SUBJECTS: Labor’s candidate for Lindsay; Federal Election; Barnaby Joyce; Beijing Winter Olympics; Australia’s relationship with China; Australia’s relationship with the Indo-Pacific; Labor’s Powering Australia plan; climate change; Labor’s policy agenda.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: Well, thanks very much for joining me. And I'm here today with Senator Tony Sheldon, the Duty Senator for Lindsay, and Trevor Ross, who I'll be introducing you to very soon. And I want to thank Lendlease for once again having us back to their Skilling and Employment Centre here in St Marys. They have placed more than 6,000 people into jobs. They have assisted with getting people into apprenticeships. They have assisted into getting people job ready. And they do an enormous difference in engaging with people in Western Sydney to assist them into employment. And I want to thank them for their welcome here again today. And I am here today as a result of our Future Made in Australia skills plan. A plan that will deliver 465,000 free TAFE places, our plan to make sure to make sure we train and skill up Australians for the jobs of today and as well as of tomorrow. The fact is Australia is suffering from massive skill shortages. And during the pandemic, it has shown that the strength of Australian society where people have made sacrifices, have given up things to look after each other. But it has also shown some of the weaknesses and vulnerabilities in our economy. We need to be more resilient. We need a future made in Australia. And what that means making more things here. We have seen in the last 48 hours further evidence about the trams and ferries and other transport infrastructure that was bought overseas on the cheap that was not fit for purpose. And it needs to be fixed here. We need to make sure we make those things right here and maximise jobs right here. We need to make sure we skill up Australians for those jobs. Here in the electorate of Lindsay, there are 1,000 fewer apprentices today than they were when we left office in 2013. That is a thousand lost opportunities. That is a real problem for not just individuals who are missing out on those well-paid secure jobs, it is a problem for businesses because they cannot get the skilled labour that they need. We need to do much better. And that is why our comprehensive plans, including a Future Made in Australia, our National Reconstruction Fund, our plan to create 465,000 free TAFE places, to create 604,000 new jobs through our Powering Australia program, creating jobs, lowering energy prices, making manufacturing more competitive here through the National Reconstruction Fund, all of these plans fit together for a much more positive, optimistic future for Australia. But to do that we need to be in Government.

Which is why today I am announcing that I have asked Trevor Ross to be our candidate for Lindsay. I have asked him to put himself forward to the Party membership when nominations close. And I am confident that, unlike the sort of nonsense we have seen from Scott Morrison, this is an announcement that will lead to a delivery. What we have seen with the farce around Gladys Berejiklian and will she, won't she nominate, is once again Scott Morrison all announcement and no delivery. Announcing that he asked someone to stand and then it not being delivered. A series of day after day after day of front-page headlines all leading to nothing except that Scott Morrison has reinforced his contempt for a national anti-corruption commission and his contempt for proper processes in the way he has attacked a body such as the ICAC. The fact is conservatives used to stand up for institutions and this country. This Prime Minister does not stand up for institutions, he just knocks them down.

Trevor Ross will stand up for the people of Western Sydney and particularly the people of St Marys and Penrith, the people of this electorate of Lindsay. He is someone who has a great experience. He has been a firefighter for 36 years. Trevor Ross is someone who holds a hose. And the people of Lindsay need someone like Trevor who has experience, who has worked as a firefighter, who has stood up for the local community here in Western Sydney, who is passionate about jobs and apprenticeships and the skills and making more opportunity for the generations of young people coming through here. Trevor is a proud member of his union. He is someone who has been active in the Labor Party for a considerable period of time. Someone, who after consulting with local branch members here in the electorate of Lindsay, I am very confident will receive not just their support but will receive support from the people of Lindsay at the next election.

Because the truth is that Scott Morrison has left Western Sydney behind. Scott Morrison, together with the Liberal Government of NSW, including the former Premier that he wanted to run into the Federal Parliament, who we now had health advice that the constraints placed on Western Sydney residents should apply across the board, the fact is, that Scott Morrison supported the NSW Liberals in their, frankly, discrimination against people of Western Sydney in the constraints that were imposed here. The fact is also that on the weekend we saw Scott Morrison say that he did not want Australians to look in the rear vision mirror. Well, if I had his record as Prime Minister, I would not want that either. He does not want Australians to look at the failure on securing vaccines. He does not want Australians to look back at the failure on purpose-built quarantine. He does not want Australia to look back on the rorts that were there with sports rorts and other activities, the failure to have a national anticorruption commission. And he certainly does not want Australians to look back at what he did during the bushfire crisis when he went missing.

