SAMMY J, HOST: I'm asking you about your final day on the job. My next guest will hope that that day is many years away. But of course the voters will have their say next year because he is none other than the Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese. Good morning, Prime Minister.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning, Sammy. Happy Friday the 13th. An auspicious day, I've got to say, for Dutton to drop his nuclear nightmare policy out there.
SAMMY J: So, straight into it. So okay, is that the plan? Have you had a sneak peek?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I had a look at some of the fiction that's out there saying that somehow it would not be the most ridiculously expensive plan ever, will increase bills by twelve hundred dollars. And he's out there saying that the CSIRO and AEMO, the people who actually run the energy grid, don't know what they're talking about. We know this is a plan for the 2040s. And in the meantime, I'm not quite sure what he thinks will happen with energy security. The truth is that renewables are the cheapest form of new energy. Everyone knows that that's the case. The science tells us that that's the case. The economists tell us that that's the case.
SAMMY J: Prime Minister, be that as it may, it's been a wild couple with your first term in office and you have at times misunderestimated or rather underestimated your political rival Peter Dutton, particularly when it comes, for example, to his persuasive abilities with the Voice Referendum. Are you at risk of doing that again this time around?
PRIME MINISTER: Not at all. What we've had is just negativity from Peter Dutton. He's taken the Leader of the Opposition title quite literally and just opposed everything. And what will have to happen during an election campaign is he's had to come up with now his first costed policy in almost three years and it's a shocker. It will increase people's energy bills. It doesn't provide a solution that's required for energy security that we need. And what we need to do is to make sure that we continue to roll out renewables, make sure that they're firmed up by batteries or by gas, and make sure that Australia gets the transition right, not just hope for the best, which is what the nuclear fantasy really is about.
SAMMY J: I want to ask you a couple of questions in the time that we have, and I'm really confused by this one because I've been up all night wrestling with this question, are you friends or enemies with News Limited? On the one hand you're telling your colleagues that they're coming for you. On the other hand, you're trying to protect their revenue by taking on Facebook.
PRIME MINISTER: No, what we're doing is protecting Australian journalism, and Australian journalism is really important that we support journalism. Now, these social media platforms that produce, essentially don't have journalists working for them, but produce and earn revenue off that work of journalists, be it across the board, whether it's the ABC or News Limited or the Guardian or The Age, they reprint it, send it out in digital form and they should pay for journalism. It's as simple as that. Otherwise we will have, let alone some of the smaller organisations, of course, that people rely upon, your Pedestrian TVs and some of these sites as well for daily news.
SAMMY J: I'm chatting to the Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, at the end of a big year and ahead of an even bigger year. Prime Minister, I am 20 minutes away from retiring in my role as a journalist and I'm keeping my options open for next year. But one option is, of course, to get back into the satire game. If you were me at the next election, what would you say about the Albanese Government in comedic form?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh gee, I'd leave that to you, Sammy J.
SAMMY J: We can workshop it, though. I mean, who's the easiest target? I should go to Chalmers, Marles, I don't know, you tell me.
PRIME MINISTER: The easiest target is, of course, my main opponent, Peter Dutton.
SAMMY J: Are you going to send him a Christmas card? Do you do that? I know it's all showbiz where you have to sort of -
PRIME MINISTER: I do, do that.
SAMMY J: What do you write in it?
PRIME MINISTER: I do Christmas cards across the Parliament. Oh look, I wish him and Kirilly and his family a very merry Christmas. I hope that everyone gets that. I think that's the right thing to do and I don't take these things personally. I just think he'd be bad for the country.
SAMMY J: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. You've made yourself available for us on Brekkie regularly. I'm sure you'll keep doing that next year, so I appreciate that. I will finish with the big question.
PRIME MINISTER: Who's your replacement?
SAMMY J: Bob Murphy and Sharnelle Vella, two of the finest.
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, very good.
SAMMY J: So, you'll be grilled by actual political journalists. But right now, the big question. Prime Minister, everyone wants to know. Me or Kyle Sandilands. Who's your favourite breakfast presenter?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh look, well, the one I'm talking to.
SAMMY J: Ever the political animal. Prime Minister, you have a lovely Christmas and a huge year ahead.
PRIME MINISTER: And best luck with you with your live show.
SAMMY J: Thank you so much. I'll put you on the guest list. I'll sit you next to Dutton.
PRIME MINISTER: Great. We'll have a ball. Make sure I'm sitting on the left.
SAMMY J: Thank you very much. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.