ANDREW CLENNELL, HOST: Prime Minister, thanks very much for your time. I might pick up from our Press Club discussion yesterday. You said people like you and me shouldn't have got a $9,000 tax cut, but on the same principle, should we be getting taxpayer funded free doctor visits? Why should the cook and the waiter at the Press Club pay for the entire cost of you going to the doctor?
 
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Because the universality of Medicare is such an important principle. And when I announced this election in the Prime Ministerial Courtyard, I spoke about the fact that Kerry Packer, as a billionaire when he had a heart attack, went to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital to get the care that he needed. I ended up there after I had my serious motor vehicle accident in January of 2021 and my mum, an invalid pensioner, got taken there by ambulance from her public housing just down the road in Camperdown. It's important that universal healthcare and free healthcare through Medicare be provided, just like every child has access to a public school.
 
CLENNELL: For a GP though, that's different. I totally agree with you on hospitals. But why for a GP?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Because universality of healthcare provision is part of what Australian values are. That we look after each other and that's important. The progressivity of the tax system is how you deal with other issues, which is why we changed the legislated tax cuts to make sure that low income earners didn't miss out. They were going to miss out. And yes, that meant we took some dollars away from people like you and I got $4,500 dollars less. But it did mean that the people who look after us, the people who at the local GP surgery go and clean the surgery, the people who are on the front desk, the people who keep that business going got a tax cut as well. And under my Government, if we're re-elected, they'll get another tax cut. Importantly, Peter Dutton is saying they will actually legislate for higher income taxes.
 
CLENNELL: I did mention to you at the Press Club there were things you promised at the last election you didn't deliver on. You changed the tax cuts. You've just mentioned that. Power bill relief, the Uluru Statement in full, cheaper mortgages. Are you saying that you and I, by 2030 are definitely getting free doctors’ visits, as is every Australian pretty much, and how many by 2028, by the time of the next election?
 
PRIME MINISTER: We're saying that 90 per cent by 2030. And we're basing that on the fact that the figures over 90 per cent for concession card holders, a policy that we implemented in the Budget before last when we tripled the bulk billing incentive. So it's not like this is just an academic exercise here or guesswork. We can look at the policy, what is the impact that it has had. And for concession card holders, it's lifted that bulk billing rate to well over 90 per cent.
 
CLENNELL: I want to ask now about your super tax, the tax on unrealised gains. People involved in startups say this will gravely impact on investment. It will lead to people being taxed on money they don't even have. It's not indexed. So you and I have discussed the price of housing before. $3 million in 20 years might be $300,000 now effectively. Do you accept as the Parliamentary Budget Office does, that this will raise $4 billion a year within four years and $7 billion within ten years. Why are you seeking to hurt people who have invested with their super?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Let's be very clear here, Andrew, if there are 200 people are watching this program, or for every 200 if it's an average are across the Australian population, then one of those 200 will be impacted. Just 0.5 per cent of people. It is a modest change in which people who are already getting a considerable benefit concession, if you like, will still get a concession. It will just be less than they're getting at the moment.
 
CLENNELL: Have you given up on ever delivering another surplus in a government you lead?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Andrew, at the last election I didn't promise to deliver a surplus and we delivered two. And this year's deficit is $27 billion. But that's almost half of what was anticipated. So we've worked really hard on Budget savings, over $100 billion that we've delivered during this term. The last Budget handed down by the Coalition delivered not one –
 
CLENNELL: So you can, so can you deliver a surplus again?
 
PRIME MINISTER: We'll continue. What I won't do, what I won't do is to speculate. What I will do is say that we've been responsible economic managers and we’ll continue to do so. We'll continue to look for savings where they're appropriate, but not savings where they hurt people and savings where they will have a negative effect on the economy. I mean, cutting the Housing Australia Future Fund will mean less housing. Cutting the National Reconstruction Fund will mean less manufacturing –
 
CLENNELL: Prime Minister. You've just indicated you'll make savings. Do you undertake not to raise any taxes?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what we've got, Andrew, is our policies out there for all to see –
 
CLENNELL: So you won't raise any taxes –
 
PRIME MINISTER: What we've got out there, Andrew, is lower taxes, lower interest rates. And at this election there is a real choice, lower income taxes under Labor or higher income taxes under the Liberals.
 
