Partial transcript of television interview – Studio 10

Subjects; Record Store Day; Turnbull Government

SARAH HARRIS: You’re going by a different name this morning?

ALBANESE: I do moonlight occasionally for charity as DJ Albo. I play stuff that you’d expect a gentleman of my age to play, so it’s a lot of 70’s, 80’s, early 90’s stuff and it’s a good bit of fun.

I’ve raised money for Reclink which does a whole lot of really fantastic work for young people who are a bit marginalised and they engage with them through rock and roll and through sport.

A lot of footy players get engaged and try and bring people back into the mainstream, so I’ve done a couple of fundraisers for them.

JOE HILDEBRAND: Albo, shouldn’t you be wearing a baseball cap backwards or something?

ALBANESE: No, I’m far too old for that mate.

SUSIE ELELMAN: Well, DJ Albo, what have you got for us?

ALBANESE: What I’ve got is the first album I ever bought. Honky Chateau by Elton John.

PRESENTER: Before they invented colour photography.

ALBANESE: Before they did, exactly. Black and white, with the songs in the middle.

PRESENTER: The lyrics inside.

ALBANESE: It’s one of the reasons why Record Store Day that we’ve got on tomorrow is being celebrated at over 180 record stores around Australia. We’ll have DJs, Billy Bragg is playing in Melbourne.

There’s lots of activity because about ten years ago when this started people thought, oh, everyone will just get their music downloading, sitting at home on a computer.

Now people are finding they actually want to go to their local record store, have a chat about music. It’s a meeting place again, and so this is a bit of a celebration that is worldwide and Elton John is the international ambassador. I’m the Aussie ambassador.

PRESENTER: Spin that record, DJ.

ALBANESE: Well, the first one is Rocket Man.

….

PRESENTER: What is your take on this, Anthony Albanese?

ALBANESE: It’s there for all to see. Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull are locked in a ruck and maul down the hill. They’re in a downward spiral and they’re taking the government with them. I saw it as a member of the former Labor Government. I’ve seen this movie before. I know how it ends. It ends really, really badly. The real problem is for the country is that you can’t govern if you’re constantly looking over your shoulder and I think that’s the problem for Malcolm Turnbull at the moment.

HILDEBRAND: It’s hard not to feel sorry for Malcolm Turnbull because he is caught in that wedge, he has to stop himself from being rolled as leader, he has to appeal to the hard right of his party, the rump of the Liberal base, but to win an election and to make himself popular to the mainstream of Australia, he’s got to get that centrist block in the middle.

JO CASAMENTO::Australians are so sick to death of watching this play out. They just want it to get back to policy.

ELELMAN: Malcolm Turnbull’s not living true to himself either because he’s so far to the left in all of that, but he can’t even do all of the things that he wants to do in those areas.

HILDEBRAND: That’s right, and then the public say, well you’re insincere because you’re not who – it’s a cluster.

ALBANESE: People are looking for some authenticity in politics and they look at Malcolm Turnbull, who cared about climate change, and supported marriage equality, and supported public transport, and all these things. He’s not doing it.

I reckon he’d be better off – far be it from me to give him advice – but he’d be better off just being himself, you know? People disagreed with a lot of what John Howard did but they respected him because he actually stood up for his values.

HILDEBRAND: Speaking of authenticity Albo, when are you going to run for Prime Minister?

ALBANESE: I’m very happy being a Shadow Minister at the moment. I’d rather get rid of the ‘Shadow’ bit though.

HILDEBRAND: DJ Shadow Minister.

PRESENTER: Well, it might happen if these two keep going.

HARRIS: It’s a strange thing, you know the saying; if they’ll do it with you they’ll do it to you. Right? So if you’re going to wrong someone, you’ve got to look over your shoulder.

HILDEBRAND: Knocking off a first term Prime Minister. It’s not rocket science.