Well, Trevor Ross is someone who has never gone missing. He is someone who will stand up this local community and will be an outstanding representative for the people of Lindsay. And I look forward to campaigning with him in the lead-up to the next election, whenever it is.

We need a Government that is about delivery, not just about announcements. And today's announcement will result in the delivery of Trevor Ross as the Labor candidate for Lindsay. And it contrasts with the Prime Minister who is out there announcing re-gifting of support in the housing sector, something that is not new. Places that were not taken up from an existing scheme that he announced previously. And once again, he is pretending that there is something new there. This is a Prime Minister who is all announcements, no delivery. Trevor Ross will deliver for the people of Lindsay because Trevor Ross knows how to hold a hose.

TREVOR ROSS, LABOR CANDIDATE FOR LINDSAY: Thank you. And welcome to Western Sydney. My name is Trevor Ross. I will be nominating for the seat of Lindsay for the ALP in the upcoming Federal election. When I considered running, I was trying to work out what was good for me, but also for the people of Lindsay. I have lived in Western Sydney all of my life. I have been a firefighter since I was 14 years of age. I started with the bushfire brigades and became a professional part-time firefighter before becoming a permanent firefighter 24 years ago. Before that I was a truck driver. As a firefighter, I've looked after people in the community on their worst day. One of my sons is following this. All of my four sons were brought up in Western Sydney and went to local schools. All four of my sons have been successful in their chosen careers. As well as a firefighter, I have two more who have served in the armed forces, and one son who was in IT. And some grandchildren who live in New South Wales also. I've been a union member all of my working life and a union official. I was the senior vice president of the Fire Brigade Employees Union, because I saw that was an opportunity to give back to the firefighters that have given me so much. I'm also aware that I've had a very secure job and a career for most of my life. And I want that for my grandkids and for my neighbours. I was able to buy a house, have a good life because of my job. I want that for the community. I learned early on that it is important to look after people. My grandfather was a very vocal activist. He was a life member of the Labor Party. And before he died, he had the honour of the community complex and residence named after him. My grandfather's passions and community-minded approach was not lost on the rest of my family. My mum was involved in every community organisation from past committees, P&Cs and a volunteer at the Sydney Olympic Games. But a main passion was teaching children and adults to swim and reducing drowning deaths. And of course, the Rural Fire Service. Both of these organisations awarded her with life memberships. She was awarded the Order of Australia medal, and she had the local swimming pool at Riverstone named after her. With my kind of family, you grow up learning the values of community and looking after others. That's why I'm nominating for Lindsay. I'm a working-class firefighter from Western Sydney who does hold a hose. I raised a family here. And I want everyone to have the same opportunities I had. Only an Albanese Labor Government can deliver for our community the way we deserve. And it will be an honour to serve in the Government as the Member for Lindsay.

ALBANESE: Happy to take questions.

JOURNALIST: The Deputy Prime Minister has tested positive for COVID. What's your response to that?

ALBANESE: Well, I wish him and anyone who tests positive for COVID well. I hope that he's able to recover quickly. I'm sure that he will take appropriate action in terms of isolation. I understand he's in the United States, where, of course, he will receive, I'm sure, the best of health care. I wish him a swift recovery.

JOURNALIST: On the Beijing Winter Olympics, Australia is joining in the diplomatic boycott. Does Federal Labor support that?

ALBANESE: We do support the call by the national Government to have a diplomatic boycott. The fact is that China's human rights record, particularly its treatment of Uyghurs, but other issues as well, including Hong Kong, not respecting the agreements that were made in Hong Kong, mean that it is appropriate that a commensurate action be taken to send a message about human rights. The United States has led that. Australia has followed. Canada has made a similar decision today. And that decision is appropriate. It has bipartisan support.

JOURNALIST: Are you concerned that China will punish Australia for that move?

ALBANESE: Well, Australia has to stand up for our own values. That's what Australia is doing.

JOURNALIST: Scott Morrison says you're not up to the job on national security. What do you say to that?

