RICHARD GLOVER, HOST: The Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, is here on Drive. Good afternoon, Prime Minister.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon, Richard. Good to be with you.
GLOVER: Can I start asking first about the unemployment figures. They're again very low and I understand that's good news, but it does strengthen the chance of more rate rises ahead. Why do you think the rate rises are failing to slow the economy in the way the Reserve Bank obviously hopes they will?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, if you look at some of the impact that it has had, there has been slowing if you look at consumer confidence, retail spending, there are a range of measures that do indicate that this is causing some pain in the economy. But at the same time, of course, you do have the employment figures today that are very, very positive. Some 465,000 jobs now have been created in our first year in office, a record for any government. You have record workforce participation, record numbers of women participating in the workforce, and that, of course, is positive. A full time job is pretty critical for people's standard of living, so that is positive news. We want to make sure that fiscal policy, that is the Budget, works arm in arm with monetary policy, that is what the Reserve Bank is, as an independent body, responsible for. And that's why the turnaround in the Budget that we produced just a few weeks ago from what was anticipated to be a $78 billion deficit, into a $4.2 billion surplus is so important.
GLOVER: Okay. But critics would say you should be doing more to a point like this because everyone who can pull money out of the economy should be pulling money out of the economy to lessen the pressure on the Reserve Bank. You could be doing more, in theory anyway.
PRIME MINISTER: But that would result in more pain for people. And our task has been to make sure that we're delivering on cost of living relief for people who are vulnerable. That's why we make no apologies for having those measures in the Budget. Energy Price Relief, for example, the $5.7 billion investment to strengthen Medicare, making it cheaper and easier to see a doctor, we’ve tripled the bulk billing incentive rate - that was really important. The increase that we made in parenting payment, to rental assistance, to Jobseeker were all important. But we also are making sure that the big investments that we're making are things that will lead to stronger economic growth, and deflationary. So things like cheaper child care, that will increase productivity and increase workforce participation that comes in on July.
GLOVER: You accept that these unemployment figures today do make it more likely that we're going to have yet more rate rises?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the Reserve Bank, of course, make those decisions independently. Our job is to try to provide support to people but to do it in a responsible way to build resilience in the economy, and that is something that we have done. If you look at fee free TAFE for example, it’s about dealing with supply chain shortages. And the Reserve Bank made it very clear, the Governor, very explicitly he said that our Budget if anything was deflationary, wouldn't put further pressure on inflation. And he acknowledged, indeed, that our Energy Price Relief plan would take three quarters of a per cent off inflation alone.
GLOVER: I mean, it's nice to get a good commentary from the Reserve Bank Governor. But of course, he is in a position where he's hoping you'll rehire him very soon.
PRIME MINISTER: I think he makes decisions according to what he thinks is the right thing. I don't think Governor Lowe makes suggestions based upon any opportunistic reasons, that's not the nature of the man. And I think, very clearly, he made those statements because that's what the assessment is of Treasury, of the Reserve Bank. And they're the sort of changes that we are seeing having an impact. Millions of Australians have already benefited, for example, on cheaper medicines. That reduction in the price of medicines makes a real difference for people's budgets.
GLOVER: You stared down the pharmacy, the pharmacists, on that. And I think a lot of Australians cheered you on, if I can add that. Anthony Albanese, the Prime Minister is here. Can I ask you about the Lidia Thorpe allegations? Earlier this week the former Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Kate Jenkins, said she was confident the culture of Parliament around sexual harassment had changed. But then we had the Thorpe allegations and also this political fight using leaked text messages from the phone of Brittany Higgins that's really dominated Parliament this week. None of it's a great look for Parliament, is it?
PRIME MINISTER: It’s certainly not. And I've got to say that the leaking of messages, their report today about the claim that Brittany Higgins made that wasn't available, that draft claim that wasn't available to many people, for that to appear in detail - it is an issue. My concern here is that we know that about 13 per cent of sexual assault victims actually take action, go forward to police. And I'm worried that the focus that is going on at the moment will have a triggering effect and will deter people from coming forward. And I think Ms Higgins' personal messages with her partner, to appear in the paper in the way that they have, is something that shouldn't have occurred. And I'm concerned about that.
