OLIVER PETERSON, HOST: Joining me now is the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese. Good afternoon.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Always good to have a chat with you, Ollie.
PETERSON: The Opposition is going to make this a housing and immigration election, by the sounds of things, because Peter Dutton's policies are getting people talking. Have you let too many people into Australia? Is the Government now wedged on migration?
PRIME MINISTER: No. Well, what we're doing is fixing a problem that was created in part when Peter Dutton was the Minister. It exploded under Peter Dutton. What we've been doing is to restore integrity, for example, to the international education system. That's resulted in a 35 per cent reduction in visas being granted in just the last few months. So, what we saw last week from the Opposition is a Budget reply with no costed policies, no plan for the economy, no idea about impact, no idea of how this would impact on skills, how it would impact on the regions, and no costings for anything, be it his nuclear reactor policies or this, at a time where we have handed down a Budget with tax cuts for every taxpayer, energy bill relief for every household, stronger Medicare for every community and more homes in every part of the country.
PETERSON: It's a perception though thing, isn't it? Because they're talking about this. They want to put this front and centre, the agenda. And the polls today say that 66 per cent of Australians agree that migration is too high.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we agree it's too high because of the system that we inherited. That's why we're cutting it in half. I'm surprised it's not higher than that. It has been too high. We inherited a system that was completely broken in the time when he was the Minister. Australians certainly can't trust him to fix it because he helped to create the problem and his proposals on Thursday night have been panned by experts. He can't answer basic questions. He says, for example, that he's going to stop foreigners buying properties, new properties. Well, that's a bit over 1000 properties in an entire year. But that doesn't make a difference. That's a drop in the ocean. The truth is that he hasn't, in three Budget replies, come up with a single costed policy. Whereas what we're talking about is the immediate assistance that will flow through, but also talking about what does our future economy look like, how do we make more things in Australia? And it's extraordinary that he has said that he will oppose the production tax credits that have been welcomed, particularly in Western Australia, that will create jobs, that will make an enormous difference as we go forward.
PETERSON: Yeah, and I'll come to that in a moment. But 96,000 people moved to WA last financial year. In Perth today, house prices have gone up 20 per cent over the last year. They're predicted to go even higher over the next twelve months. Hundreds of people turn up to a rental inspection and can't put a roof over their heads. How are you going to fix that?
PRIME MINISTER: By building more supply. And that's why we have now $32 billion of investments that we're putting into housing. But in addition to that, we have mechanisms to encourage build to rent for the private market. Last time I was in Perth with Roger Cook, we went to one of the construction sites where that is happening. So, we need to boost supply. We need to make sure that we have considered policies going forward. You can't just say, “oh, well, we won't worry about having a skilled migration,” for example, because we need skilled workers in construction to help build the houses that we need. And so we know that the resources sector over there have been crying out for more skilled labour. We need to make sure that we stop some of the rorts that were allowed to happen. It was a very loose system that we inherited and indeed, Scott Morrison removed any of the restrictions that were there in hours that people in student visas could work. And that had a result of attracting people who were coming not so much to study, but to work and live here. And that resulted in an explosion in the system. Well, we fixed that and we're fixing integrity in the system.
PETERSON: On another matter, have you taken the WA agriculture industry for granted?
PRIME MINISTER: Not at all. I meet with the agriculture sector all of the time. I just, a couple of weeks ago, I was up there at a Beef Week in Rocky and met with the National Farmers Federation, not just up there, but met as well in Canberra just last week. I continue to engage with the agriculture sector.
PETERSON: But neither you nor Minister Murray Watt met with the sheep farmers before closing down their industry.
PRIME MINISTER: Actually, what happened was they asked for a meeting. We made ourselves available. Murray Watt was certainly available, and they didn't turn up for the meeting. That's what happened. That's the fact. And we had a long process of consultation, including in those areas where it occurs. We had a committee and a long process of community consultation. This is a policy we announced prior to the 2019 election, confirmed prior to the 2022 election, and indeed have spent two years consulting on the date of closure, which will be 2028, and have provided over $100 million of support for a transition of the industry. That's more than the exports were worth last year.
PETERSON: And 64 million of that allocated to supply chain adaptations. So, there's no compensation directly to farmers?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we have engaged with them. It's about adaptation. How do we turn what is an industry that is diminishing, that is getting smaller and smaller, and allow it to assist what is a growth industry? Sheep meat exports were worth $4.5 billion when the live export industry was worth less than $100 million.
PETERSON: The farmers, though, say they were only told at three o’clock last Friday that Minister Murray Watt was available here in Perth on Saturday morning. He didn't even meet them face to face. I ask you again, have you taken the farmers for granted who are going to be affected by this phase out?