CLENNELL: So do you rule out changes to negative gearing if elected? Yes or no.
 
PRIME MINISTER: Andrew, you asked me that before 2022. With respect, I'm sure you asked me because I was asked lots of times. I told people we wouldn't make changes. The proof's in the pudding, Andrew. If we were going to make changes, then why haven't we? So people can see what we've done. The key to housing, Andrew, is supply, supply and more supply. And that's why there'll be more public housing built under us. There'll be more private rentals built under us, and there'll be more homes for people to own built under us. The Opposition have no policies for housing supply. Simple as that.
 
CLENNELL: You keep saying you're responsible economic manager, but it's a bit hard to wear when you've got a decade of deficits. Debt set to top $1.2 trillion in two years, $100 billion in off budget spending and debt going up $300 billion in the next three years. It's not going down, is it? So how responsible is that?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Andrew, we have cut the Budget bottom line, we've made $208 billion better. Australians have saved $60 billion in interest payments as a result of the measures that we've put in place. And the Coalition today are going to release this fantasy costings document, which is why they've left it to the last minute, avoiding scrutiny. I mean, this has been a shambles of a campaign from the Opposition.
 
CLENNELL: So you insist you're responsible?
 
PRIME MINISTER: We're, we are absolutely responsible. And the proof's in the pudding. The two Budget surpluses and halving the Budget deficit, the savings that we have made, the measures that we have put in place, some of which are pretty tough. Andrew, I don't know if you want to play what you said after we announced the changes to tax cuts, but I bet you that it wasn't positive. But we did that. It wasn't an easy decision. It wasn't an easy decision. It was the right decision. We have deficits which are lower than the ones that were forecast that we inherited. It's that simple. And because of our economically responsible way of managing the Budget, we have delivered two Budget surpluses and we've halved the deficit. The Coalition have a $600 billion nuclear plan that they have to come up with what are they going to cut? We know last time around they said no cuts to health, no cuts to education. And they will do that.
 
CLENNELL: Let me assist you with time. I just want to move on to the Voice. Penny Wong made these comments the other day. She compared it to same sex marriage. Will you have another crack at a legislated type Voice or do you rule it out? Will there be anything resembling the Voice if you’re re-elected?
 
PRIME MINISTER: No.
 
CLENNELL: What's going to happen with the other pillars of the Uluru Statement like the Makarrata if you’re elected?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Look, Andrew, the only person who has promised another referendum – this term, by the way, coming up – is Peter Dutton. Like this guy, chucks stuff out there, not just this, I think there are four referendums he's promised at various stages, and he's walked back from all of them. What I'm saying is there'll be no referendums in the next term, if I'm elected Prime Minister on Saturday. And on the Voice, I took that position out of conviction, not out of convenience. It's the first time that we've had a referendum this century. This century. You know, and we put it to the Australian people as a result of the gracious request that was made by Indigenous Australians who met at Uluru in 2017 under the former government, under a process that was established with the support of the former government. And Scott Morrison promised as well, by the way, in 2019, that they would do something about Indigenous recognition. Peter Dutton promised during the referendum, he told Australians that they would get another referendum if they voted no. This is a question for him.
 
CLENNELL: Alright. Tony Blair has released a report warning of a major rethink of net zero policies. He says any strategy based on either phasing out fossil fuels in the short term, or limiting consumption, is a strategy based, is a strategy doomed to fail. And he has released a report calling for the rapid deployment of carbon capture and storage and small-scale nuclear reactors. Now, shouldn't we listen to Tony Blair?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I haven't seen Tony Blair's report, but Tony Blair's a good bloke. I'll put that on the record. And he was a successful prime minister. But that's why what we have is an orderly program of 43 per cent reduction by 2030 and net zero – net zero – that doesn't mean zero emissions. It means net zero emissions by 2050. And we have a program to get there. The Safeguard Mechanism and the Capacity Investment Scheme, which were both welcomed by the Business Council of Australia, the Australian Industry Group, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The big emitters that are subject to the Safeguard Mechanism are working those issues through. The Rio Tintos of this world are changing their practises in order to lower emissions. You've got projects like Tomago Aluminium in the Hunter Valley that are the largest energy users in New South Wales that are moving to renewables, backed by firming capacity, in order to as well, move towards the production of green aluminium.
 
