: Well, to federal politics now. And the Coalition says that Australians will struggle with the cost of living crisis until at least 2030. The Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese joins us now live this morning from Queensland. Good to see you Albo. Thanks for being with us.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning from beautiful Rockhampton.
WRIGHT: It does look gorgeous. Before you dismiss that as Coalition spin, the fact that they're saying that we won't feel any real relief from the cost of living crisis until 2030, what year do you predict that we'll actually feel that the cost of living is manageable?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I tell you what, the cost of living would have been worse were they in government, because they've opposed every single cost of living measure, whether it was Energy Price Relief, Cheaper Medicines, Cheaper Child Care, the tax cuts for every single taxpayer - they said they'd roll back and then they said we should have an election on it. They were so hostile to it. So, what we have done is get inflation under control. It was with a six in front of it and rising. It's now got a two in front of it and is falling. So, my Government has been determined to understand that people are under financial pressure to deal with cost of living pressures. But every single one of the measures has been opposed by Peter Dutton.
MICHAEL USHER, HOST: Well, you've got control over it now. You've been in government for a few years. Let's just do a quick snapshot of the economy, Prime Minister. You need about a million dollars to afford a house. Energy prices have gone up 14 per cent just in the last 12 months or so. General insurance costs are up 16 per cent. There's no guarantee of a rate cut. Petrol sitting around two bucks a litre. Iron ore prices are down, the dollar is weak. What are you worried about in all of that with the economy?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, global inflation has had an impact here in Australia, we're not immune from these global factors. Inflation indeed overseas - hit double digits. And the economy just next door to us there in New Zealand is in a deep recession. We avoided any quarters whatsoever of negative growth. We've had a million jobs created, the first time that's ever happened in a term of government. We've got real wages increasing. That is, wages are increasing by more than inflation in the last four quarters. So, things are heading in the right direction. But we understand and are certainly not complacent about it. That's why at each and every opportunity, we've looked for ways to address cost of living, to address those pressures that are on families, whilst putting that downward pressure on inflation and getting inflation with a 2 in front of it is something that's been important. That's why we produced, as well, two budget surpluses. Unlike the rest of the world, we have been in a fiscally prudent position by producing those two budget surpluses.
USHER: But you've got some deficits ahead and you're going to have to pull some pretty fast levers to convince the electorate, I believe, that they're feeling better off because right now most people are feeling like they're going backwards, Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, under Labor, we will continue to build Australia's future. Under the Coalition, we will go backwards under Peter Dutton and things will cost more. Their only plan that they've put forward is for nuclear reactors that'll cost $1200 for every Australian more. And Matt Canavan, a local Senator here in Queensland, has said, "Oh, that's just a political fix, that's not actually a real solution." And he has belled the cat on Peter Dutton's lack of a plan. And as I've said, we understand people are doing it tough. That's why we've introduced these measures. All of which have been opposed by the Coalition, people would have been worse off.
WRIGHT: Yeah. All right, let's talk about power prices. You just brought it up there. Three years ago during the last election, you did promise to lower those power prices by $275 bucks by 2025. Is that going to happen?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what we've done is put in place a $300 reduction in everyone's power bills. That's had a real impact for people in reducing power bills. Here in Queensland that was added to by $1,000 by the former Queensland Government as well. What we saw, globally, was a spike in energy prices in part due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. That was something that has had an impact globally. We've been addressing that. Indeed, we put in place a cap on coal and gas prices in conjunction with the Coalition Government of Dominic Perrottet in New South Wales and the Government of Annastacia Palaszczuk here in Queensland. That also was opposed by the Coalition and Peter Dutton. So, we've done what we can to insulate Australia from that global spike that led to a global inflationary impact that saw double digit inflation, that saw negative growth in so many of our advanced economies.
USHER: Prime Minister, if I can just jump in, I mean, you have had enough time now to put more measures in place in the couple of years you've had in government to help people feel like they're better off. Now, it might be perception versus reality, but I think the reality is true. As I mentioned before, people feel like they're going backwards. All those things I mentioned - yes, some global influences - but you've got some levers you can pull locally to make people put more cash back in their pockets and it's just not happening fast enough in time for your election.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what we've done Michael, is not just do cash splashes because that would add to inflation. What we've done is do targeted measures like those reductions, the Energy Bill Relief, like Cheaper Child Care, like Cheaper Medicines where Australians have saved over a billion dollars on Cheaper Medicines. The 60-day dispensing has made an enormous difference. Medicare Urgent Care Clinics, I visited one yesterday here in Rockhampton where people can go get that assistance that they need, that health care in Urgent Care Clinics. And more than a million Australians have now visited Urgent Care Clinics to get the care that they need for free. So, we've strengthened Medicare whilst we've addressed cost of living pressures. We've been carefully designing the measures that we've put in place so that we continue to work on lowering that inflation figure. We have got it down from having a six in front to a two in front.
USHER: Alright. Monique has a very important question for you, Prime Minister.
WRIGHT: I do. It's that time of year, everyone's thinking about sport. I want to talk to you about your beloved Rabbitohs. There are reports that that Russell Crowe is planning on selling his 25 per cent stake in the Rabbitohs. He has played it down. PM, have you actually spoken to Rusty about this?
PRIME MINISTER: I haven't spoken to Russell personally but I can say this, that there's no more passionate South Sydney person in the world than Russell Crowe. He's got a cardinal eye and a myrtle eye and he has been an enormous success and I'm looking forward to Wayne Bennett, we have the great man back coaching this year and I'm always positive. If you ask me, at any January since I came out of the womb in 1963 how Souths were going to go, I would tell you that we'll win the comp. So, like every other January, I'm very confident at this stage of the season but we've got, we've got the cattle to put on the paddock. If only they can stay there this year. Campbell Graham didn't get on the field all of last year so I'm pretty confident about the year ahead.
USHER: All right, one more thing before you go. We've got about 10 seconds here. I've written down the potential dates for the election. I'm going to try something different to every other journalist - you don't say anything, but you nod if I hit the right date. April 12th? April 12th?
PRIME MINISTER: Good try.
USHER: 19?
PRIME MINISTER: Good try.
USHER: April 26th?
PRIME MINISTER: Good try.
USHER: May 17th?
WRIGHT: Yeah, I think that -
USHER: Hang on, hang on. May 17th?
PRIME MINISTER: May 17, or before.
USHER: That's mandated.
PRIME MINISTER: We should have four year fixed terms like they do in most states and territories. So, to avoid these games.
USHER: All right, Prime Minister. There you go. Thank you.
WRIGHT: Enjoy Rockhampton. We appreciate your time. Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER: Good morning, have a great 2025.
WRIGHT: You too. You too. Happy January to you.
