: Good morning, Prime Minister.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning. Good to be with you.
KING: Yeah, likewise. Well, firstly, I think it was 47 pieces of legislation passed by the Senate last week. I think 31 on that Thursday. Massive -
PRIME MINISTER: 45, but close enough.
KING: Okay. Was it 45?
PRIME MINISTER: 45.
KING: I've seen 40, 41, 42 - but I think it was 31 passed on Thursday. Yeah. Why, why does this happen at the end of the year? And why is this what many people describe as undue haste to pass all this legislation on the final day of the year for federal Parliament?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, there was nothing quick about it. Some of this legislation had been passed through the House of Representatives in 2023, so it'd been around for quite a while. The Coalition had a policy all year of just saying "no" to everything. No hope, just no. And the Greens and the crossbenchers, of course, in some areas - for example, the Help to Buy legislation that's about helping 40,000 Australians in to home ownership - that was deferred not once but twice by what I called the No-alition, the Liberals combining with the Greens. Labor only has 25 out of the 76 senators. We have less than one third. And so, we can't bring on a vote without a majority. And so for the reasons of just trying to disrupt action, the Coalition, in particular, had opposed bringing on votes on that legislation. What we were able to do was to secure enough support across the Parliament in two pieces of legislation with the Liberal Party, the social media and the migration bills. But for everything else, it required not just the Greens, but crossbenchers as well to bring the votes on and to carry this important legislation.
KING: Just on the social media. You said leaders from around the world were watching this world first leading legislation. The Coalition supported it, but not all of them. Matt Canavan had a bit to sound Sky News about it. He's not happy with it.
MATT CANAVAN, LNP SENATOR FOR QUEENSLAND: This whole new world leading, apparently, piece of legislation, it's completely inadequate. It's an insult to the Australian people that 15,000 Australians made a submission within 24 hours to a Senate Inquiry into bill, yet we still rushed it through within a week.
KING: And I think there was only one morning that that Senate Inquiry actually looked at all that feedback. I mean, that surely was a rushed piece of legislation, Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER: Not at all. It just shows the Coalition are a rabble and can't even vote together. That's one of the things that we're dealing with. This has been an issue, Richard, that Australian parents are discussing when they pick up their kids from school, on the sideline of every rugby league game, every netball game, every little athletics carnival, talking about the impact that social media is having on young Australians. And when phones were banned from schools by the Minns Government taking that strong action, there was some opposition to that as well. But guess what? Kids now are getting better education because they're concentrating more in the classroom. And importantly as well, they're engaging with each other at lunchtime. They're actually talking to each other rather than looking at their phones. That's a good thing.
KING: Well, that's great. But mental health is a massive issue at the moment, for good reason. Many mental health experts believe this social media ban for under-16s will do more harm than good. And surely if it's not going to be introduced until next year, you know, perhaps a little more time for discussion and input from people who've got an interest in this subject. It wouldn't have hurt, surely, if it was left till early next year?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, overwhelmingly, it was supported through the Parliament. And overwhelmingly, people engaged with youth mental health are supportive of this action. And indeed, people around the world are looking at it. When I was at the G20, with the world's 20 largest economies, countries like New Zealand and Canada and the UK are looking at this legislation. This is something all governments are trying to deal with. It is positive. What we've done as well is to have a year so that the trials can take place. We can make sure that we get all of the detail right. And I'm confident that this is a part of government looking after the interests of families. This is good for young people, but it's also good for parents. We don't argue, by the way, that this will solve all the problems. Like, there's a ban on young people buying alcohol. That doesn't mean that someone under the age of 18 didn't get access to alcohol on the weekend that we've just had. But it does mean that society is sending that message. And what this will do is provide support for parents who've really been very supportive of this. Every single survey that is held shows that this reform has massive support. But that's just one of the things our big focus -
KING: Just on that, though. I mean, the big issue there is age verification and you're leaving that to the total responsibility to the social media platforms. They're going to have to devise ways to do that. I mean, at the moment it's: "are you over 18?" And you go, "yes." That's it.
PRIME MINISTER: That's correct. We don't want people to have to upload their ID onto the specific platforms. But they're the issues that will be worked through the trial. There's three different methods will be examined - at least - to see how effective they are. We want to make sure that we get it right. If it was easy, someone would have done it beforehand. This is an issue - we need to adjust as a society, as technology moves forward. In areas like artificial intelligence and a whole range of ways, we need to make sure that we as a society are setting down our values. And that's what this does. And that's just one of the 45 pieces of legislation that we had. But we had 11 Treasury bills, including measures to provide cost of living support, including providing assistance for renters, holding supermarkets to account to get fairer prices at the checkout. We had fairer child care fees for parents, fairer wages for child care workers. And importantly, in these difficult times, these rough seas that we're navigating globally, we've always had our eye on the horizon. What's the future jobs plan? So, we had our Future Made in Australia plan, wanting to make more things made in Australia. We had our aged care reforms that are the most significant reforms, to assist older Australians to live with the dignity they deserve in their later years, in this century.
