SUBJECTS: Federal election; visit to Tasmania; Labor’s policy agenda; aged care crisis; Scott Morrison’s failures during the COVID-19 pandemic; cost of living; pensioners; Labor's Pandemic Recovery, Jobs and Industry Taskforce; Future Made in Australia; Labor’s Powering Australia Plan; climate change; green hydrogen; manufacturing; national security; Ukraine.
 
MIKE O’LOUGHLIN, HOST: And I guess if we didn't know already that there is a Federal election coming up, we would after the week we're having here in Tassie. We've had visits from the Prime Minister, the Federal Treasurer, both of whom we've had brief chat with over the past couple of days, but also in Tassie this week is Federal Opposition Leader, Anthony Albanese, who does tend to give me a little bit more time on the show. Let's see if that's the case. He joins me live on the line now. Anthony, good morning. Thanks for your time.
 
ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: Good morning. Good to be with you.
 
O’LOUGHLIN: Now, are you in Tassie to push for the seats of Bass and Braddon?
 
ALBANESE: Well, I am in Tassie to push for every seat in Tasmania, it has got to be said. I've spent my time in Bass this visit. But I'll be back in the south of the state very soon.
 
O’LOUGHLIN: Did you possibly intentionally schedule your visit in the same week as the PM?
 
ALBANESE: No. This has been scheduled for some time. I was scheduled to talk at the lead-up to Launceston Cup, which is, of course, being held today. And I spoke at the Boag's function there. And then this morning, I've been at an aged care facility, talking to aged care workers, talking to the manager, but also having the privilege of talking to some of the lovely residents as well.
 
O’LOUGHLIN: I mentioned we've had the PM and the Treasurer on the show in the past few days. But we really didn't get much time to cover the issues we wanted to. So, I'm hoping you might be a little more generous with your time this morning. And you've been visiting, as you said, the local aged care facility this morning. How did that go?
 
ALBANESE: It went really well. The first meeting I had was with the workers as well, not just from that facility, but from around Launceston. We know that the Aged Care Royal Commission identified workforce issues as being very significant. The truth is that many aged care workers are paid $22 an hour to do what is extremely difficult work. They are frustrated that they have really restricted time to spend with every resident. And I heard firsthand the concern that they have when multiple bells are ringing but they might be with a resident in helping them to shower, they know that another resident needs assistance, and they're just not capable of being in two or three places at once. And that causes enormous frustration for them. And so, it was good to hear firsthand. Because this is something that we really do have to address. People expect that, we used to call it nursing homes, of course, people expect that there'll be a nurse available at all times in every nursing home. People don't expect that aged care workers won't be able to earn more stacking shelves than they do looking after elderly people. And we know that the acute care that's required for our aged care residents has changed in recent times. There's more care in the home. But it means that when people do go into homes, then they might have more health issues to deal with. In particular this morning, we heard about mental health issues. We know that dementia is a major issue for elderly residents of these homes. That can create issues of need for increased care.
 
O’LOUGHLIN: Are you concerned about the way COVID has been handled in the aged care sector? I mean, how does Labor really plan to solve the aged care debacle in Tasmania?
 
ALBANESE: Well, what we need to do is to solve the problems for the whole country. And Tasmania has to be a part of that. We have an aging population. So, what it will require is for increased support going forward. That means making sure that nurses are available. It means addressing the issue of pay and conditions of the aged care workforce. It means proper regulation and funding. And the Aged Care Royal Commission was titled 'Neglect' for a reason. Because this is a system that is in crisis.
 
O’LOUGHLIN: Exactly. What about health for pensioners? Realistically, we've thrown our older Australians to the walls in recent years. And when you look at the cost of living, it continues to rise across the board. House prices are skyrocketing to unaffordable levels. Petrol is nearing two bucks a litre. The amount we're paying at the supermarket is increasing rapidly. What does Labor plan to do to help with this?
 
ALBANESE: Well, of course, the last time we were in Government, we had the largest increase in the pension in Australian history. And that was Labor's record that remained stagnant for some time. In general, the cost of living for pensions, but also for workers and for families, is really tough at the moment. We know that real wages are going backwards and not keeping up with the cost of living. We know that essentials as well, food and groceries, petrol, rent, are continuing to rise and wages aren't. And pensioners, of course, are doing it tough as well.
 
O’LOUGHLIN: Absolutely.
 
ALBANESE: I grew up in a household with a single mum on a pension. I know what it is like to value every single dollar that comes in. It is important.
 
O’LOUGHLIN: So, are we going to see increases into social payments to keep up with, as you said, these cost of living rises? I mean, particularly for pensioners, realistically.
 