PRIME MINISTER: Certainly not. And when we had the entire Cabinet come to Western Australia, Murray Watt was certainly available with people there, tried to organise a meeting. There was a meeting scheduled and the sheep farming group didn't turn up to that meeting. There has been years of consultation on this.
PETERSON: The National Farmers Federation, they passed a motion of no confidence in the Agriculture Minister and this hasn't happened before. Are they giving up on their own Minister by the looks of things?
PRIME MINISTER: It's not the first time that National Party members are out there complaining and arguing against the Labor Party. We won't worry about that. What we'll do is continue to be available and consult. I met, as did Murray Watt, with the National Farmers Federation just last week.
PETERSON: And how are relations now?
PRIME MINISTER: They were fine. We talked about the issues which were there, a range of issues. We have kept, for example, the live cattle trade, when the foot and mouth disease outbreak happened in Indonesia, we had a call from members of the Coalition to shut down the industry, to suspend it while that was going on. We kept it going. We worked very closely with the cattle industry to make sure that occurs. And, of course, the live sheep industry, we have people, including the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party, Sussan Ley, had a Private Member's Bill years ago in the Parliament to shut the live sheep export industry. This has been an issue for a long period of time. The idea that there hasn't been consultation on this, frankly just doesn't stack up. There's been years of consultation, including this report, which we have acted on. And we're saying, bear in mind Ollie, we're not saying the industry will be shut next week. We're saying in 2028, in four years time that will occur and we'll continue to engage with the industry because that is the kind of inclusive Government that we are.
PETERSON: Do you back the calls of state Premiers for an age restriction on children using social media?
PRIME MINISTER: I think that young people using social media can have devastating consequences. I think this is something that all parents are concerned about. It's something that is a conversation taking the place on the sideline of every sporting fixture on a weekend that kids are playing in and also at every pickup after school. What we did was we provided in the Budget $6.5 million for an age assurance trial. We're committed to this. We want to make sure it works properly, and that's why we're doing this trial, to make sure the best technology, advice and plans are put in place. We're also establishing a Joint Select Committee of the Parliament as well, so that we consult with experts and researchers and parents on the question of how we get this done. We want to make sure that any age requirement gets implemented in a way that's effective. That's why as well we quadrupled funding for the eSafety Commissioner. You know, the access that children have to information and to inappropriate material, online pornography, some of the social media, the violence that's on there is just terrible. And it's having an impact. There's no question that it is having an impact on the mental health of young people.
PETERSON: Personally, do you see there being an age restriction at some stage? 14, 15, 16 years of age?
PRIME MINISTER: I certainly do. I want to see action taken to have an age limit with effective enforcement. I think we've got to be clear about how that happens so it can't be circumvented and to get it right. But there have been devastating consequences. Literally, there have been lives lost as a result of the impact of social media on the mental health and wellbeing of some of our youngest Australians. And I think it's a tragedy. The impact of social media, of course, goes far greater than that. I gave a speech, one of my vision statements as Labor Leader, when Opposition Leaders had policy. This was my second one that I gave after, the first one I did was in Perth, to create Jobs and Skills Australia, we've done that. The second was to try and kickstart a conversation about the impact of social media. What's it doing to public discourse? If you look at any of my feeds, or I'm sure your feeds as well, and look at some of the hatred that comes through, it is really a destructive force, it can be. It can be a very good thing to communicate and for people to engage with each other. But people hiding behind anonymous posts can say things that they would never say to you face to face. And that's something that I hope there's a broader discussion as well about just being civil with each other.
PETERSON: I agree with you. The fact that people can be gutless cowards and hide behind a photo that's not them, or an egg. That's just something you've got to be held accountable for, for what you say and what you do. I've got to be remiss of me not to ask you this context as well, Prime Minister, about the talk of reviving the Bears and playing rugby league here in Perth. Now would the Federal Government like to help fund a rugby league team in WA like you are looking at helping the Papua New Guineans?
PRIME MINISTER: Well I think the PNG economy is a little bit different from Western Australia's economy, with respect Ollie. I think WA has substantially greater economic resources itself and a team there I'm sure would be successful. There's a lot of rugby league fans, including yourself, there in WA and I'm sure it would be a success. I think it was a real pity when the foundation club of the Bears was kicked out of the comp and certainly that's an option going forward. I attended years ago I went to a Bunnies game there in Perth and it was terrific, there was a big passionate crowd and I think when the State of Origin game was held there there was an enormous crowd there at Optus. So, I would like to see at some stage Perth come in. It's a part of creating a truly national competition.
PETERSON: Prime Minister, appreciate your time. Thank you very much.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much, Ollie.