MONIQUE WRIGHT, HOST: Good morning to you, Prime Minister. Thanks so much for being with us. Gosh, it's been a difficult time with the weather for lots of people. I know that you toured the area there yesterday. You've announced a $50 million support package to Queenslanders impacted by the recent wild weather - that's great. We know you're off to Victoria today to visit some of the areas there who have also been ravaged. Will you announce a similar package for Victorians?
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: We of course, will always provide whatever support we can, when we can upon request of state and territory governments. I was on the Gold Coast yesterday looking at the South East Queensland damage with the Premier, Steven Miles. And then yesterday we came here to Cairns and went to Wujal Wujal, a community that has been just ravaged by these floods. Just about every home has been impacted and many of them completely destroyed. We got to see firsthand the work that has been undertaken. The powers back on in Wujal Wujal and the roads are beginning to open up as well. After the damage we had communities like Cape Trib and others in the Daintree, as well as Port Douglas was cut off, that coastal road on the Captain Cook Highway and there's still areas that are shut there. But there's enormous work taking place. And I just give a shout out to all those emergency service workers, the people in the energy companies who've been here providing assistance, the volunteers, it's been a remarkable effort, supplemented by the Australian Defence Force. Where we announced yesterday further deployment of personnel, of equipment as well as temporary accommodation to the communities in the Daintree that have been impacted, like Wujal Wujal and Cape Tribulation and others as well.
WRIGHT: There's been criticism about various things surrounding this crisis and that has been about the alert system, also about how long it has taken for help to get in there. There were really strong calls from the residents there, they wanted the ADF in earlier. Since you've been there, what are you reflecting on what you would like to see done differently if this happens again?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the response has been immediate. We had the HMAS Cairns here involved with the ADF literally the very next day after the flooding events began. We've had choppers help to rescue people from Wujal Wujal, from roofs and take them to Cooktown. We've had a remarkable effort, but every time a natural disaster happens what you should do is you do an assessment - what went right, what could be done better in the future, and you learn those lessons. Tragically, as we're seeing played out already over Christmas and New Year, we've had major weather events in the South East Queensland, Far North Queensland, Victoria, and in Western Australia as well. And what's remarkable about an area like Wujal Wujal, when you look at it firsthand, and Channel Seven were there taking footage yesterday afternoon, is how there wasn't a loss of life on the ground there. When you look at the devastation, it's quite a remarkable effort.
WRIGHT: Yes, indeed. All right, we're thinking of everyone in those areas. I do need to ask you about a couple of other things. The Coalition has accused your government of a cover up, that's following the decision to no longer reveal whether convicted criminals have been released from immigration detention. It just doesn't feel transparent, PM. Do we have a right to know?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, there's been no change whatsoever in any of the information which is going out from that when Peter Dutton was the Home Affairs Minister. No change whatsoever.
WRIGHT: I understand that, but you could change it. You could be releasing that information, couldn't you?
PRIME MINISTER: The information is released in an appropriate way. What they're trying to do, of course, is to get a story continuing along. But there's been no change whatsoever from the arrangements that were in place under the former government.
WRIGHT: Yeah, no, I understand that, but the latest information that we have is seven of the 148 people that were released from detention have been rearrested. To your knowledge, has that number changed?
PRIME MINISTER: Not to my knowledge, but the information is released in the normal way. And if someone commits a breach of a Commonwealth law, then it will be released in a transparent way, in the normal way. If someone breaches a state law, then the states are responsible for that in the normal way. There's been no change whatsoever here.
WRIGHT: Cost of living, it's on everyone's minds. You will today announce former Labor Minister Craig Emerson to lead the 2023-2024 review of the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct. So, you've also warned the supermarkets that all options are on the table. You sort of put a bit of a warning in there saying that significant government intervention is not off the table if the inquiry finds that is needed. I'm just wondering why it's taken so long? This is 100 days after the inquiry was announced to actually just appoint someone.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we have done work through, the ACCC has been continuing to do that ongoing work. What we have now is an independent person coming in, Dr. Emerson, to examine that work, to work with them, to work with industry, to make recommendations to the government about these issues. No other government before us has done anything about this. What we're saying is that the current industry voluntary code of conduct will be examined to see whether we need some form of mandating. We're prepared to take action and we've said that that will occur. What we want to make sure is that when the big supermarket chains get goods cheaper off our farmers, then those costs are relayed on to consumers. We want to make sure that consumers benefit, and that's what our Minister Murray Watt, has been saying for some time as well. But now we have a clear position that we're putting. We're also continuing to do the work. The ACCC monitor these things and they're continuing to do their work as well. But we're indicating as a government that we're prepared to examine mandating and what further action may be required.
WRIGHT: Let's hope that it leads to cheaper prices for everybody. All right, we know you've got a big day ahead, heading to Victoria. We appreciate your time, Prime Minister in Cairns today. Anthony Albanese. Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much, Mon. Have a great day.