Jods, I don't say this lightly. Time to speak to a very, very special guest.
JODIE ODDY, HOST: Yes, please. The Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, joins us on the line now. Good morning, Prime Minister.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Wonderful to be with you. It's a beautiful day here in Adelaide and looking forward to heading to Whyalla in a short period of time.
ODDY: We will get to that in just a moment. Prime Minister, do you mind telling all our beautiful listeners exactly what just happened with producer Molly, who might have mistaken you for someone else?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, Molly was terrific. But I did say that it was myself on the phone and she basically put me on hold, didn't believe it, thought it was a prank call. That's okay. Good on you, Molly. The relationship's off to a bad start.
MOLLY, PRODUCER: I'm sorry.
HAYES: She thought you were a Fringe performer.
PRIME MINISTER: It's all gonna get better from here, Molly.
HAYES: She thought you were a Fringe performer. And I think she came in and said, 'Oh, you should hear this bloke, he does the worst Anthony Albanese'.
PRIME MINISTER: To be fair, you didn't tell her that I was going to call in.
HAYES: Yes, that's true.
PRIME MINISTER: Yes, I'm sticking up for you, Molly. I'm from the pro-worker Party.
ODDY: Prime Minister, I don't know if it's going to help or hinder this story, but it's Molly's first week here at Nova. So, can you tell?
PRIME MINISTER: Molly, I'm sure you're enjoying it and any complaints, just give us a call. You've got my number now.
MOLLY: I actually do. Thanks, Albo.
ODDY: Thank you. Now Prime Minister, you are heading to Whyalla. Just really bold from our Premier, Peter Malinauskas, to serve Sanjeev Gupta with legal papers saying we now are divorcing you effectively. Good news for the people of Whyalla.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's cracking news for the people of Whyalla because what it shows is the determination of the Malinauskas Government and my Government to save jobs in Whyalla and make sure that the steelworks continue to operate there. And they employ, if you look at directly 1,100 workers, but indirectly 3,000 on top of that. So it's central to the town. It's the heart and soul of the town. And Whyalla is also critical to Australia's national interest. Critical to sovereign Australian steel. It produces 75 per cent of Australian structural steel. So we can't afford for it to be anything other than a success because we rely upon that steel for our railways, and our bridges, and our schools, and our towers, our transmission infrastructure, for our defence assets that are so important here in South Australia. So it's absolutely critical as we go forward. And that's why both of our governments are determined to protect the interests of Whyalla.
ODDY: Prime Minister, can you imagine the optics for the people of Whyalla when it turns out in the last couple of weeks, Sanjeev Gupta is spending $10 million on a renovation of his Sydney mansion, including a yoga room for goodness sake, when these families have been suffering.
PRIME MINISTER: Well look, there's a range of small businesses that haven't been paid and we want to make sure that they're looked after. The steelworks there, I went there with the Premier, I've been to Whyalla a few times, but I've been, this will be my second visit as Prime Minister. And what you know is that it's at the heart of the town and it should be a great success. You've got a fantastic port, you've got some of the best quality magnetite in the world, if not the best. The prospects for the transition and producing green steel there over a period of time are tremendous - and it's so important. And the jobs that are dependent on upon the Whyalla Steelworks aren't just there, of course, they're throughout South Australia, but throughout the whole country. And one of the lessons of the pandemic is located where we are, this island continent located in the southern hemisphere - we can't be at the end of supply chains. That's why we put at the heart of our last Budget, A Future Made in Australia. We need to make things here. And the former Government told the car industry to bugger off, and they had a real impact. You know, not just on jobs directly, but on the whole economy because you need this high value manufacturing in order to drive that technological change and the skills and everything else through the economy.
ODDY: Prime Minister, my co-host here doesn't know a lot about the politics of Whyalla and the steelworks. What he does know is the Port Adelaide Football Club and he has a question about the major sponsorship, which is GFG.
HAYES: Yes, interesting times. We could see a new strip, Prime Minister. So I mean it's not as important as families affected in Whyalla, but still it's a different look. And I know you're a big old sports fan, so supporters have to get their eyes around something new if it goes down this path.
PRIME MINISTER: I am. And one of the things I know is that when I'm in Adelaide, I am both a Crows and a Power fan.
HAYES: Well played. Well played.
PRIME MINISTER: I don't get in between that family squabble. I know that very, very well. It's like the Eagles and the Dockers in the West. When you have these two team towns they're very, very passionate about which team they support. So good luck with the Power this year, but good luck to the Crows too to Crows listeners, because I'm in an election after all. So you know, I'm actually a Hawks fan, so -
HAYES: Yes, yes, we know that. And I'm getting a shutdown here because we are not an NRL state.
ODDY: No, we're not.
HAYES: But it would be silly of me personally not to ask you an NRL question because I'm a massive fan. We know that you're a massive South Sydney supporter. So you've just lost Cam Murray to an achilles injury probably for the whole season.
ODDY: Please don't.
HAYES: You've just lost Latrell Mitchell. That's probably the equivalent of Port Adelaide losing Rozee and Butters on the eve. How are you feeling for your beloved South Sydney Rabbitohs?
ODDY: I mean, thank goodness you're here today, Prime Minister, to answer the NRL questions in Adelaide for goodness sake.
PRIME MINISTER: You are trying to reduced me to tears here. I could not believe Cam Murray hurt his wrist while he was training for Australia. For those people who are don't know this, he is vice-captain of Australia, he's an unbelievable footballer, Captain of our team - Souths. And I was on the board for years in the 90s and then the noughties. And for him to be out for the season with a training injury is devastating. And Latrell is a champion as well. So we've lost our best two players from the beginning of the season and they haven't even played in a trial game yet. So -
HAYES: We're feeling for you.
PRIME MINISTER: It's bad. It's devastating, but you know, we overcome these things. You've got to stay loyal to your team. You understand that.
ODDY: What a disastrous interview this has been. Molly thought you were a fringe impersonator and now Hayesy's made you cry with NRL chat about the Rabbitohs.
HAYES: So many different emotions from the Prime Minister
ODDY: All up and down.
PRIME MINISTER: I might never speak to Nova Adelaide again. You're saved by the fact that I have a soft spot for anyone called Jodie.
ODDY: Oh, there we go.
HAYES: Your lovely wife, of course.
ODDY: Yes, very true. Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, thank you so much for joining us this morning, we really appreciate it. And all the best in Whyalla today.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you so much, guys.