ALBANESE: Well, Labor tied, of course, the pension to ensure that there were regular increases. But what we should do is make assessments based upon need. Every single budget, we should be examining these issues and doing what we can to provide assistance. I'm not here to promise things that can't be delivered. So, it has to be viewed in the context of the budget, of course. But it's something that should be examined in every single budget to do what we can. We know that every single dollar that goes to a pensioner doesn't go to savings, it gets circulated around the economy and creates economic activity. So, I'm very sympathetic. But I also am honest about saying that it would have to be viewed in the context of every budget as well.
 
O’LOUGHLIN: Well, the Budget is next month. And of course, you'll have the reply. But the Morrison Government is providing more than $3.6 billion in support the Tasmanian since the pandemic hit. A lot of this, of course, was in the early days with JobKeeper etc. And the effects of the pandemic are still ongoing, business in particular. What will be Labor's immediate response to the pandemic, but particularly in regard to financial support?
 
ALBANESE: Well, we were concerned that a whole lot of Tasmanians missed out on that support. I was speaking yesterday in Launceston with people from the arts sector who missed out on any support, who just got left behind. And we called for wage subsidies that were rejected initially by the Government. We also think that if he hadn't wasted so much money on a badly designed scheme, JobKeeper was a good idea and it assisted many people and many businesses. But it also assisted a range of businesses that were increasing their profits. And the Parliamentary Budget Office and others have identified literally tens of billions of dollars. Now, if that hadn't had been wasted, you could have provided more support in the system without providing any increased burden on the budget. Josh Frydenberg knew as well that the system had flaws in it. But he kept it in exactly the same way, unlike in New Zealand, for example, where they adjusted the way that they were making payments to ensure that you didn't have waste going to people or businesses that didn't need it, who were increasing their profits.
 
O’LOUGHLIN: Let's talk about health-wise, I mean, would you be doing anything differently? You look at Tasmania. Our health system here in Tasmania, as I'm sure Brian and everyone else has told you, there's no doubt about it, our elective surgery wait lists are completely blown out. We've got bed block, ambulance ramping, barely any GPs bulk bill unless you have a healthcare or concession card. What's Labor's solution there?
 
ALBANESE: Well, last time I was here, I visited GPs and I also talked to the Head of the Pharmacy Guild here in Tasmania as well about health issues. And today, I've been addressing aged care with Ross Hart. The healthcare system needs more support. It's very clear that we need to have a better system of training additional GPs. We need to address affordability. The costs of seeing a doctor are rising. In Tasmania, it's very hard to get access to a bulk billing doctor. And that places pressure on the entire health system. If you're not providing that support for primary healthcare, then more people will turn up at the hospital, which places pressure on the hospital then. And we've seen ramping, that is people waiting in ambulances because they are unable to get into the hospital. And that is of real concern. I know that every state and territory governments, Labor and Liberal, wrote to the Federal Government about health funding. And that was essentially dismissed by the Federal Government. We'll wait and see what happens in terms of the so-called budget. It's really just an election statement, of course, coming up in March. Everyone knows that the election will be soon after.
 
O’LOUGHLIN: Well, it will be more carrot than stick. That has been a headline that I totally agree with. I mean, let's face it, as you said, that it's an election coming up, it'll be probably 14th of May or something there abouts.
 
ALBANESE: It is likely to be the 14th of May, which is why the election, in my view, should be held now. And an incoming government of whatever persuasion that Australians elect, either more of the same or a change to something better, in my view, that they then would have the opportunity to put together a real budget after the election. But Scott Morrison is determined to change the date of the budget, which, of course, should be held in May every year, in order to hang on and in order to, I guess, as we've seen in recent times, try to whip up some more scare campaigns. It's clear that the Government isn't actually governing. And Scott Morrison himself said last October that he was campaigning. I just wish that he would govern, to do his day job, and not do all of the stunts for such a long period of time.
 
O’LOUGHLIN: Well, I'd be interested to see if you will go to a hairdresser and wash someone's hair.
 
ALBANESE: Well, I won't be watching someone's hair. And I won't be playing the ukulele on 60 Minutes. And I won't be lifting my mask whilst welding either. I think Australians just want a Government and a Prime Minister who does their day job. And I think, during the last election campaign, Scott Morrison went out and sheared a sheep and did various things for photo ops. And that was okay. He was a new Prime Minister, and he was successful at that election. But I think that Australians are awake to some of the rather desperate stunts that have occurred. Shampooing a young woman's hair was just one of them.
 
O’LOUGHLIN: Can I ask about jobs? I mean, tell us about Labor's Pandemic Recovery, Jobs and Industry Taskforce.
 
ALBANESE: Look, this was a very important report. It received over a couple of hundred submissions. And the theme that came out is that people want to take the opportunity to examine what happened during the pandemic and how we learn from that experience to grow back stronger. And one of the themes is that we need to make more things here. We need to make more pharmaceuticals, for example. We need to make more high-value manufacturing. We need to make sure, as well, that we've learned from the fact that it was casualised workers in insecure work who were the most likely to be left behind during the pandemic. So, we need more secure work going forward into the future.
 
