STEVE AUSTIN, HOST: The current Prime Minister, the man who defeated Scott Morrison, at the federal election is Anthony Albanese and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is in Brisbane today. And a short while ago, he joined me here at the ABC studio, and I asked him whether he's wasting his time attacking a former Prime Minister, when there are major contemporary problems to tackle, like today's figures that show wages growth in Australia is sluggish and half the rate of inflation.
PRIME MINISTER: What I am doing, Steve is standing up for our parliamentary democratic processes. And they're important. I noticed that Peter Dutton said yesterday ‘nothing to see here, move on’. But every constitutional lawyer in the country is making comments about this, his colleagues and making comments about this. And these processes are important because they lead to outcomes and the entire Morrison government sat back and allowed him to be the only member of a Cabinet Committee, just so that you could have no transparency –
AUSTIN: Well that’s not quite true. A lot of them didn't know. We’ve already established that these Members didn’t know.
PRIME MINISTER: No, I’m talking about being when he announced that there was a Cabinet Committee of one. It had a membership of one and that was so he could have meetings with others and say it was a Cabinet committee meeting, all of that happened. Democratic systems require nurturing and support and that's why this isn't something that's ancient history. This is something that the Australian people didn't know about in the lead up to casting their vote on May 21st and that's why it requires a proper examination, and if need be, any changes that are required. Dealing with the challenges of today –
AUSTIN: So the big issue today is wages growth.
PRIME MINISTER: Absolutely.
AUSTIN: It’s sluggish, less than half the inflation rate. You're the newly elected Prime Minister, what are you going to deliver?
PRIME MINISTER: The first thing that we're doing, of course, is having a Jobs and Skills Summit. And we're doing that in a few weeks. Today, we've released the Jobs Summit issues paper –
AUSTIN: How’s that going to lift wages?
PRIME MINISTER: What that's going to do is bring unions and employers and non-government sector, civil society together to talk about how we expand jobs, how we deal with the skills crisis, how we boost wages. One of the first acts I undertook as Prime Minister was to write to the Fair Work Commission arguing that lower paid workers, people on the minimum wage of $20.33 an hour, should receive an increase in their pay so that they didn't go backwards. The Fair Work Commission granted a 5.2 per cent increase for those people on the minimum wage. So that's one of the first acts of this Government. We have a multi-pronged system of change. We want enterprise bargaining to work better, for example, that's a way that you can boost wages whilst boosting profits through boosting productivity. And the system isn't working well enough at the moment. We're also having discussions with small business through COSBOA, the peak organisation, about how we can improve industrial relations for people in small business. And we're trying to bring people together for our common interests because it is in the interests of our national economy for wages to be lifted. The Reserve Bank identified that as a real structural weakness in the economy. It's something that we've inherited, but we are addressing it, unlike the former government who said that low wage growth was a key feature of their economic architecture.
AUSTIN: You've mentioned the Jobs and Skills Summit, both the ACTU and the Business Council of Australia are pushing for a lift to the permanent migration cap. And there seems to be some inclination in the government to look at this closely. Given that there's nearly one million unemployed people, many of those long term and intergenerational unemployed people are in Labor electorates, including here in Queensland, Jim Chalmers your Treasurer’s electorate. Why are you considering bringing in people from overseas when you have a very substantial body of long-term unemployed Australians who clearly need help getting into the workforce when there is jobs available?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's not a question of either/or. The truth is, with the exception of the First Australians we are all either migrants or, or sons or daughters or grandkids of migrants in this country –
AUSTIN: If you increase the permanent migration cap to 200,000 people a year, which is what the ACTU is asking for –
PRIME MINISTER: I'm not saying we're going to do that at all. We are though, talking to businesses about the skill shortages which are there. But we need to do two things. One is you do need to train Australians. And just today, we've announced an additional 20,000 University places.
AUSTIN: So if you know what to do, why hold the Summit, why not just do it?
PRIME MINISTER: We are doing it. But we're also bringing together employers, unions, and people who are leaders in a whole range of sectors, women's organisations, the disability sector, bringing them together about how we move forward in our common interests. That's a good thing. We've had too much division in this country. And what I want to do is to find that common purpose. And that's the objective that we have today with the announcement that we've made with the issues paper for the summit that will be held in a couple of weeks’ time, on the Thursday and Friday. But there are some things we know. We know, immediately, there are skill shortages that need filling. And when the pandemic hit of course, people who were temporary migrants were told to leave. One of the things we need to do in this country, in my view, is to have greater emphasis on permanent migration rather than temporary skilled migration, so that people have an actual interest in helping to build our nation. We know, for example, that there has been a shortage of chefs in this country for decades, that's not going to change. Bringing people in isn't a zero sum game. If you bring in someone who's a fantastic Italian chef, they help train people that they work with as well, and you help build that skills base. And that operates across so many areas. But we do need to train Australians as well: 20,000 additional University places, we will provide 465,000 fee-free type places in traditional trades.
AUSTIN: So given what you've announced and given what you've decided, and you've already got the solutions and you've announced the solutions. I understand the point of the Jobs and Skills Summit, it's nice to have unity. But isn't a just a feel good exercise because you've already indicated you're taking action in order to solve the problem?
