: Joining us now to discuss this breaking news further is the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese. Prime Minister, thanks so much for joining us.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good worth you, Tarsh, and congratulations on the new show.
BELLING: Thank you, Prime Minister. In regards to this horrific crime we've seen again, I note in your social media this morning you posted, and I'm quoting, "this was the scene of a hate crime, an act of vile antisemitic violence. It is something all of us must condemn and all of us must work together to stop." How are you going to stop this?
PRIME MINISTER: Absolutely. This needs to come in two directions, of course. From the top, there are things that the police and security agencies can do, there are things that political leaders can do, but it also is a matter of the community as well, saying enough is enough. This is reprehensible. The idea that people target a child care centre. Child care centres are places of joy, where we send our young Australians to learn off each other, where there's harmony. One of the things about child care centres is people don't see - our young Australians certainly don't see race or religion or anything else - they just engage with each other. And to witness there this morning, where I was with Premier Minns, to see this horrific attack is beyond belief that it occurred. We need to find out who is responsible, make sure they're charged and they face the full force of the law.
BELLING: In regards to the National Cabinet meeting that you've called for this afternoon, just as late as yesterday, you said Australians didn't want another meeting, they wanted action. The New South Wales Police Force has said that they've got this under control. Obviously they haven't because we are seeing these attacks continue but also seem to get more dangerous.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, they - we are seeing action as well. It's very important that people know that this morning they went through the number of people who've not just been arrested, they've been charged, they've been denied bail. They are literally in the clink as we speak. And that is important that those arrests are occurring. There have been more than 40 arrests here in New South Wales alone for antisemitic acts. And that is important that we support the police in the work that we're doing. And indeed, last Thursday Operation Avalite, the federal-state coordination Task Force that's been established, made its first arrest.
BELLING: You say that these alleged offenders, or offenders, if they're caught and charged and convicted, will face the full force of the law. Would you go as far to say this is domestic terrorism?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that is a designation that's always up to the police to make under the -
BELLING: Will they make that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the police will speak for themselves, of course. But there is no question that what this is aimed at is creating fear in the community. This was done at 1 o'clock in the morning when there was no one, obviously, at the child care centre at that time. And it's designed to create that fear and that social division as well, which is why we can't let it succeed. And one way that we ensure that it doesn't succeed is by supporting social cohesion, is coming together as a society, which is so important. So, we, for example, as well, will make sure that the child care payments to that centre, the government payments, continue to be paid while the child care centre isn't able to operate. That will support parents of the centre as well as the operators. And the Commonwealth will join with the Minns Government here in New South Wales to fund any reconstruction over and above any insurance payments which might be made available to the centre, to make sure that the operators of this centre and the families who use this centre are not put at any disadvantage as a result of this atrocious act.
BELLING: I don't want to pre-empt the National Cabinet meeting this afternoon, but what are you set to discuss? Will there be changes to legislation? Will offenders face tough penalties?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, penalties are tough, which are there already. And the New South Wales and Victorian Governments have foreshadowed further changes to their legislation. Most of this legislation is in the states and territories. We, of course, have introduced legislation outlawing terror symbols like Nazi symbols, like the flag of terrorist organisations like Hezbollah. So, we will continue, though - I mean, the law isn't something that's stagnant. It's something that must be consistently monitored to make sure that community standards are kept up. And we will take the advice. Today, this afternoon, we'll hear from the AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw. I spoke with him this morning as well as, of course, meeting with the acting New South Wales Police Commissioner and other police leaders here in New South Wales, as I have with Victoria.
BELLING: Prime Minister, if you can stay with us this afternoon, we'd appreciate your thoughts on what's developed overseas in the US, with Mr. Trump sworn in as the new US President. Stay with us.
Live cross to Channel Seven's United States Correspondent, Tim Lester.
BELLING: Tim Lester in Washington D.C. thanks so much. Now, the Prime Minister is still with us this afternoon. Thank you so much for joining us once again, Prime Minister. In regards to Mr. Trump, he's declared it's going to be a golden age of America. Is it going to be a golden age for Australia, especially when it comes to tariffs?
PRIME MINISTER: I think Australia, I'm very optimistic -
BELLING: Are you?
