AARON STEVENS, HOST: I'm joined by the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese. Good morning to you.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: G'day, Aaron. Good to talk with you again.
STEVENS: We're still just getting over Beef here in Central Queensland. How did you get over Beef?
PRIME MINISTER: It was a ripper. It was such a good occasion. I got to go to the dinner on the Monday night was a big event, the awards, and then be with people on the ground on Tuesday and went to the AACo luncheon on Tuesday. That was a big celebration. What an achievement for a company to be around for that long and to play such a critical role in Australian agriculture. People are really friendly, of course, in Rocky, as you know. And so it was a splendid time and it was sad to have to leave. I had to fly from Rocky right across the country to Perth. It's a big country. That was a long flight. And I would rather have stayed in Rocky for another day.
STEVENS: You know, we always appreciate the chat and obviously talking to you just a couple of weeks ago, there's plenty of commentators that are suggesting that this blitz a week out from when the Budget was handed down is an indication we're going to the polls early. What would you say?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, the only thing I'm focused on being early for is our target to cut inflation and to help people with the cost of living pressures which are out there. I work hard, Aaron. If you look at my diary at any time over the last more than 20 years, you'll see that. You'll see me out and about. And I must have been to Rocky and Gladstone and Emerald, all of the great towns in that Central Queensland region, probably 30, 40 times over the years at least. And that's just what I do. I work hard.
STEVENS: Well, mixed opinion on the Budget, particularly people suggesting that it's throwing fuel on the fire of inflation.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's not doing that. We are dealing with cost of living pressures by having a tax cut for every taxpayer and energy bill relief for every household. We're also building stronger Medicare by having more Urgent Care Clinics. And we are dealing with the need to build more homes in every part of the country. But we're doing this in a way that is continuing to put that downward pressure on inflation because importantly, we're producing a budget surplus, $9.3 billion on top of the $22 billion we delivered last year. Now, that's the first back to back surpluses in almost 20 years. The former Government couldn't deliver one. They had nine cracks. They were a big duck egg. Zero out of nine. We've delivered two out of two in our last two budgets. Today, of course, is two years, precisely, since the election, 21 May 2022. And I think at that time, certainly we didn't over promise, we didn't go to that election saying we'll deliver surpluses in our first two years. What we have done, though, is delivered just that. And that's how you put that downward pressure on inflation.
STEVENS: Cost of living, though, Prime Minister, we've got to put more pressure on those big two supermarkets and generate more competition for them to bring prices down.
PRIME MINISTER: We do. And that's why we've got the ACCC doing work. That's why we've had the inquiry by Dr Craig Emerson as well. And we await the ACCC report to see whether we can deal with the current voluntary code of conduct, make it mandatory, how we can ensure there's greater transparency. Because one of the things that we want with those great producers of food, who I was with just a couple of weeks ago there in Rocky, is when they're getting less prices off the supermarkets, why is that not translating into cheaper prices at the checkout? Now, there have been some improvements already because of the pressure which is on, but we need to make sure that we put in place mechanisms to drive those prices down at the checkout for people, whilst making sure that our farmers get a fair price for their hard work and for the risks that they take.
STEVENS: Because it's got to happen now, because it's driving people out of the industry, so there won't be anybody left.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it is absolutely vital that it happen, which is why my Government is addressing these issues. It won't be fixed by telling people, I'm not sure where our opposites are at now, they were talking about divestment, compulsory, telling people to sell. The problem there is if Woolworths or Coles sold, guess what? The other one would buy it if it was for sale. We do need to promote increased competition. We want to support farmers and producers. But we also want people to get a fair price at the checkout.
STEVENS: Prime Minister, while you were here, you admitted that the Bruce Highway wasn't up to scratch, particularly in Central Queensland. Got to admit, plenty of Central Queenslanders looked through the pages of that Budget looking for money that would come into central Queensland to fix the Bruce. Wasn't there.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, there was additional money in the Bruce, bringing our money up to now $10 billion. We put an extra $467 million in the Bruce Highway, for safety programs and the capacity of that vital work. The funding includes $154 million for improvements along the Bruce Highway North Corridor, but an additional injection of funding as well to support the delivery of so many important Bruce Highway projects. We're investing $15 million to plan for the upgrade of the Pine River Bridge right up and down. In addition to that, one of the things that we've done that's very important, I know that councils in the region have welcomed it, is we've doubled Roads to Recovery funding. Now, they are the roads that feed into the main arteries and they're so important, and that's been something that's been neglected in the past and it's something that we have put our money in. So, every council, particularly because of the way that it's allocated, that particularly benefits councils in our regions.