O’LOUGHLIN: More manufacturing, I totally agree with. I mean, if you look at Tasmania's unemployment rate, well, that's 3.8 per cent. Which is good news. I mean, it was 5.9 per cent around this time two years ago before the pandemic hit. It's now the lowest on record. But our underemployment rate is the second highest in the country. And as you're touching on there, Tasmanians may be more employed than ever, but we have the highest level of casual employees at 26.6 per cent. 4.7 per cent higher than the national average. And Tassie workers earn 13 per cent less than the Australian median wage. Over 20,000 Tasmanians work more than one job. And women working in Tasmania are more likely to be working part-time than the national average. So, I mean, what's Labor's push there?
 
ALBANESE: Well, our push is for more secure work, more permanent work, for secure employment to be one of the objectives of the Fair Work Act. For us to value permanent work. A proper definition of casualisation. At the moment, what you have is people employed on a so-called casual basis when they're not really casual, they might be permanent part-time, in order to undermine the wages and conditions which are there. Casual work can be very important for some, but it shouldn't be used where it's not appropriate. And this Government has even gone to court to overturn decisions which have been made with regard to full-time employment in the mining sector. We need to make sure that we skill up Australians as well for permanent work. We know that there are, as the figures that you've given on Tasmania reflect the fact, that there are two million Australians who want more work. So, in the aged care sector, for example, we saw the practical problems that arose from the fact that if someone had COVID, they were working multiple jobs, and it spread throughout the aged care sector. In my electorate, there were a number of deaths from a home in Summer Hill, which came from a worker who had spread it from another site. And it had devastating consequences. If you listen to the Government sometimes about the headline figures, you'd think everything was all hunky dory. But the truth is that people are struggling to get by. They're struggling to pay for their food and groceries. They're struggling to pay for their rent. They're struggling to pay for their petrol. And for many of them as well, they were even having to pay for their own rapid antigen tests in order to continue to participate in the workforce. They're doing it tough. And I think we need to recognise that. This report brought it out. And when you delve into those fingers below the headlines, people aren't counted as being unemployed if they're working just a few hours a week. Too many people are having to work in multiple jobs, as you said, to get by. And that disrupts family life as well. It impacts on the quality of life. Work is just one aspect. But it's an important one.
 
O’LOUGHLIN: Let's talk Bridget Archer, Federal Liberal Member for Bass. I mean, you've actually called for her to quit the Liberals following her recent crossing of the floor.
 
ALBANESE: Well, if she is fair dinkum, what I pointed out is that it is no good saying, 'I've crossed the floor to vote for a national anti-corruption commission against my own Government' if it has zero impact, which is what it has had. It hasn't had an impact. And you either, if you're for stopping a Royal Commission, then the Liberal Government have certainly ensured that, in spite of the solemn commitment from Scott Morrison in 2018 that it would happen before the last Federal Election, not during this term but before the last one. And then during this term, an absolute commitment.
 
O’LOUGHLIN: You'd have to call for Bridget to resign. Because you'd love to see Ross Hart in the seat of Bass. I mean, that's fairly obvious.
 
ALBANESE: Well, I would. But if you want an anti-corruption commission, then people have to vote for Ross Hart, and they have to vote for Chris Lynch in Braddon. We need to change the government. It's very clear that this Government have not delivered on the promises that they went to the electorate on in 2019. And they're the same promises that Bridget Archer made to the electorate of Bass. And the truth is they just haven't been delivered on. Whether it's that or whether it be the religious discrimination legislation, whether it be secure work, all of these issues have not been delivered during this term. And this Government are seeking a second decade in office. I really think people will ask themselves, 'Is this as good as it gets?' Because I can't see this Government delivering any more than they have this term. And they don't have a record to point to on economic management. We have a trillion dollars of debt, no economic reform, no social policy reform. And we still don't have a decent climate change and energy policy.
 
O’LOUGHLIN: In regard to that, let's talk about energy. Will you continue funding for Marinus Link? And what about plans for Bell Bay as a base for green hydrogen? Massive projects here for Tas?
 
ALBANESE: Absolutely. And we certainly support both. We support the certainty that will come from having an energy policy. And we released our Powering Australia Plan. It will deliver 604,000 additional jobs. It will cut power prices by $275 by 2025. It will reduce emissions by 43 per cent by 2030. And it will provide the investment certainty that the business community are crying out for. It will result in at least $52 billion of private sector investments. And Tasmania can play a critical role in the future. And cheap, clean energy, of course, can drive high-value manufacturing. We'll set up a National Reconstruction Fund that will benefit from cheap, clean energy that's available. It's a very exciting future for green hydrogen, including at Bell Bay. During the last election campaign, the Government described a future hydrogen industry, when we released our policies, as snake oil, just like they described electric vehicles as not being able to tow your boat or tow your trailer and that it would end the weekend. This is a Government that is not only not prepared to plan for the future, they've actively dismissed it. And when they're doing that, they're dismissing the opportunities that are here for economic growth and activity and job creation here in Tasmania.
 
