DAVID MARCHESE, HOST: Prime Minister, welcome back to Hack.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon, Dave. I'm very proud to be your first guest for the year.
MARCHESE: It's always good to start off with a big name talent like yourself. I want to ask, on this tax proposal that you've put forward, do you think that the plan changes that you've outlined are actually enough to help young Australians especially, who have been devastated by cost of living over the past couple of years?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what we've done here is use the same amount, basically revenue that was anticipated under the former Governments stage three cuts and make sure that every Australian gets a tax break, essentially all 13.6 million taxpayers, not just some. And that will make an enormous difference by making sure that everyone who works and pays tax will be better off this year. Now of those, when you break it down, 98 per cent of taxpayers aged 18 to 24 will get a bigger tax cut under these changes, an average of over $1,000. 94 per cent of taxpayers aged 25 to 29 will get a bigger tax cut and 87 per cent of taxpayers aged between 30 and 44 will get a bigger tax cut. So, I think this is a practical response to the fact that so many people who are low and middle income earners have borne the brunt of having to deal with the inflation that has impacted on the economy and impacted on the cost of living.
MARCHESE: Okay, but isn't there other stuff that we could be seeing that could make a real difference right now that should be a priority, whether that's support for taxpayer services like healthcare, dental, that people are really struggling with so they don't have to wait until tax time.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we're doing all of that. We've had cheaper medicines -
MARCHESE: The listeners are saying it's not enough.
PRIME MINISTER: Which is why we're then presenting this next proposal. We've got cheaper medicines have cost $250 million to the Budget. We've had the tripling of the Bulk Billing Incentive on Medicare. We've had meaningful energy bill relief, that's made a significant difference. We've had 300,000 Fee Free TAFE places that were put in place last year. We've increased the maximum rate of Commonwealth rental assistance by 15 per cent, this is the largest increase in 30 years. And last year in the Budget, we had increases to working age and student payments, including JobSeeker, Youth Allowance, ABSTUDY, Austudy -
MARCHESE: We have covered all of those pretty substantially on Hack over the past year. But I guess a lot of our listeners are saying still, “we're really struggling, we can't get by.” I mean, as you know, there is a mixed reaction to this, Prime Minister. Some comments from the Hack audience, one person saying they think that this is an election promise broken. Do you think it's fair that some of the higher income earners, and you mentioned that it's a very small proportion of young people in Australia, but do you think it's fair that some of those higher income earners who are not all bankers and property moguls, they might be a young FIFO worker, a tradie, they're trying to set up their lives and maybe they'd counted on a bigger tax break and voted for you because you'd promised it. Is it fair enough that they're angry with you about this?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, they're going to get a tax cut, people on the highest rate, which will increase by $10,000, up to $190,000 -
MARCHESE: But it's not as much as they'd thought.
PRIME MINISTER: That's right. And it's not as much for politicians like me either. But it's the right thing to do. You can't just add more money in, because what that would do is add to inflation. So, we had to come up with a plan that made a difference whilst not putting pressure on inflation. That was the key, because if you put pressure on inflation, which is heading in the right direction, that's been the big priority. That's been something that's impacted, but it's impacted, as Treasury analysis says, particularly on low and middle income earners. So, this is a fairer package, but it also does reward hard work. And the context here as well, of course, in terms of cost of living is ins as well as outs. And in terms of ins, people's wages, what we have seen is for the last two quarters, for the first time in a long while, real wages increasing. We supported for two goes in a row, an increase in the minimum wage, and we've done, in areas like aged care, a 15 per cent wage increase. So, we want people to earn more and we want them to keep more of what they earn.
MARCHESE: I mean, the thing that some Australians are struggling with though, is not knowing whether there are going to be other commitments or promises you've made that you might change your mind on. You're saying the situation has changed, but cost of living was a massive issue during the election campaign. Like it has got worse. It was still a hugely important issue during the election campaign. You were asked many times, you said, “I've always been a man of my word, I believe that when you go to an election, you make commitments, you should stick to them.” So, what is the line then? When is it okay to break a promise?
PRIME MINISTER: The first interest rate increase occurred during the election campaign. And what has occurred since then and this package is targeted squarely at middle Australia, while looking after people who are going to miss out and not get anything at all, which is those under $45,000. This is good economic policy. It's based upon the pressures which are on. And what we've seen is a series of interest rate increases. We've seen inflation be far greater globally. This is a global phenomenon, not just here in Australia. In places like the UK, it hit double digits. So, what we are doing is very clearly doing measures that we said we would do. Like cheaper child care, we've done Fee Free TAFE, we've done these measures. But we also have responded, just as we had to respond in a way that wasn't anticipated with the energy price relief plan. No one thought that a Government would come to office and have price caps on coal and gas, but that's what we did because we responded to what was necessary. So, this isn't an easy decision, but it is the right decision that is done for the right reasons.
MARCHESE: Well, can I add to that and ask you if you're saying, “the circumstances have changed and that's why we've had to shift here, we've had to pivot, it would be irresponsible not to change policy.” It's been a year since your Government cut rebated psych sessions from 20 to 10. We're being flooded with messages from young Australians telling us about the devastating impact that's had on their lives. Some are saying they're going without mental health support altogether. If so many people are saying that's not working, is it time to revisit that decision?