CLENNELL: What about what happened in Spain? Does that concern you?
 
PRIME MINISTER: We're in Australia, Andrew, in an election campaign. If you pick out countries to go through around the world and ask me questions about the detail of what's happening there, then I think that's a bit rough. What I'll say is my focus is on Australia. We have a plan to get our emissions down. We have a plan to make sure we deal with energy security and energy supply. The former government had 24 out of 28 coal-fired power stations close on their watch, and they had 23 energy plans announced and none of them have been delivered. And there's a reason Peter Dutton hasn't been within cooee of a site of one his nuclear reactors. It's because if he went there, he'd see here in Collie, where I've been twice, he'd see the major battery plant that will power 800,000 homes being built next to what is the coal-fired power station, using the transmission lines there. And so we have a plan. Peter Dutton has a plan to say, stop the world, in 2040, we're going to do something. In the meantime, I don't know how he thinks that energy security is going to be dealt with or how it's going to all be paid for, but we know he will have cuts.
 
CLENNELL: I know you're pressed for time, so I've got two more. Just stay with me for two more. The first one is what happens if you win between 70 and 75 seats on Saturday night? What's the process? Do you need to call crossbench MPs then and get confidence and supply from them? Could you appoint an independent as Speaker? Do you rule out appointing an independent as Speaker?
 
PRIME MINISTER: I'm focused on winning every vote that I can between now and Saturday. I'm seeking to be the first prime minister to be re-elected since John Howard in 2004. We've got a mountain to climb, and it's a bit bigger than the one here at Kings Park where I'm speaking to you from in beautiful Perth. But, we're a couple of steps up that mountain. But it will be – it's really tough, to get re-elected. We know that that's the case because no one's done it since 2004. I take nothing for granted. I'm not getting ahead of myself.
 
CLENNELL: Alright. And just finally, the US and Ukraine have this morning signed this critical minerals deal. I wanted to get your reaction to that and also ask you, are you worried about your own Zelenskyy moment in the Oval Office if you're elected, if you go over there and Donald Trump decides to pick a fight with you?
 
PRIME MINISTER: I deal with people respectfully across the board. That's the way I deal with people, whether it's a world leader, whether it's a member of the media, or whether it's just a voter. If you have a look at the way I've dealt on this campaign. I've been through supermarkets and shopping centres, I've been through malls, I've been through schools, I've been hanging out at polling booths, I've been on street walks. My opponent, I don't think he's met anyone who wasn't vetted by his campaign committee during this campaign. And that says a lot between the difference that we hold. I regard it as an incredible privilege and honour, being Prime Minister of Australia. I'm accountable to the people. I always – I like engaging with people, and I like making a difference to people's lives. And that's what I want to be in a position to continue to do. So, we are turning the corner. The inflation figures yesterday, were, you know, pretty good to have both within the band, with a two in front of it. We have real wages increasing. We have unemployment continuing to be low at just 4.1%. I want to continue to deal with those cost of living measures going forward, but also to help to build in the long term the resilience that the Australian economy needs. Part of that is our international relations, where I've improved our capability and our relationships. And the alternative, frankly, is chaos and cuts. Cuts to pay for his nuclear plan. Cuts to pay for the other things that he's put forward. I want to look after people on cost of living immediately, whether it is the income tax cuts or even the freezing of the excise on beer – makes a difference to people's pockets. But so does the wages that they're paid. Peter Dutton will come after people's wages and conditions. We know he won't support Same Job, Same Pay, and he won't support the Right to Disconnect, either. And at the beginning of this campaign, it was clear he'd measured up the curtains at Kirribilli to speak about moving there – as a Queenslander. You know, if I was a voter in Dickson, I'd be concerned about a bloke who ran away during times when he should have been focused on his job as the Member for Dickson. And tried to, of course, run for McPherson for preselection down the Gold Coast at one stage. And now, if he's elected on Saturday, he wants to move, not to Canberra, the national capital, he wants to move to Sydney.
 
CLENNELL: Prime Minister, thanks so much for your time.
 
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks Andrew.

ENDS