KING: Right. Now, certain pieces of legislation were put on the back burner. One of them, and I think a lot of people are a bit surprised, given that all the research says that the vast majority of Australians are really cheesed off with the amount of gambling advertising, particularly during sports events. Why did that one get shelved and put on the back burner when everybody in all the research, all the polls, say we want that we want restrictions on the amount of gambling advertising?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we've done a range of measures already. We've introduced the BetStop program, which has really assisted people to register, so that that makes a difference. We've banned credit cards, when it comes to online gambling. We've changed - as you would be aware - you would have noticed the change in what's said after any ad, to make sure that the whole system only works because people lose money and notify people directly about that. Now, with regard to other changes, we're continuing to consult, continuing to work them through. We know that there's more to do, but we want to make sure that there aren't unintended consequences as well of that. And so we'll continue to work through those issues. We did manage to get 45 pieces of legislation through. We didn't get everything through that we wanted across a range of areas, Production Tax Credits will wait until next year. They've gone through the House, but not through the Senate yet. But we got through an enormous amount of legislation.
KING: Right. One - another one that got shelved was the misinformation disinformation bill. And there are obviously differing opinions as to whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. But why was that one shelved?
PRIME MINISTER: Because it didn't have the numbers, it didn't have support. So, we have, we won't be proceeding with that.
KING: Right.
PRIME MINISTER: We have 25 senators out of 76. That's less than a third. So, legislation needs to get vast support, either needs the support of the Coalition or the support of the Greens plus crossbenchers. So, legislation that is not going to get support - in this case, the misinformation legislation that was consistent with what was begun under the former Government, by the way. But they changed their mind and so we won't be proceeding with that.
KING: Right. Look, you've been saying long and loud and very frequently the Coalition are yet to put out their costings for this establishment, if they're re-elected next year, of nuclear power. But the latest CSIRO GenCost report, which gives an economic assessment of the cost of building new electricity generation, states that offshore wind in New South Wales is not included in AEMO's base case for the development of the power system on the grounds that it's too expensive. And in fact, Aidan Morrison, who's the Director of Energy Research at the Centre for Independent Studies, said "given that large scale nuclear is not that much higher in capital costs and floating offshore wind, I think there's no way you would consider building offshore wind rather than nuclear." And I notice, and I've spoken to Andy Evans, the boss of Oceanex, and apparently that company has folded. They've withdrawn from the Illawarra wind zone and I think they're bailing out of the one here off the Hunter. And it looks like the only one that might get built is the one off Gippsland, because it's a lot shallower. But I mean, you're talking about the cost of nuclear, but AEMO and that have said basically the cost of these offshore wind zones, certainly in New South Wales, is almost as expensive.
PRIME MINISTER: Let's be very clear, Richard. The Coalition's nuclear plan, such as it is, without any detail or any costing, speaks about public money. This is public money, taxpayers' money. Hundreds of billions of dollars being spent on something that will provide less than 4 per cent of Australia's energy needs sometime in the 2040s. And no plan in between time for how to provide energy security during the period between now and the 2040s. The Coalition are yet come up with a single costed policy. Not one. They've been in Opposition on those benches for two and a half years. What I did as Opposition Leader was put up serious alternative policy. What Peter Dutton has done is oppose everything. No hope, just nope. That's what he's about. And in this thought bubble to provide something in the far right wing think tank that you quoted, of course, always back in the Coalition regardless of the rhetoric. But the truth is that the world is turning towards renewables because it is the cheapest form of new energy.
KING: Well, well look, okay. But this latest GenCost report is all about the cost. The cost per kilowatt of capacity. And this is the CSIRO saying that you know, with their working these offshore wind zones here in New South Wales, the cost per kilowatt is not going to be much cheaper than nuclear. And that's the CSIRO's GenCost report.
PRIME MINISTER: But the big difference there Richard, and what you're missing is that we're not arguing that there'll be a taxpayer public institution running these energy investments. What we're doing is making sure that we put in place a mechanism so that markets are involved. And that's why the Coalition saying it has to be publicly owned, taxpayer money, is them putting their hand up and saying this is not commercial. Because it's not commercial. And that is why they've had to go down this road. And in Newcastle of all places, the idea that you would have a nuclear power plant in an area that, as you well know, is susceptible to earthquakes is just - it's just complete madness. It really is.