PRIME MINISTER: If you actually look at the figures from the Federal Department of Health, if you follow it, what you will see is that what was happening is that, yes, people were getting more sessions, but a whole lot of people were getting zero sessions, weren't able to get any assistance at all -
MARCHESE. So, shouldn't we be finding a way to make it more equitable for everyone?
PRIME MINISTER: That is precisely what we have done. What you can't do is overnight train professionals to provide these services. And the truth is that a whole lot of people, particularly outside of the inner suburbs of our cities, were missing out on any support, they weren't able to get in. Which is why the Government responded by simply, when this was a temporary measure of course, during COVID which was increased like a whole range of other measures that were increased short term during COVID.
MARCHESE: But Prime Minister, we’ve spoken to experts who've said the answer here is not to cut the amount of sessions. Like, sure, you might have to tweak the plan a little, but people are going without. Like, some people don't have mental health support, young people, and they're struggling.
PRIME MINISTER: That's right. And they weren't getting it before because they couldn't get into sessions.
MARCHESE: That's not what everyone's telling us.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, if you have Mark Butler on, our Health Minister, and he will give a series of figures that were showing what was happening with the advice that came through to Government.
MARCHESE: Well, look, we are planning to have the Health Minister on very soon, maybe even this week, so we'll be able to put those questions to him. We have a question, Prime Minister, from Matty who's messaged in. He wants to know what you're doing about other specific things affecting young people. He says we're all struggling under student debt, rent, housing generally. Are you worried many young Australians are going to abandon your party if you don't offer them direct support? And he's talking about things like HECS indexation, about rent just skyrocketing. Is there going to be any relief directly for young people on those issues?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we have directly, in the last Budget, increased Commonwealth rent assistance. We increased Austudy and ABSTUDY by $40. These changes helped around about 318,000 young people under the age of 25. Those measures that we put in place in our last Budget, which was a substantial increase. In addition to that, the biggest beneficiaries, there's 90 per cent of women, benefit from these tax changes that we're proposing, but 98 per cent of young people will benefit, will get a bigger tax cut. So, for people who are working part time, who don't get up to $45,000 a year, they were going to get nothing. Now they're going to get a tax cut. For people working all the way up to $73,000, which is the average wage in Australia, which many young people are on around about that figure, they will get double the tax cut that they were going to get.
MARCHESE: Prime Minister, this is Hack. I'm Dave Marchese. I'm speaking with the PM Anthony Albanese, who is our first guest on Hack in 2024. Prime Minister, Australia, the US, some other countries have paused funding of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. It's known as UNRWA. And that's while investigations are underway into some employees taking part in the Hamas attacks in Israel. Now the United Nations is calling on Australia to reverse the decision to resume the funding. Is the Government going to do that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we want the funding to resume, but there's a pause on while this investigation takes place. The Foreign Minister is talking with the United Nations. We want to make sure that protections are put in place to ensure that the money that Australia is giving goes to the right purpose. We know that this is unfortunate. UNRWA do good work overwhelmingly, but this is of real concern. The Government has responded to this along with the Governments of Canada and the United Kingdom and the United States and other like minded countries.
MARCHESE: I wonder if you think the Government response has been appropriate if it's not gone too far, because you've got the former NZ Prime Minister Helen Clark saying this decision is catastrophic. It seems like harsh collective punishment of the Gazan people. A quarter of Gaza's population is facing starvation right now. This is a huge lifeline for many. Has Australia gone too far?
PRIME MINISTER: And my Government has increased funding for the Occupied Palestinian Territories. We did that when we came to office, doubled funding there of support and aid. We're providing funding through other agencies as well, not just through UNRWA, because we believe this is very important, that the humanitarian assistance gets to people who need it when they need it and we know that they need it now. We are very conscious of the pressures which are on, but the investigation that will take place quickly, we want to see these issues sorted out. But it is appropriate that a pause take place given the revelations which have appeared in recent days.
MARCHESE: PM, Nadia has hit us up on Instagram and she said this. She says you used to be a vocal supporter of the Palestinian liberation movement. There's footage of you at a pro-Palestine rally earlier in your career. A lot of young Australians are interested in this and maybe they're going to the rallies as well on weekends. So, people are asking us, has anything changed? Has your position changed in relation to this issue? And if not, why aren't you as vocal about it?
PRIME MINISTER: We have been very vocal. We have voted for a humanitarian ceasefire in the United Nations. We have supported a two state solution. We reversed the decision of the former Government to move the Australian Embassy and to change the designation of the capital of Israel. We have provided additional funding for humanitarian support in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and we have changed the voting pattern. But we also very clearly and unequivocally oppose the actions that occurred on October 7, which were a terrorist act by Hamas against innocent young people, by and large, attending a music festival who were slaughtered, many of whom were also captured and kept as hostages and remain as such. We want those hostages to be released. We want there to be a humanitarian ceasefire, and we want for there to be a political solution which requires a two state solution so that both Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace and security. And the other thing that we have done consistently, and it is what we need to do, you need to be consistent, we have declared how opposition to the loss of any innocent life, whether it be Israeli or Palestinian. That's my Government's position. And that is something as well that we declared not just in the national parliament, but in a joint statement with Canada and New Zealand. Three of the key Five Eyes counties.
MARCHESE: Prime Minister, we're going to have to leave it there. We've run out of time. But we do appreciate you making the time for us. Thank you very much for being our first guest on Hack.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you very much, Dave. Have a great day.