SUBJECTS: 2022 Federal Budget Reply; aged care; Federal election; Labor’s policy agenda.
 
KARL STEFANOVIC, HOST: The man joins us now for one of the more searching questions he's going to get today. Anthony, good morning to you. Can you clarify for us?
 
ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: Good morning. Albo will do, mate. We've known each other a very long time.
 
STEFANOVIC: Big night for you last night. And big spending on aged care in the Budget. How much more will aged care workers get an hour under a Labor Government?
 
ALBANESE: That will be a decision for the Fair Work Commission. But we'll put in a submission saying they deserve a pay increase in accordance with what the Royal Commission recommended. Aged care workers are currently paid $22 an hour, so many of them. It is tough work. It's physically demanding. It's emotionally demanding. They watch people who they love and care for pass on so many occasions. It's a tough job. And they deserve more than our thanks. They deserve proper pay.
 
STEFANOVIC: But how much would you like to see them paid? It's $22 an hour now, what would you like it to be?
 
ALBANESE: The Fair Work Commission operates independently of government. What we'll do is we'll put in a submission saying they deserve an increase. We'll point to the Royal Commission and the findings that they have. What we know is aged care workers are leaving the industry. They've done it really tough over the pandemic, particularly tough. And they deserve more than our thanks.
 
STEFANOVIC: How many extra nurses do you think you'll need? And where will you find the extra nurses?
 
ALBANESE: We'll have extra nursing training as well. We've promised 20,000 additional university places in areas of skill shortage. One of those skills shortages is nurses. So, we'll need that. But we'll need more carers as well because we'll provide for, in accordance with the Royal Commission, additional minutes of care for aged-care workers. We'll provide a nurse on site, compulsory 24/7. We'll put the nurses back in the nursing homes. Karl, what astonishes me is that the Government had a Royal Commission. When you have a Royal Commission, you should adopt its findings, not just dismiss them. And when that Royal Commission has a title in its interim report, a one-world title – Neglect. Our older Australians have built this country. They deserve respect. They deserve dignity. The Royal Commission found that over half of aged care residents literally didn't have enough nutrition. They're literally starving. We need to do so much better for them. And this fits with our plan as well to improve Medicare. We will have more to say about that. The care economy is really important. So, if you vote Labor, you'll know child care, Medicare, aged care. Because Labor cares.
 
ALISON LANGDON, HOST: Albo, it's going to take you years to train up the number of nurses you're going to need to fill these positions, so that's a long-term promise, I guess, that you're making. With all this additional money, you want them to be eating better in aged care homes, means you'll give providers a lot more money. Some providers in the industry are great. There is also a lot of unscrupulous ones. What can you do to guarantee the providers don't just pocket the money and people in aged-care homes continue to be neglected?
 
ALBANESE: What you'll have is proper regulation and transparency so aged care providers will have to tell the aged care regulator exactly where they are spending the money so that we want to make sure that the $2.5 billion that we'll put in addition to aged care actually goes into care. It doesn't just go into profits. We've seen some unscrupulous providers driving around in Maserati’s at the same time as aged care residents in their care are doing it really tough and aren't getting the care they need and indeed that they deserve.
 
LANGDON: Does that $2.5 billion include the wage increase that you want for workers?
 
ALBANESE: No, it doesn't. But whoever's in government will have to fund any wage increase which is there as well as, of course, making sure what that's for is the additional support that will be provided $2.5 billion over four years. We'll wait what the outcome of the wage increase is from the Fair Work Commission but that will have to be funded as well.
 
LANGDON: Just to clarify, you don't know if they are going to increase it, but you'll pay for it regardless of whoever is in government?
 
STEFANOVIC: You do have to show some sort of credible plan at some point to pay all of this money back. Definitively, will you increase taxes in government to pay back debt?
 