ALBANESE: Scott Morrison will come up with a range of scare campaigns and slogans. Scott Morrison isn't up to the job of even running his own Government at the moment. Scott Morrison couldn't get agreement within the Liberal Party for major legislation through the Parliament over the last fortnight. He allows the National Party to run the climate policy. And he allows, in terms of the Coalition, to fight against each other. He can't even get agreement from his own operation at the moment. And yet, he thinks he's in a position to throw out simplistic one-liners. This is a Prime Minister, who when it comes to national security issues, climate change is very important, this Prime Minister isn't a part of global action seriously when it comes to climate change. This is a Prime Minister, when it comes to a range of issues, is just not providing any leadership. So, I'll continue to hold the Government to account, even though the Prime Minister himself said on Sunday we shouldn't actually look at his Government's record. And I will continue to advocate, as well, positive policies such as the one that I'm pursuing here again today, our policy on TAFE and apprenticeships, our policy for 465,000 free TAFE places, our policy to address the skills crisis which has got worse under this Government.

JOURNALIST: On the emissions reduction targets, Fiji has urged the Federal Government to reconsider not reducing that 2030 target. Do you think that could weaken Australia's relationship with its Pacific neighbours?

ALBANESE: Well, quite clearly, climate policy is an issue with our strongest ally, the United States, with the position of our Indo-Pacific neighbours as well are really concerned. They're on the frontline of climate change. Nations like Kiribati and Tuvalu, but also, of course, islands in our own Torres Strait are concerned, justifiably, by the impact of climate change. So, one of the things about climate change action is that it is a diplomatic issue, it is an international issue, it is about Australia's standing in the world. And that is just one reason why we should address climate change as a national security issue. It's one of the things that I spoke about in my address to the ANZUS 70th anniversary commemorations in the Parliament.

JOURNALIST: The Opposition has routinely criticised the Government for not mandating its target. Yet Chris Bowen has said the Labor Government might proceed without doing exactly that. Is that a double standard?

ALBANESE: Not at all. We've got a target of 43 per cent by 2030. It's worked out. We've said exactly how it will occur. It's been modelled. It's all there saying exactly what we will do. If, after the election, we are successful, I would expect that it will receive the support of the Parliament. We will have a mandate for it. But the truth is that you don't need parliamentary approval to up the commitment that Australia will make as part of the ongoing Conference of the Parties. And in 2022, it's expected that Australia will increase the target that we have for 2030. Now, the Liberal Party want to continue to push a position that is contrary to the support that we have received from the Business Council of Australia, the Australian Industry Group, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the National Farmers' Federation, the Australian Council of Trade Unions. Also, of course, what business wants is certainty going forward. We will put that before the Parliament, that certainty. But it won't change our resolve. And it won't change what we do in Government. It will be up to the Liberal and National parties to decide whether they want to stand in the way of the business community, with certainty, and if the Greens want to continue with their disruptive actions, as they did in 2009 where they blocked the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. Well, that's a matter for them too. The Prime Minister has been incapable of providing a critique of the policy that we put forward. So, therefore, he's made up another one and said that's what they'll really do. It just shows how bankrupt he is when it comes to serious policy critique of our comprehensive plan that is sensible and workable, which is what major industry groups have said and the National Farmers' Federation have said. I can't recall a policy put forward on a contestable area such as climate policy by the Labor Party that's opposed by the Coalition that has been so warmly embraced by the business community and by the peak farmers' organisation. I welcome that. I welcome that maturity. What we know now is that the only way to end the climate wars is to elect a Labor Government. A Labor Government that will introduce a 43 per cent target by 2030, that will have our plan to fix energy transmission in this country through Rewiring the Nation, that will have plans for solar banks, for community batteries for solar energy, that will produce cheaper electric vehicles by cutting taxes. Our comprehensive plan will create 604,000 new jobs. It will decrease Electricity prices by $275 for households by 2025 that are in the national energy market. It will produce $52 billion of private sector investment. And it will make an enormous difference. We will be a more competitive Australia. The cheapest form of new energy is clean energy. We will embrace it. That's why it's been embraced by the business community so strongly. And what you have from our opponents, whether they be the Coalition or the Greens Party, out there complaining about the fact that we haven't done nothing, which is what both of them from different perspectives will achieve. The Coalition, we know, won't take climate change policy seriously. And the Greens will just come up with slogans with nothing to back it up. Our plan is backed up by modelling. Our plan is a serious plan that will create jobs, lower energy prices and lower emissions. It's the right plan for Australia. Thanks very much.

ENDS