PRIME MINISTER: About where we're positioned in the world. If you look at the changes that are occurring in the global economy, Australia is really well positioned. We have all of the mineral resources that will power the world this century, and as well, we have a skilled workforce. We're located right in the centre of the fastest growing region of the world in human history. So, I think if we get it right, we can be incredibly successful for the rest of the decade and set ourselves up for the next 50 years.
BELLING: Prime Minister, we're looking at live pictures right now of Mr. Trump in the Oval Office. You said you were optimistic for Australia in regards to our relations with the US. Among Mr. Trump's promises with these Executive Orders, the mass deportation of illegal immigrants. On the environment, he is vowing to "drill, baby, drill." In regards also to gender, he has said they will only recognise two genders, that being male and female. What are your thoughts on that?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, I'm not going to run a running commentary on Donald Trump's domestic agenda. What I'll say is that Australia looks forward to working with the Trump Administration. I had a very warm first conversation with the President to congratulate him on his election. I congratulate him on his inauguration. I thought it was a very good sign about the relationship between our two countries that he invited Penny Wong, as Foreign Minister, along with the other Quad Foreign Ministers from India and Japan to the inauguration. And, of course, Penny Wong attended there, represented Australia, along with the Ambassador, Kevin Rudd, who's already had a meeting with the incoming President.
BELLING: You said you're not going to comment on the domestic politics of Mr. Trump. One may argue his stance on climate change is going to affect the whole world. Correct?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it will, of course, impact the globe, but we have Australia's position. We are a sovereign nation and we'll continue to take action on climate change, not just because we have an interest in meeting the challenge, we know that Australia's particularly been adversely affected by extreme weather events. We recall, everyone, the fires just about every year, but particularly 2019-2020 as well that had a devastating impact on this country. We know that we're particularly vulnerable, but also because even if you didn't accept the science of climate change, the economic opportunity that is there is enormous for us, not just to reduce emissions, but to grow our economy and grow jobs.
BELLING: Prime Minister, can you confirm the date of the election?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I can't with you, exclusively -
BELLING: I thought I'd try.
PRIME MINISTER: It's a good try, but I said the other day that Julia Gillard, when she was Prime Minister, confirmed the date of the election well in advance. And since then there have been hundreds of articles saying that was a mistake to do so.
BELLING: Okay, talking about mistakes, then. We all make mistakes. We're all human. What mistake do you think you've made as Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, look, no one's perfect. And so what I do each and every day is to do the best job that I can, to take the best advice that I can, as well. I think, if anything, we underestimated how long the Russian invasion of Ukraine would go on for and the impact that that would have on global inflation. We've tried to deal with that as it is, but all of the advice upon coming to office certainly wasn't that you'd see a ground war in Europe ongoing in 2025.
BELLING: Regarding inflation, the top of the agenda for everyone with the upcoming election is cost of living, interest rates that even if it was a Liberal Prime Minister in office right now, there would be a protest vote because of cost of living. And the majority of Australians may argue I'm worse off today than I was three years ago. Are you prepared to face that scenario?
PRIME MINISTER: They would have been worse off if Peter Dutton had got his way. They wouldn't have got a tax cut, that every Australian got a tax cut. They wouldn't have got Energy Bill Relief, they wouldn't have got Cheaper Medicines, Cheaper Child Care, and that has had an impact. They wouldn't have Free TAFE courses for more than half a million Australians. And at the next election, we not only will be campaigning on the fact that we've brought inflation down - it's now got a two in front instead of a six. We've created 1.1 million jobs, have been created on our watch and real wages are increasing. So, inflation down, wages up, employment growth strong is a good record, but also we're not resting on that. We will invest in new child care centres, we'll guarantee three days child care, and we've already announced, of course, for young Australians in particular, a 20 per cent cut in their student debt that will benefit 3 million Australians by $5,500 on average.
BELLING. So, the federal election, after the possible interest rate cut in February, confirming that?
PRIME MINISTER: The federal election will be when I get in that white car with the flag that I drove here on and drive to a Government House. But just yesterday we swore in new Ministers. We now have, for the first time, the 22 Ministers that I have the honour of chairing, Cabinet, 11 men and 11 women. The first time we have equity in that.
BELLING: Well done, Prime Minister, and thank you for joining us and best of luck for the election.
PRIME MINISTER: It's been terrific.
BELLING: Thank you so much for your time.
