We've had a busy morning, but we always have time to talk to our Prime Minister. Anthony Albanese, good morning.
BRENDAN JONES, HOST: Hello.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning to both of you.
KELLER: We were just talking about the coffee intake of some of America's presidents. Right up there was Teddy Roosevelt, who would have, they say, around a gallon of black coffee or four litres of coffee.
PRIME MINISTER: That makes me feel better about my intake, I've got to say.
KELLER: Well, how do you stay awake? What's your caffeine intake?
PRIME MINISTER: I will have a couple in the morning and I am just talking with you on my second cup of coffee this morning. And then, depending upon what's happening during the day, sometimes I will have one more. Never after sort of 11 o'clock. But except for when Parliament sits where I have a bit of a ritual, which is at about 20 to 2, before Question Time, I have a little piccolo. Just to give me a little perk up, you know, before Question Time.
JONES: Amanda has a cup a soup at that time.
KELLER: I do.
JONES: You have a little cup a soup.
KELLER: I do. I make this studio smell like an old people's home. I start to get into the cup a soups.
PRIME MINISTER: Are they the old cup a soup? Like in the sachet?
KELLER: In the sachet. And my favourite, I must say, is basic tomato.
JONES: I know, but tomato never came in that colour. I don't know why it's that iridescent pink. So, the interest rates -
PRIME MINISTER: I used to like the chicken noodle -
JONES: Oh, yes.
PRIME MINISTER: Where you got a little bit of noodle in. I used to quite like that. I haven't had one for a little while, I've got to say.
KELLER: Pop it on your wedding menu.
JONES: So, Prime Minister -
PRIME MINISTER: Indeed. Cup a soup for the guests.
JONES: When you two are finished talking about soup, how about we talk about the interest rates. So, last night we had this call, we had the pub test this morning. We put it to the pub test - Do interest rates, the interest rate drop, does it pass the pub test? This guy kind of summed it up.
LISTENER: I've got a big mortgage. I feel like a rat on a wheel or someone in the Matrix. So to me, it doesn't really pass the pub test. I appreciate 100 bucks a month, but everything else has gone up. So, you know, I still like I said, I feel like a rat in the wheel and it just keeps coming back and back and back.
JONES: It's not whether you'd rather be a rat in the wheel or in the Matrix. But I guess that's, these are the cozzie lives. That's what we're talking about. And really, for this election campaign, for you, it's all about cost of living.
PRIME MINISTER: Absolutely. And this doesn't solve all the problems, of course. It's just one decrease of a quarter of a percent. But it does show that things are heading in the right direction. It is positive and there has been stability for more than a year. We have fought very hard to get inflation down, wages up, and now interest rates are heading in the right direction, which is down. And so that is positive for Australians. And I think it is welcome news, whilst of course not meaning that cost of living pressures have gone away. But when you have those indicators, you know, inflation down, everyone's got a tax cut and the right things going up as well, which are wages, then that is a positive direction. And it's been hard, inflation had a 6 in front of it when we came to office and was going up. Now it's got a two in front of it and is going down. And of course, interest rates started to increase before we came into government.
JONES: Let's talk about the conversation with Donald Trump. What's the first question you say to Donald Trump? So, Amanda and I were just talking about this the other day. I would instantly say, 'so how are you going with golf?' Was that your first line? Sort of flatter him a bit. What do you even do? Because there's a lot of pressure on you in that moment.
PRIME MINISTER: No I didn't, although we did talk about golf. We talked about the Super Bowl and Jordan Mailata being the first Australian to win a Super Bowl championship. I did drop into the conversation that he was a South Sydney junior and that I was on the board -
JONES: And that's so South Sydney to do that.
PRIME MINISTER: He's familiar, of course, with Russell Crowe and James Packer, who are two of the people who have an ownership stake in Souths. We had a chat about, we did have a chat about golf. I told him I'd appointed Greg Norman to the board of the Brisbane Olympic Games and that Greg was going to serve Australia well as a way of him in putting things back to the country. But we talked, of course, about our common interests in AUKUS, in our economic relationship. It was a really warm conversation over about 40 minutes and it was positive. And that's how you build relations, is by engaging.
JONES: And can I just ask, say for example, he said, 'Right, I'm not going to cut you any slack with tariffs'. How bad would that affect us?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think the economists are having a look at the general impact of the change in US policy on the global economy. So I think whilst tariffs of course on any of our goods will have an impact on us, there is also an impact of broader economic changes if there are tariffs on our economic partners. We of course have China as our major trading partner, if they slow down because of tariffs, then that has an impact on how much we're exporting to China. So we do live in uncertain times at the moment. What my job is to do our best to represent Australian national interests. Of course, if there are tariffs right across the board, then that has an impact right across the board as well.
KELLER: You need to schmooze with a few more golf questions.
PRIME MINISTER: I just hope that Australia's national interests aren't relying upon my ability to play golf very well.
KELLER: Imagine if it all came down to that. You better get out there and practice.
JONES: Imagine that.
PRIME MINISTER: Got to get a hole-in-one. I'm better on the tennis court than the golf course.
JONES: This is something. And you've got your wedding coming up. How's that all going? Are you a bridezilla or is it Jodie doing all the planning?
PRIME MINISTER: Well neither of us doing much planning at the moment. We waiting to get through the election, our focus is on that. And after that, of course, it's now a bit over a year. I, of course, proposed on Valentine's Day last year and it's lovely having that certainty and it's just fantastic at my time in life to find someone I want to spend the rest of my life with.
JONES: So the wedding won't be on April 12th or anything like that?
PRIME MINISTER: No, the wedding will be in the second half of the year -
JONES: Because the election will be on then -
PRIME MINISTER: Everyone's trying to have a bid. I spoke to someone this morning who's absolutely convinced -
JONES: Just tell us. When is it?
PRIME MINISTER: Absolutely convinced that I'm driving to Government House this Sunday to call the election. So, you know, I think what it is is this is a real argument for four year fixed terms. We've tried a couple of times, hard to get referendums passed in this country, as we know. But, you know, the election's due on May 17 or before.
JONES: Yep.
PRIME MINISTER: And I can confirm it will be on May 17 or before. How about that?
KELLER: Every time you get in your car, everyone's saying, where's he going?
JONES: Where is he?
KELLER: He's either off to practice his golf -
PRIME MINISTER: The car with the flag on the front.
KELLER: That's right.
JONES: We'll see you at the tennis court. Well Anthony Albanese, it's always great to catch up with you. If you need some MCs for the wedding because I know Kyle's on the nose a bit. So we, Amanda and I, are happy to fill in.
PRIME MINISTER: You'd be a good pair. But I think we -
JONES: We are great MCs. It'll cost you -
PRIME MINISTER: We're planning something reasonably small, I've got to say. Although Jodie does have a lot of relatives. I haven't got very many, but she's got, they're coming out of the woodwork -
KELLER: You might get some new salad bowls.
JONES: Are you already doing the cull? You're already doing the cull.
PRIME MINISTER: Oh look, there's cousins everywhere. Half the Central Coast. I reckon the reason why Gordon Reid won the electorate of Robertson last time around was the vote of the Haydons. There's hundreds of them. Four generations of Haydons there on the coast.
JONES: Goodness me.
KELLER: Well, we look forward to seeing them at the wedding, and we look forward to seeing President Trump there as well.
JONES: Yes, we'll be there.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks guys.
KELLER: Thank you, nice to talk to you.
JONES: We'll get everyone to do the Nutbush. Anthony Albanese, our Prime Minister, thank you for joining us.
PRIME MINISTER: Cheers.