PRIME MINISTER: Not at all.
AUSTIN: I will come back to my poor question. There’s a real problem in Australia of some household intergenerational unemployment,
PRIME MINISTER: I agree.
AUSTIN: Where children have grown up in houses where the parents have not had full time or established work, and that's where Australia's major heartland problem is, and a lot of those are in federal Labor electorates.
PRIME MINISTER: Look I agree, Steve. I grew up in a public housing state, a city council estate in inner Sydney. My mum was an invalid pensioner, she couldn't work.
AUSTIN: So you know, you know what to do and Australians have elected you to do it.
PRIME MINISTER: But I’ll tell you the other thing is I don't think I have all the answers. That's why I'm not appointing myself to multiple portfolios, Steve. You know I don't think I have all the answers. I want to hear from industry about what their thoughts are. I think that people like Jennifer Westacott, from the Business Council of Australia, and Innes Willox, from the Australian Industry Group, manufacturing, and people like Scott Farquhar.
AUSTIN: But they're always heard, they’re the usual suspects Prime Minister, they’re not slow to say what they think, they're very prominent national voices.
PRIME MINISTER: But you know what often happens though, Steve, is that they're talking, but are they listening? Is a dialogue happening? Are people being brought together to find that common purpose?
AUSTIN: So they've not been listening so far?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I'm not being critical of them. I'm just saying they have their particular jobs as advocates for their sectors. But often, they're in silos as well. We want to talk about the care economy, one of the first elements of the Summit will be a session talking about the gender pay gap, and how we deal with that and those issues. Women's work, the care economy as we go, we want to make sure when we talk about skills, it's not just bricklayers and people that are carpenters, fitters and turners, that's important. But it's also the skills required in aged care, in nursing, in childcare, in service provision as well. So that's why you bring people together, because you get better outcomes when you're collaborative and inclusive.
AUSTIN: Alright, I’m mindful of the time, so I'll be looking forward to speaking with you after that Summit. And you can say, ‘Steve, this is what's going to happen as a result.’ So you mentioned the care economy. Let me ask you about the National Rental Affordability Scheme. Thousands of low-income renters are facing increasing rents in Australia because the scheme is coming to an end. This year, there are 3,000 Australians on low incomes who will lose their rental subsidies. 1,600 Queenslanders will be losing their rental subsidies. Will your Government extend the National Rental Affordability Scheme?
PRIME MINISTER: Our Government has inherited a range of measures, decisions for programs that end. But we've also inherited a trillion dollars of debt.
AUSTIN: This game was started by Kevin Rudd, a Labor Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: It was started as part of measures to deal with the GFC. It wasn't intended to be a permanent measure when it was established.
AUSTIN: So you're not going to continue it.
PRIME MINISTER: Well what we are doing, Steve, is having our Housing Australia Future Fund, which will establish 30,000 additional social and affordable housing units for people, 4,000 of which will be reserved for women and children escaping domestic violence. What we will be doing is $100 million for additional investment in emergency funding. I’ve been to –
AUSTIN: This will be five, seven years down the track though won’t they?
PRIME MINISTER: No, we will have this funding in our budget that we're bringing in in October.
AUSTIN: But the houses won’t be, the things that people need to live in won’t be?
PRIME MINISTER: We’re working through with States and Territories how we up the build that is necessary. We also have a range of other programs aimed at people in the regions, aimed at other programs to increase housing affordability. We'll also be establishing a National Housing Supply and Affordability Council that looks at the cost of housing, how you make it more accessible, how you get better planning decisions as well. So a range of measures that we're dealing with in the housing space that we were elected to implement and we'll be doing all of that.
AUSTIN: OK, here's the problem. You’re having a Jobs and Skills Summit, a nice talkfest, you’re setting up a National Rental Council, a nice talkfest. Australians have elected you to tackle problems.
PRIME MINISTER: We’re building, Steve, 30,000 additional on top of everything that was happening.
AUSTIN: So when will those houses be built?
PRIME MINISTER: The money will be in the budget in October.
AUSTIN: But people need to live in houses, not budgets. When will the houses be built?
PRIME MINISTER: We were elected in May, Steve.
AUSTIN: Yes, I know.
PRIME MINISTER: And we’ve brought forward our first budget, we’ve brought it forward from May of next year which is when a budget is due, and that will be our second budget. But we're bringing forward the investment and we're getting on with things. We're providing that investment, that support there through local community housing organisations. We also have, of course, our scheme to encourage homeownership, which is there, the shared equity scheme, which occurs very successfully in Western Australia, based upon that model, but also has been very successful in other places as well, like Victoria, New South Wales are adopting as well.
AUSTIN: But you are a child of housing commission yourself.
PRIME MINISTER: Absolutely.
AUSTIN: I reread your first speech to Parliament. And you made a point of that the very first time you went to the National Parliament. As a Prime Minister who used his upbringing in social housing as an election pitch to make yourself relatable, are you going to stand up for low income earners who are facing rental stress now? We're hearing reports of people losing the subsidy sacrificing meals, and in many cases becoming homeless. Now, I'm aware that you've put money aside, and that'll be coming in down the track. But the problem is very urgent. It’s not of your making, but it’s very urgent.