KING: You talk about disruptions. Lidia Thorpe was a great disruptor and not for the first time in Parliament last week. And look, I've had a lot of calls this morning. Why isn't it that the Senate can't do something other than suspend Lidia Thorpe for 24 hours? Can governments sack politicians?
PRIME MINISTER: No. Be careful who you vote for. And she was elected as a Greens party senator. She's now sitting on the crossbench and she's elected by the Australian people. And all that can happen is she was suspended quite appropriately for the behaviour that took place in the Senate this week. But it is of course not the first time that we've seen behaviour that Australians expect better, frankly. They expect their Members and Senators to behave in an appropriate and respectful way. We can have differences. I have big differences with Pauline Hanson on policy, but that doesn't mean that you can behave in that way.
KING: Cost of living is always, all the surveys, all the polls say that us Aussies, you know, cost of living is the number one concern. Can we expect any more cost of living relief early in the New Year from your Government?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we'll work each and every day. That's why we've already announced some cost of living measures for our second term, if we get the support of the Australian people. Like taking $5,500 on average off the HECS debts of 3 million Australians. But we will have more to say as well, whether it is the support that we've given for increased wages that of course, assists. Whether it's the legislation that we passed on Thursday to hold supermarkets to account to get fairer prices at the checkout, or whether it is other support, like the Energy Bill Relief, Cheaper Child Care, the billion dollars Australians have saved from Cheaper Medicines, or the tax cuts for every Australian. All of those were opposed by Peter Dutton and the Coalition. But we have managed to get those things through and put those measures in place because we understand that people are doing it tough and we want to provide them with support.
KING: I've had a lot of calls this morning when I mentioned that I would be talking to you. People talking about, you know, immigration, the numbers coming in, but also foreign ownership. And a lot of listeners feel that, you know, foreigners should not be allowed to buy Australian property, et cetera, et cetera, and particularly agricultural land. I mean, we see it all the time, but, you know, huge areas of land bought by overseas interests. But housing is huge and we see a lot of vacant housing and apartments as well. Foreign ownership of property in Australia, is that a concern for your Government?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we've provided, of course, some restrictions which were put in place. This isn't a massive factor, but we understand that it is one element and we've provided for some measures there. But we've also tried to, through the Parliament, put some caps on the numbers of overseas students coming in, and it was opposed by the Coalition and the Greens again. So, on the one hand they say they're against high migration, but on the other hand, when the Government's trying to fix the system, they're standing in the way.
KING: You're obviously going to be working with the new Donald Trump Government in the United States. I think one of the first things he said he'd do the greatest deportation ever seen anywhere in the world. One of the pieces of legislation passed now grants power in response to the High Court forcing the release of these 200 immigration detainees. Now, you know, it could happen here in Australia. Mass deportations. Can we expect that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I wouldn't use the word, the word "mass". But the Government has given ourselves the capacity to, on a case by case basis, deal with these issues. We will do what we need to do to keep Australians safe and we'll continue to take action. Of course, the decision by the High Court was not what we asked for, nor what we wanted. But we've responded in a coherent way, just like we've made sure that Operation Sovereign Borders is operating with the strongest funding it has ever had.
KING: Right. Christmas just around the corner. What's in store for you and your loved ones, Prime Minister, for the Christmas break?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it'll be a busy time. It's the 50th anniversary of Cyclone Tracy this year.
KING: Yes.
PRIME MINISTER: So, I'll be joining with people who'll be commemorating that devastation that occurred on Christmas Day. We all remember - or, I'm old enough to remember the song "Santa Never Made it into Darwin." And that will be a time of commemoration and I'll be participating in that as well as hopefully spending some time with my fiancée Jodie and my son Nathan.
KING: And a date for the election next year. When can we expect that to be confirmed?
PRIME MINISTER: I can confirm that it will be in 2025, which is what I've said the whole way through, whilst all of the speculation has come and gone and the dates that people have speculated would occur have come and gone. I think three years is too short. I support four year terms that are fixed so that we don't have these debates that are really a distraction. I'm not worried about that. What I'm worried about is each and every day acting in the interests of Australians. And I'm really proud that last week we were able to achieve so much in spite of the road blocking that has occurred, particularly from Peter Dutton and the Liberals.
KING: I appreciate your time this morning and I sincerely hope you have a very safe and a happy Christmas, Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, a lovely Christmas to you. And just a reminder as we head into that season as well, that every year, as a former Transport Minister, I'm very conscious that the road toll goes up. So, make sure that you get to your destination because it can just devastate, not just the families involved, when tragedies occur for that Christmas, it devastates for every Christmas going forward. And it can make what should be a joyous time, a very sad time. So, please, everyone, drive safely, make sure you get there rather than get there rather than get there quickly.
KING: Here, here. Again, appreciate your time this morning. Have a safe and a happy Christmas, Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much.
KING: It's a pleasure.
