South Wales, who is part of one of the four leaders of our parliamentary Labor Party team, has decided to run, to take that capacity to the Lower House, is not a reflection on Tu Le at all. And I think that Tu Le will make an outstanding contribution in the future. We'll have a range of very good candidates putting themselves forward at the next election and it will be a team that I'm very proud of. And I'm absolutely convinced that Tu Le, at some time in the future, will be able to make that contribution as well.

JOURNALIST: (Inaudible). So do you believe Angus Taylor when he says that he will set longer-term climate targets?

ALBANESE: I believe very little that Angus Taylor says because I look at what he does, not what he says. And he's caught up in the slogans about taxes whilst pouring a whole lot of money that comes from taxes into his preferred projects. It's a nonsense, his position. And the problem is when he gets to international forums, he's sitting in the naughty corner. That's what he did last time he attended one of the UNFCCC conferences in Europe. That's why Australia couldn't get a berth in the top 20 of nations when the United States convened a meeting earlier this year. And that's why Australia didn't even get an invite to the meeting held by Boris Johnson last year. And that's why Australia demanding that any reference to climate change be removed from the Free Trade Agreement between Australia and the UK is yet another setback. This Government does not take climate change seriously. A Government in which the Deputy Prime Minister is Barnaby Joyce cannot be taken seriously. And only a Labor Government will address these issues and will see Australia re-join the global effort. And in particular, to see climate change as a national security issue. One in which we can act with President Biden in the United States and once again join the world. Just as it took the election of a Labor Government to ratify the Kyoto Protocol and to again join the world as we did as our first act in 2007 upon coming to office.

JOURNALIST: (Inaudible).

ALBANESE: Christian Porter absolutely must disclose every single dollar, where it came from, transparently so that people can see what the basis of this is. It is just not believable that people have somehow found out about this fund and made contributions to this fund without Christian Porter's knowledge. It doesn't pass the pub test. I know pubs are closed at the moment, but this does not pass the pub test.

JOURNALIST: Would you support a review into the RBA as the OECD has recommended?

ALBANESE: Well, I think no institution is above ongoing review. I think the RBA does a very good job here in Australia. But we need to constantly look at our institutions and make sure that if any improvements can be made, that they are made. I have complete confidence, I must say, in our Governor. And I think that the RBA have played an outstanding role. And the RBA's role stands in stark contrast to the flim-flam of our Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, who's all over the shop, who it seems that he fails to have an economic strategy going forward. What we know is that the economy was very weak prior to the pandemic and it's even weaker now. Thanks very much.

ENDS