STEVENS: We need to get back to where there was more of a balance between Federal and State money to fix the Bruce.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we need both the Federal and the State government to combine here on the Bruce. It's a critical artery. I've said very clearly that there is no reason why the Bruce Highway shouldn't be at the same level that the Pacific and the Hume Highway and highways to the south are.
STEVENS: Absolutely.
PRIME MINISTER: It's something that the $10 billion commitment shows that we are investing in the Bruce. And, of course, major projects like the Rockhampton Ring Road, that was frankly just underfunded. It couldn't have happened unless we had put the additional hundreds of millions of dollars to make sure that that project could go ahead. And, of course, it is going ahead right now, it's going gangbusters. There's hundreds of people employed there. It will make an enormous difference for productivity as well, going up and down the Queensland's main highway. But in addition to that, of course, it improves road safety.
STEVENS: Well, also we need that money reinstated for the beef corridor, too.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, indeed. We're working with the range of projects which are there. Unfortunately, one of the things we inherited was projects that were simply underfunded. So, if a project was worth the equivalent of $100, a media release saying it could be built with $30 couldn't get it done. And that's why we had to have a full inquiry, independent arm's length. We got in experts such as Mike Mrdak and others who had that history of engagement with Infrastructure Australia. And what we've done is make sure that there's not just the $120 billion that have been allocated for infrastructure, but there's additional money there as well. And there's no greater priority in the whole country than the Bruce Highway, and there's no road in the entire country which is receiving more funds.
STEVENS: All right. We need more in our part of the world. I just want to cover off on a couple of other things in the next couple of minutes. Peter Dutton's Reply definitely has put more pressure on the Government to drop immigration numbers.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we are halving immigration numbers. His Reply had not a single costed policy. Just a couple of thoughts thrown out there. This is his third Budget Reply and we're yet to see a plan, including a plan for his nuclear reactors, which we know will have to be there in Central Queensland and other places as well. David Littleproud said that they had done research and polling on the locations and they're entitled now, I think, to say where they're going to be. And on migration, they're all over the shop as well. They say they're going to cut students, but not cut students from regional areas. We actually need some specifics at some stage from the Opposition if they're going to be taken seriously.
STEVENS: Finally, $8 billion announced for hydrogen hubs. You've mentioned Gladstone could be a hydrogen hub. How much money is expected to be allocated to Gladstone?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, Gladstone will be a big winner from the transition that's occurring. I was there recently, of course, with the high-value alumina that is going to be happening there, and you had the work that Andrew Forrest has done when it comes to hydrogen there in Gladstone. Gladstone has an extraordinarily bright future. I think that all of the things that will drive the economy with hydrogen, it has high value magnetite, it has an enormous capacity to have an increase in renewable energy. And we saw Rio Tinto signed that very big deal there for increased renewables at their plants, and it has a magnificent Port. So, I think that Gladstone will be a major winner. What we're doing is establishing processes so that the best projects will receive support. But in addition to that, one of the things that we are doing through our production tax credits that the Opposition is saying they're opposing, is paying on success. Production tax credits provide an incentive to invest and a reward because they only kick in when the production actually occurs.
STEVENS: Well, that's, that's obviously very positive going forward. Just another reminder that if we're going to have an increase in industry in Gladstone, we need a better Bruce Highway in Central Queensland.
PRIME MINISTER: Absolutely, Aaron. And you will continue to hold governments to account, I have no doubt about that. And that's as it should be because the Bruce Highway was neglected for a long period of time. My Government's making sure that doesn't occur and that we get things done.
STEVENS: Congratulations again on two years since the election. And we'll talk again soon.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much, Aaron.