SUBJECTS: Federal election; Labor’s policy agenda; Morrison Government’s failures during the COVID-19 pandemic; cost of living.
 
KARL STEFANOVIC, HOST: The Prime Minister is right now at the centre of a political firestorm, unable to catch a break amid a raft of recent government blunders.
 
ALLISON LANGDON, HOST: This all as the Federal Election inches closer. Watching it all unfold from the sidelines is Opposition Leader, Anthony Albanese. He joins us now from Marrickville in Sydney. Albo, nice to see you. Can you smell victory?
 
ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: Good morning. I'm not getting ahead of myself. Labor has only one won government from Opposition three times since the Second World War. This is a mountain to climb. And I'm climbing up that mountain step-by-step.
 
STEFANOVIC: Seriously though, Albo, if Labor doesn't win this one, this next election, the Party might as well give up.
 
ALBANESE: Karl, it is always tough for Labor to win government from Opposition. History tells us this. 1972, 1983 and 2007. They are the only times in my lifetime we have done this. But we are holding the Government to account. I think Australians are increasingly looking at this Government and saying, ‘No, they don't deserve a second decade in office because they don't even have a plan for the current one.’ They haven't delivered on the promises that they said they would deliver when Scott Morrison became the Prime Minister four years ago now, like an anti-corruption commission that is still not there. They don't have a plan for the economy. And they haven't learnt from the mistakes they have made. Everyone makes mistakes. But the rollout of the vaccine was diabolical. We were too slow. The Prime Minister said it wasn't a race. And then the rollout of rapid antigen tests, it is the same. It is easier to catch COVID in many places than it is to catch a RAT.
 
LANGDON: Look, he hasn't had too many wins of late, Scott Morrison. He was talking yesterday, I think it was talking yesterday, I think it was like bouquets and stings. It has mainly been stings. But the issue you have got, do you think voters know what you stand for?
 
ALBANESE: Well, I have been around a while. My biography written by Karen Middleton is called, ‘Telling it straight’. They know I will be straight. They know from my appearances with Karl on the Today Show every Friday morning for many, many years, I think your listeners know what I stand for. And I stand for old-fashioned Labor values. I stand for a strong economy. I stand for making sure that people can not get left behind, but also that they not get held back for opportunity. I stand for aspiration.
 
STEFANOVIC: Also, Albo, the perception is that you stand for inner-city lefties. Is that true?
 
ALBANESE: Well, I stand for all Australians, Karl. And I'm comfortable sitting in a pub in Hewenden in North Queensland just as I am comfortable sitting around a boardroom talking about business. I make no apologies for the fact that I have got out and about around this country. I engage with the business community, I engage with farmers, I engage with people in my electorate, that is a very diverse electorate. A lot of people have come to my electorate, making Australia their home from all over the world. And they are success stories. That's a good thing. I don't want Australians to be left behind. And I also stand for safety for women and gender equality as well, something I think that this Government have forgotten about.
 
LANGDON: But just touching on what Karl was saying there, and the criticism of you has been that you do say one thing to inner-city greenies and another to coal miners. And you have the nickname ‘each-way Albo’. How does that sit with you?
 
ALBANESE: It is just not true of course. I say exactly the same thing wherever I am. The truth is that is that was the Prime Minister getting a bit of a tip from a far-right commentator who used that. Because you know where that came from? Because during the crisis when the Government needed our support to stimulate the economy, we said we wouldn't allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good. So, in areas like JobKeeper, we argued for wage subsidies. We argued their system was flawed, but we said we wouldn't block it because we were in a position to do so. We wouldn't block any of the measures even though we would point out there are issues. We tried to move amendments. When the amendments weren't successful, we said we would put the national interest first, not play political games during the pandemic. I see that as a strength. I see that as a strength because we have always put the national interest first. And I always would if I had the great honour of being elected Prime Minister in a couple of months.
 
STEFANOVIC: Albo, there are some pundits saying this might end up a hung Parliament. It might be very, very close. Are you prepare to do deals with The Greens? Are you prepared to do deals with Clive Palmer?
 
ALBANESE: No. I intend to lead a majority Government. Only Labor can form a majority Government. The Coalition, we have seen with the Liberals and the Nats, are a bit of a mess in terms of their negotiations. Even the Prime Minister was humiliated going to a conference in Glasgow, not being able to say what he wanted to say because Barnaby Joyce wouldn't let him. The truth is that Labor is the biggest party in Parliament on the floor of the House of Representatives. And we are the only party that is going to the next election saying, ‘We will govern in our own right’.
 
STEFANOVIC: Okay, so no deals. All right.
 
LANGDON: Hey, we know that the PM got stumped by the cost of bread and milk the other day. You, of course, were across household items
 
STEFANOVIC: Here we go.
 
LANGDON: For your female voters, can you give us the price of a box of Carefree?
 
ALBANESE: No, I can't. I live with my son who is 21 years old. And I assure you that is something I cannot.
 
LANGDON: Gotcha.
 
ALBANESE: You have. I can tell you the price of milk and bread and Vegemite and a range of products. I can tell you that the price of cereal. But no, you have got me there, Ally.
 
LANGDON: Stumped you with that one.
 
ALBANESE: Ally, one. Albo zero.
 
LANGDON: All right.
 
STEFANOVIC: You are going to get all the awards now. Damn it.
 
ALBANESE: I can tell you this. They are too much. They are too much. And it is a good thing that the GST got taken off them as a result of an effective campaign.
 
STEFANOVIC: There you go.
 
ALBANESE: A very effective campaign. A very effective campaign by Labor along with women out there in the community.
 
STEFANOVIC: Good on you Albo.
 
LANGDON: Thanks, Albo.
 
STEFANOVIC: That is a good question. That's probably the best question you have ever asked.
 
ENDS