SUBJECTS: NRL; NRL Grand Final; South Sydney Rabbitohs; vaccine rollout; state borders.

HOST: I was just having a look through Anthony Albanese, the Opposition Leader, his Twitter feed. And yes, there's a bit on climate change there. But there's a lot of Rabbitohs there.

HOST: What is he, the number three fan?

HOST: I don't know what number he is. Let's find out. Good morning, Mr Albanese.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: Good morning. Good to be with you. Up the Rabbitohs.

HOST: You must be excited, Albo.

ALBANESE: I am very excited. Our second Grand Final in 50 years. So, not as long between drinks as the last one was, 43 years. So, it's only seven years since 2014, since we won the Grand Final. But I'm very hopeful about Sunday. I think we've been the form team of the semis and we're coming home strong and we have a lot of faith in Wayne Bennett as the coach. And it will be Adam Reynolds' last game, so we want to see him out a winner.

HOST: I still can't believe you guys, and I say you guys, the Souths, but you guys are truly letting that halfback go. I honestly can't believe it.

HOST: What do you think for Adam Reynolds? Because it's heartbreaking.

ALBANESE: It is heartbreaking. And the NRL have to introduce, in my view, a rule that rewards loyalty. If you've played 200 games, for goodness sake, why are you included in the salary cap? Just a bit of common sense. That's what the fans would want to see. It is something I've raised with Peter V'landys. I think it is a really good move, that for clubs that inspire loyalty, and there's no two greater clubs that inspire loyalty than Souths and Knights, it's so important.

HOST: Well, what did Peter V'landys say to that? Did he say it's something we're looking at?

ALBANESE: He's pretty non-committal, the old Peter. But it's something I've raised over the years a number of times. And I know that people in Souths admin have raised it as well. People want to see a player be able to finish their career where they've played their whole career. And I think when players do that, I am old enough to remember when Bobby McCarthy went to Canterbury for a couple of years before he came back, and that was terrible. He's a Souths loyalist. And Adam Reynolds, of course, will do his best for the Broncos. He's very professional. And he will play his heart out every week. But he'll bleed red and green till he dies. There is no question about that.

HOST: It's interesting on that, Albo, that Adam Reynolds will be able to do something that none of us can do, and that is to go to Queensland for Christmas. 

ALBANESE: That's true, perhaps.

HOST: Well, come on. Surely you can have a whisper to Annastacia, and we can all get in.

ALBANESE: Look, I think that there should be a special visa for South Sydney holders for Sunday is my view. I've thought of all sorts of things of how you get in, disguised in the Reggie Rabbit costume. 

HOST: I always thought that was you.

ALBANESE: It is a bit short, someone pointed out to me. Someone at Souths said I wouldn't fit in the old outfit. But look, I think we all want to see borders open as soon as possible. But if you're in Queensland or WA at the moment, and you're hosting grand finals and you're going out to dinner and you're engaging in life in the normal way that we all want to enjoy it, you can understand that they're very cautious about those issues. But let's certainly hope that we can all get up to Queensland, and indeed right around the country, by Christmas. I think that's what we want to see.

HOST: Do you think that's a reality though? Even her body language is not showing that.

ALBANESE: Well, she's been, quite correctly, cautious. And that's the right thing. It's only September now. So, we're a far way off. And I think, at the moment, of course, there is a bit of a scare about the Grand Final and potential cases in southeast Queensland. So, you can understand that she has kept Queenslanders safe. I think she's done a fantastic job. And one of the things that's kept, certainly kept me going, and I'm sure kept many people in Newcastle going in recent times, is the fact we've actually been able to watch the footy on every Thursday, Friday, Saturday. I don't think I've ever watched that much rugby league on TV in my life. Because normally, you have functions as a Member of Parliament, let alone Leader of the Labor Party, every Friday and every Saturday night. But there's been none of that, unfortunately.

HOST: It's just, they can't keep it out forever. That's the thing. And if they don't open their borders, well, the tourism economy I'm talking about is going to suffer. 

HOST: Does the Opposition support the Government on that issue of a Federal economy getting back on the ground?

HOST: You can't keep those borders closed forever. 

ALBANESE: Absolutely. We've supported the national plan. It was Labor's idea to introduce wage subsidies. We've been constructive the whole way along here. But bear this in mind, the reason why the borders are shut is because we failed on vaccine supply and we failed to build purpose-built quarantine. That's why they shut. We should be out of this now, like the rest of the world is. People attending Wimbledon or attending Premier League matches in the UK, people attending events in the US and right around Europe, because their vaccination rates are much higher. Here in Australia, we are just way behind the play, basically. And we're paying a price for not fixing vaccines and not fixing quarantine.

HOST: Do you think, though, that it's because we seem to be a year behind the rest of the world anyway? We were virtually feeling almost on top of things last year, especially here in the Hunter. We were hardly in lockdown at all. There was also a complacency to get vaccinated. Even we here in Newcastle, we kind of went, 'Well it doesn't really affect it'. So, we weren't rushing to get it.

ALBANESE: There was nowhere to rush. That was the problem. There was no supply.

HOST: You're right. It’s swings and roundabouts in that area.

ALBANESE: There was no supply. There was no public information campaign. There was nothing promoting vaccines. And when we raised, in the COVID committee, why there wasn't a public information campaign, in a moment of honesty, the officials basically said, 'Well, there's no point encouraging people to get vaccinated when we can't supply the vaccines for them'. So, that was the big problem. Then, of course, vaccines actually got taken from Newcastle and brought to Sydney.

HOST: One of them was mine, Albo. One of them was mine.

ALBANESE: Well, you're entitled to feel a bit angry and entitled to blame Scott Morrison. 

HOST: I haven't told Tanya this, Albo, before we go. Do you remember a 21st, do you remember going to uni with Vic Yokovic, or Michael Yokovic?

ALBANESE: I do actually.

HOST: Because you were at his 21st. My partner is his sister so therefore we're practically best mates. So, tell the Queensland Premier to open up.

ALBANESE: I'll fix it just for you. 

HOST: Thank you.

HOST: All right, Albo. Thank you so much. Up the Rabbitohs.

ALBANESE: Thanks, guys. Good on you. We remember Newcastle, I was a board member when Souths got kicked out of the comp. And when we held those big demos, they were busloads of Newcastle rugby league loyalists who came down and marched with us. And that's why I think it is true rugby league heartland. Of course, home of the great Clive Churchill there in Newcastle. And so, the Clive Churchill Medal, hopefully, will be hanging around Adam Reynolds neck on Sunday night.

HOST: That would be lovely.

ALBANESE: Thank you so much.

HOST: I've had to hang up on him because he can talk football all day with you.

HOST: Just about to say to him that there is a photo from the 21st and if you don't open up Queensland, I am going public.

ENDS