GLOVER: There's two sides to that, of course. Someone should not have leaked them, whoever that person was. The other question is having been leaked, should the paper have published them?
PRIME MINISTER: That, of course, is a decision that they make. We don't have government control of the media. But I think that people in the media do have to be responsible about some of the reporting which has been made. I've seen terms like ‘fake news’ used in newspapers surrounding these issues. And quite frankly, in 2023 to dismiss these issues in that way is something that I thought was something of the past.
GLOVER: Can I just ask you about the poll in the Nine newspapers, which does seem to suggest that the Yes support for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament has dropped below a majority for the first time. Why do you think the No is continuing to strengthen and then do you think there's anything you can do to turn it around?
PRIME MINISTER: I'm confident that Australians, when they get the opportunity to vote Yes for recognition of First Nations people, will do so in the last quarter of this year. There are a series of polls, of course. That one wasn't as positive, it still showed the Yes vote at that level. But the other polls are showing, Essential shows a 60 per cent Yes vote. The poll that counts, of course, and when Australians focus on what this is about, is the one where they go into polling booths and write Yes or No on their paper. And this is an opportunity to unite the nation, for reconciliation to be advanced. I'm confident that we'll continue to put the case. There’s been a lot of misinformation put out there. And once the debate goes out of Canberra as well, I think you'll see different outcomes. People out there talking to each other, knocking on doors, engaging in exactly what this is about, which is simply recognition that our great island continent we share with the oldest continuous culture on earth should be a source of pride. Our history didn't begin in 1788 and we should recognise that as other countries have recognised their First Nations people. And secondly, that the form of that should be an advisory body to listen on issues that affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People so that we close the gaps, so that we get better outcomes. We have a 10-year life expectancy gap in this country between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. We have gaps in health and education and housing and incarceration rates. We need to do better. And we know that when we consult people who are directly affected, when they get that empowerment, or as the Uluru Statement calls it, if you remove the torment of powerlessness from Indigenous people, we will get better outcomes.
GLOVER: Anthony Albanese is here. I've only got you for three minutes longer. But let me squeeze in too the things that we've been talking about on the radio, people who say they're going to vote No say most often. Here's the first of them, ‘Why should it be in the Constitution?’ they say. Even people who support the idea of Voice to Parliament they say, Medicare is a good example of a very important to Australians, doesn't mean they are all in the Constitution.
PRIME MINISTER: The principles of how government works are in the Constitution. So it’s right, for example, that we have in the Constitution, there's reference to a Defence Force, but there's no reference to the Navy because the Navy didn't exist when the Constitution was written - that came a little bit later under Prime Minister Fisher. So what this will do is simply say, that there shall be a Voice and that Voice shall advise or may advise on matters directly affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People, and that the Parliament will continue to have primacy over the functions and structure and the way that the Voice operates. So that provides some security that you won't have a change of government and any idea of an advisory body will just disappear and be dismissed.
GLOVER: I'll finish with this one, but this is very common and it shows up in the poll results too. Something like 34 per cent of people who say they're going to vote No say they're doing that because it will give Indigenous Australians rights and privileges other Australians don't have, they say that's wrong. Why do you say it's right that they be given something that others don't have?
PRIME MINISTER: This is the most disadvantaged group in our community. And the idea that they have special privileges when you are more likely, as a young Indigenous person, to go to jail than to go to university is, I think that says it all when you have that 10-year life expectancy gap. And Indigenous people do have a special place in this country. It should be certainly very much a sense of pride. And of course, the history of this country is that we have, since British arrival in 1788, we had that period and since the Second World War, we have post-war migration and our wonderful multicultural community. What Indigenous people are asking for is simply for people to walk together in a more united way to reconcile ourselves with the fullness and richness of our history. Then if we do that, we will all be better off.
GLOVER: Prime Minister, say hello to Toto for me. And thank you very much for your time.
PRIME MINISTER: I will do. Thanks very much, Richard. I'm sure that Toto gives you a little bark back.