O’LOUGHLIN: So, Labor will continue, obviously, to help Australians purchase new EVs with providing incentives?
 
ALBANESE: Well, we'll reduce the taxes on them. And that will reduce the price on them, which will provide an incentive. We will also purchase them for the Commonwealth fleet. We know that government purchasing vehicles and then going into the second-hand market is a way as well of substantially increasing the fleet. And as well, we need to support infrastructure to make sure that people can charge up their cars. We know that every auto manufacturer in the world is heading towards electric vehicles, or, indeed, hydrogen vehicles as well, to replace the existing diesel vehicles. It's happening not just in light passenger vehicles, it's happening in heavy vehicles and buses. This is a transformation that's occurring. And Australia should be not only taking advantage of removing particulates from the air, that is a plus as well, we know that, that electric vehicles are cleaner for the atmosphere, they're good for reducing emissions, but we should also be taking up the opportunity for manufacturing. We produce, in Australia, the fastest electric vehicle charging stations in the world. We're exporting them from Southeast Queensland into the United States and into Europe. There's no reason why, with the abundance of resources that we have here in Australia, that we can't do more to, for example, manufacture batteries. We have the lithium, we have the copper, we have everything that goes into the batteries.
 
O’LOUGHLIN: You mentioned manufacturing, if I can just come in, on manufacturing, the PM has made that forestry announcement this week. And of course, which concerns all of Tasmania on the map. But we still have an amazing shortage of timber. Builders really do struggle with shortages. Is Labor just saying that, 'Okay, we'll just fix that with one word - manufacturing'?
 
ALBANESE: No. We're saying we'll fix that with across-the-board industry policy and planning and supporting private sector investment. It is absurd that in a country as vast as ours, we have timber shortages. That makes no sense. And we need to look at a range of industries, how we use our natural advantages that we have, to create jobs and to create that economic activity.
 
O’LOUGHLIN: Can I ask you about the Antarctica funding? Do you believe that the Morrison Government will be able to deliver this increased spend for Antarctica? It is important for Tasmania. I mean, it's a lot of money. And it needs to be delivered. But is it purely and simply just, 'Okay, let's wait and see how we go on the May election'?
 
ALBANESE: Well, no, it's not even that. It's 'Wait till we see how we go the election after the next one'. The new funding kicks in 2026. Before then, there's not a dollar. It's just a re-announcement. It is classic of this Government. All announcement, no delivery. They deferred, of course, and cut some of the funding for Antarctica when they came to office. And now, we have an announcement whereby there is no additional money until 2026. Not the next election, but the one after that.
 
O’LOUGHLIN: Well, let's do a couple more questions. I don't want to run out of time here. But let's talk about the Bass Strait Passenger Vehicle Equalisation Scheme. Will you continue on with that? I mean, the Rudd Government actually introduced indexation back in 2008, which left a $120 gap each way for a standard vehicle. I mean, will you help out? And will you continue this with the TT line?
 
ALBANESE: We, of course, will continue it. But we'll also examine it to see what assistance we can give. It's important that there be ongoing support. And we know that there's increased pressure. I was talking to someone last night about this very issue. So, we would continue to examine how we can give support to Tasmanians through that scheme and other schemes as well.
 
O’LOUGHLIN: We've got a touch on Ukraine. Reason being is that it will affect Tasmania. It will affect how much China will take out of Tasmania. Let's face it, because they've signed a deal with Russia. I mean, all Australia is saying, 'Well, okay, Ukraine's in there, Putin has already moved in troops to those two areas', and Australia will freeze assets of senior Russian officials and oligarchs who have money in real estate here and will act to stop Australia becoming a safe haven for targeted Russian figures seeking to avoid sanctions in other countries. But is that enough?
 
ALBANESE: Well, it's important that we take action in concert with the rest of the world, with our friends and allies in the United States, the UK and the European Union. It is important that the world send a message that this isn't a peacekeeping force, this is a peace breaking force that Putin has sent into Ukraine. Ukraine is a sovereign country whose borders should be respected. And the behaviour of Putin in acting so aggressively and sending in the military into a part of Ukraine should be condemned. And I join with the Government in condemning it. We will support any action that the Federal Government believes is necessary, based upon appropriate advice from the security agencies.
 
O’LOUGHLIN: Well, I realise I've run out of time because you've actually got to board a plane. But I do appreciate the fact that you've given us quite a bit of time this morning. Federal Opposition Leader, Mr Anthony Albanese, thank you so much.
 
ALBANESE: Thank you very much.
 
ENDS