PRIME MINISTER: I understand the issues that are there, Steve. But what we are doing is putting in place measures that will deal with these issues, not in a perfect way. But we're having a homelessness strategy to be developed as well. We're sitting down this year, we've invited people from the housing sector as well, they’ll be at the Jobs and Skills Summit. We're continuing to engage, Julie Collins the new Minister is continuing to engage as well across a range of issues dealing with housing affordability. These issues are difficult, they do require investment. I think the creation of a $10 billion fund, which is what we're doing will be the most significant addition to public housing policy from a national Government that we've seen for a very long period of time, it is a substantially higher investment than what has occurred in the past.
AUSTIN: I accept that $10 billion is a lot of money, but you still can't give me a date when the house will be built?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, because Steve, we will have the funding in the budget. We deal with States as well, the Commonwealth isn't about to create a Federal Department of Building Houses, right. What we do is we fund State Governments and community housing organisations to build that housing. Now some of that might be, for example, in terms of emergency housing, there is some funding that we have, for example, for refurbishment of existing housing. Part of the problem, particularly affecting Indigenous communities, is there’s housing there but it's not fit for purpose. We have specific funds available to make sure that that's brought up to scratch. And the last time we were in government, as part of housing as well, we did build some additional housing. But you know what the big difference that we made was, we refurbished over, I think from off the top of my head, it was around about 60,000 housing dwellings in Australia, including some in my electorate that were rundown, that weren't liveable, essentially. And that's one of the things that that we did, and we'll look at all of these measures, Steve, but I'm very passionate about making a difference in housing, and we will.
AUSTIN: Alright, we'll see what comes out of the budget. Let me move on. In Opposition, you were the infrastructure spokesperson for the ALP. Queensland has the Olympics in this state in 2032. Will your Government commit to funding a fast rail project? There was a lot of talk about it between Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Toowoomba. Will that happen ahead of the 2032 Olympics?
PRIME MINISTER: Well today I was at the Cross River Rail project. That is a necessary component in order to unclog the system in order to expand the entire network.
AUSTIN: Queensland's already building it, we’re going it alone, it’s already happening.
PRIME MINISTER: Very good. I have not seen, nor when I was Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, proposals for high speed rail submitted. There's proposals for faster rail for a range of areas, we'll examine all of that to through our appropriate budget processes.
AUSTIN: So Annastacia Palaszczuk has not approached you or spoken to you about a fast rail project in the lead up to the Olympics?
PRIME MINISTER: We’ve been talking about a range of issues with Premier Palaszczuk, including health funding, including infrastructure funding.
AUSTIN: But not about faster rail?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, Annastacia Palaszczuk has committed to building infrastructure in this state. Can I say this, when the Commonwealth Government, when I was the Minister, we built Gold Coast light rail in an area, where there was no politics involved whatsoever. That's an example of what I did as Infrastructure Minister. We increased the road expenditure on the M1, we built Gold Coast light rail, we put $37 million into the stadium there, which is now of course used for other sporting activity on the Gold Coast. We built bike lanes and a bike system there in the Gold Coast as well to enable people to get around and to improve pedestrian access. We put substantial investment in and we would have invested in Cross River Rail, we had funding, it would have been built and opened by now. And then you would have had a greater capacity to do things quicker, because that would have been done and dusted. As it is, we're playing catch up because the Newman Government, as well as the Abbott Government trashed that project.
AUSTIN: I think I want to make that very clear though, the Premier of Queensland has not approached you, or given you a formal proposal for faster rail?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'm not the Infrastructure Minister.
AUSTIN: I know, but you are the Prime Minister, she talks with you, apparently you’re good friends.
PRIME MINISTER: She does, we are good friends.
AUSTIN: So has she said nothing to you about faster rail in the lead up to the Olympics?
PRIME MINISTER: She has talked to me about infrastructure and we'll have that discussion.
AUSTIN: I'm mindful of the time, Prime Minister. A decision is expected today on a certain NRL Grand Final. And Brisbane would like to host it. Which city do you think you should host it? Your city or this city?
PRIME MINISTER: I don't have a city. I doubt whether it'll be in Canberra which is where I’m based now, although Canberra is very keen on a new stadium, let me tell you. My priority with regard to the NRL Grand Final is very simple, Steve. It's that I watch South Sydney wherever they play, if they make the Grand Final, which I hope they do.
AUSTIN: Queensland is very keen to see the Grand Final.
PRIME MINISTER: Queensland is always keen for sporting events, and it's a great sporting state. And you have a fantastic stadium here, in Suncorp.
AUSTIN: All you have to do is pick up the phone and say Peter V’landys, here’s the go, help my friend Anastasia Palaszczuk out.
PRIME MINISTER: It's not a political decision for me to make. It's one for others to make. But my priority is hoping, crossing fingers that Latrell Mitchell is kicking off on that Grand Final wherever it is played.
AUSTIN: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, thanks for coming on ABC Radio Brisbane.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much Steve.