ALBANESE: We've said that the tax that we're looking at is multinational tax evasion. We will have more detail to say about that, Karl, during the election campaign. But let's be very clear here: This is a Government that have more waste, more rorts. Yesterday we found out that the taxpayers, your listeners, are paying for the Solicitor-General, the second-highest law officer in the land, to represent, to make submissions at the High Court of Australia for what's an internal Liberal Party factional fight. That's the sort of waste and rorts that it would need to get rid of this Government. And we know that this is a Government that's riddled with waste and rorts, it's characterised its time in office. They get out the colour-coded spreadsheets. We will have none of that. There will be a range of savings there from just cutting out this use of taxpayers' funds as if they're the funds of the Liberal Party and the National Party.
 
STEFANOVIC: Just to clarify there, you'll look for savings, you won't be increasing taxes to pay back debt?
 
ALBANESE: Look, what we're do is two things, Karl. One is we'll stop the waste and rorts. But the other thing is we have a plan for growth through our National Reconstruction Fund. Our climate change policy will create 604,000 new jobs by 2030. It is fully costed, out there for all to see. And that will result in $52 billion of additional private-sector investment. It will result in a growth because of cleaner, cheaper energy powering high-value manufacturing. That's why it's been welcomed by the Business Council of Australia, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Australian Industry Group and the National Farmers' Federation. You actually need a plan to grow the economy so that then you can pay back what this Government has created, which is a trillion dollars of debt. And as I said last night, Karl, they had doubled the debt before the pandemic hit. Doubled the debt on this Government's watch.
 
LANGDON: But you won't increase taxes?
 
ALBANESE: We've made it very clear we have all of our policies out there for all to see. For all to see. And we have a plan for growth.
 
STEFANOVIC: Albo, I don't know that you're answering the question.
 
ALBANESE: Yes, I am. I am absolutely.
 
STEFANOVIC: Is it a yes or a no? Will you be increasing taxes?
 
ALBANESE: We will be announcing our measure on multinational tax evasion. That is the announcement that we've made. We're not doing anything on the other measures that we've put forward during the last election campaign. All of our policies are fully costed. They've been released, whether it's our industry policy, child care policy, aged care policy. What this Government has done is spray money around. On Tuesday night's Budget, there's another big pots of money, something like $18 billion is there. They won't tell you what it's for. In the forecast last year, there was $16 billion. The sort of money we've seen for carparks in Josh Frydenberg's electorate alone, there were $65 million of carparks announced before the last election. Nothing happened. Some of the commuter carparks, there aren't even train station there. And they abandoned it. That's the sort of waste we will get rid of. That's our priority.
 
STEFANOVIC: One final one. And I found it very amusing. And I hope you do too. There is one Liberal Premier who is eyeing off your universal child care policy with great gusto and furious support. And that is obviously Dominic Perrottet with his 18 kids.
 
ALBANESE: And good luck to him. I sent him a message of congratulations to him and his wife and his growing family. Good on them. He's entitled to have time off. And I get on well with Dominic. And I get on well with all the state premiers and chief ministers, whatever their political flavour. And I think that's one of the things I'd bring to the leadership of this country as well. We need to stop looking for fights and look for solutions. And that is something that I will bring. Working with business, working with unions, and working with state premiers and chief ministers. But good on you, Dom.
 
LANGDON: And Bob Katter likes you too. You may need his vote at the next election. Nice to see you.
 
STEFANOVIC: Good on you, mate.
 
ALBANESE: Bob Katter is a good fellow. A bit strange sometimes. But a good fella.
 
LANGDON: That is a common theme.
 
STEFANOVIC: He likes is. He likes to be strange.
 
LANGDON: We need a bit more strangeness in Canberra.
 
ALBANESE: He does indeed. Remember the ads from the last campaign? We will wait and see what he puts up to get attention this time. Wrestling crocs is what I reckon he needs.
 
LANGDON: Thanks, Albo.
 
STEFANOVIC: Thanks, Albo.
 
ENDS