SUBJECTS: Passing of Senator Kimberley Kitching; cost of living; Labor’s policy agenda; Federal election; wages; weight loss.
 
ALLISON LANGDON, HOST: A really disturbing report in today's The Australian newspaper describing a mean girl’s culture within the Federal Labor Party, putting strain on the late Senator Kimberley Kitching in the period before her death. Opposition Leader, Anthony Albanese, joins me now from Sydney Airport. Good morning to you, Mr Albanese. I have to point out, this is a very difficult and sensitive subject.
 
ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: Good morning.
 
LANGDON: Were you aware of a problem between Penny Wong, Kristina Keneally and the late Kimberley Kitching?
 
ALBANESE: Look, Kimberley Kitching's passing is a tragedy. It's something that's hurt all of the Labor family. Out of respect for Kimberley, I think the idea that people go into who might have had a disagreement here or there is totally unbecoming. I'll be attending Kimberley Kitching's funeral on Monday. It's important that we respect her and that we pay tribute to the contribution that she made in too short a time.
 
LANGDON: No-one disagrees with that. That's why I made the point that this is a difficult and sensitive subject. But the level of detail in this report, it's clearly come from someone within your own Party. Again, were you aware of there being an issue? And is this something you're now going to look into?
 
ALBANESE: No, Ally, I'm going to pay respect to Kimberley Kitching by treating her with the respect that she deserves. She made a contribution for too short a time to the Labor Party and to the Labor cause. Her family and friends are really hurting today.
 
LANGDON: Can I broaden that and ask you – is there a cultural problem with senior women within the ALP?
 
ALBANESE: No.
 
LANGDON: Not that you're aware of?
 
ALBANESE: No. I'm very proud of the fact that I lead a team that has 50 per cent female and male contribution in my Shadow Cabinet. I'm proud of all of the people in the leadership team of the Labor Party, be it Penny Wong, be it Kimberley Kitching made a contribution while she was there. But Kristina Keneally, Katy Gallagher, Michelle Rowland, Tanya Plibersek, Amanda Rishworth, we have an extraordinary group of talented women. They are all making a contribution. Kimberley Kitching is someone who I appointed to the frontbench for the first time. And I was pleased with her contribution.
 
LANGDON: Alright. Let's talk now about the cost of living pressures on families. What are you going to do about it?
 
ALBANESE: Well, for a start, Ally, my first Budget reply said we'd make child care cheaper. What we need to do is recognise the fact that everything is going up, except people's wages. So, we need a plan to address real wages, which are going backwards in this country. So, we have a plan to address that. We have a plan to address housing affordability through our Housing Australia Future fund, a plan to address child care, a plan to address childcare, a plan to address wages. And we need to recognise that we need an economy that works for people, not the other way around. This Government has said that low wages are a feature of its architecture on economic policy. The truth is that people are doing it really tough out there. The first step to providing a solution is recognising the problem. The problem is wages aren't keeping up with the cost of living.
 
LANGDON: How do you then balance that? When wages go up, we've already seen inflationary pressures. If they do too much higher, all of a sudden, we see an interest rate hike, that eats up everything you earn in a wage rise. So, how do you manage all that, where you give people that lift, where you keep the cost of living pressures under control?
 
ALBANESE: Well, Ally, the benefit of lifting wages is that people then have more money to circulate around the economy. That helps particularly small business. Higher wages mean greater economic activity, it means higher growth. That's something that the Reserve Bank Governor has recognised for years is a problem. It's a handbrake on our economy. That is why Labor recognises that the Reserve Bank Governor is right. This Government have not taken action on that. On issues like child care that affect working families, this Government has just made up figures based upon false assumptions for the policies that we've actually put forward to help working families. We think that support for child care is not just good for working families, it is good for working families, it is good for the economy, good for women's workforce participation. These are the policies that we need to be putting in place for the complacency we have seen from this Government.
 
LANGDON: But what do you then do to lower prices? Higher wages does nothing when the issue here are the supply issues.
 
ALBANESE: Well, supply issues, of course, we have to deal with as well. But we need to deal with it in a wholistic way. How do we improve people's living standards? That is about not just dealing with prices. So, for example, on electric vehicles, they obviously don't require petrol to run, we have a policy to reduce the cost of them by reducing taxes. That's one of the practical measures that we're putting forward to address the cost of living.
 
LANGDON: So, moving forward, we're sort of almost hitting election campaign or mode. Sort of feels like we're already in it. Of the $750 million promises you made since September, just reading David Crowe from the Sydney Morning Herald this morning, he noted most of it will go to Labor seats. That's pork barrelling, isn't it?
 
ALBANESE: Not at all, Ally. I note one of the plans that have been criticised is a plan that I announced on the weekend for funding for Henson Park. It happens to be in my electorate. Guess what? The Sydney Swans are going to have a women's team next year. And it's going to operate out of Hanson Park. So, we have joint funding. The AFL have approached the Government and the Government hasn't been supportive of it. In order to have a women's AFL team, you need women's change rooms and facilities to increase women's participation in sport. That is actually really good for health, really good for women and girls to participate in team sport. We make no apologies for that. I was up in Townsville on Monday announcing $22 million to help a high-value manufacturing precinct by building the infrastructure that will draw hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars, of private sector investment there in Townsville.
 
LANGDON: I'm not saying they're not all worthy, we all sit back and go ‘It is one of those things when one side of politics does it, you reckon it is okay, but not okay for the other and vice versa’. I also want to ask you this. What do you make of the personal recent attacks by the prime minister over your weight loss?
 
ALBANESE: Well, I had a car accident. I told Karl in the 60 Minutes interview. And I've said it a number of times. I had a major car accident at the beginning of last year. One in which I could have lost my life. Part of what that did was do a real reassessment of my health and what I needed to do. I feel great. I've got out there, I've got healthier. Yes, I've lost weight. I think that's a good thing. I would encourage people who are over 50, if you're feeling a bit lethargic, do your best to lose weight. There's no gimmicks here. There have been no operations. There have been no crazy diets. I still eat a range of foods, all of that, but I have been careful in my diet, I have been careful in terms of getting more exercise and getting fitter. I want to be match-fit in order to run the country. You've actually got to be match-fit. You've got to be able to work early in the morning, as I am this morning, and work right through till tonight. I'll be in Brisbane at the pre-St Patrick's Day function there in Brisbane. Tomorrow, I'll be in Adelaide with Peter Malinauskas. It's a busy life.
 
LANGDON: There's a lot on, isn’t there?
 
ALBANESE: It's a lot easier to do it if you're fit.
 
LANGDON: We applaud you for it. I always say that if you're willing to give up carbs and beer it is a big sacrifice.
 
ALBANESE: It's a very strange criticism. I haven't given up beer.
 
LANGDON: That's good to know.
 
ALBANESE: I haven't given up beer.
 
LANGDON: You've cutback.
 
ALBANESE: But I cut down. I did go alcohol-free for five months. That was a good thing. But now I have the odd beer and all of that. And I'm very proud of the effort that I've made.
 
LANGDON: Good stuff, Albo.
 
ALBANESE: I hope it encourages others to do the same.
 
LANGDON: Absolutely. Good to talk to you, thank you.
 
ENDS