The Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese. Good morning.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning. Great to be with you and great to be back in Brisbane on what an absolutely stunning day here.
EDWARDS: Yeah, it is absolutely gorgeous. We can't go any more into the interview without talking about the breaking news this morning, Prime Minister. US President Biden has made a huge blunder at the press conference at the NATO Summit when introducing Ukraine President Zelenskyy.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: And now I want to hand it over to the president of Ukraine, who has as much courage as he has determination. Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin. President Putin? You can beat President Putin. President Zelenskyy. I'm so focused on beating Putin, we got to worry about it. Anyway.
GARY CLARE, HOST: Now, that happened only a few moments ago. What are your thoughts on that?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, look, everyone from time to time, I think, has made a slip. It clearly was on his mind who President Zelenskyy is fighting, but it certainly is unfortunate.
MARK HINE, HOST: Now, Prime Minister, you met with Joe Biden in October last year. There are calls for him to retire as a leader. When do you feel it's time and do you think he needs to call it?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, I think that's a matter for the United States. When I met with President Biden, he was certainly on top of his game. He chaired a meeting of the entire cabinet I had the privilege of meeting with. I had a long meeting with him in the Oval Office. We had a couple of dinners, including the official State Dinner. And he certainly was on top of international affairs, the AUKUS defence arrangements and our relationship, which is so important between Australia and the United States. As for the future of the presidency, of course, that's a matter for the people of the United States, who will go to an election in November, just like the UK election that was concluded last week was a matter for the people of Great Britain.
EDWARDS: Yeah well, for the people of Australia, I mean, you must admit we are seeing that as being the, you know, the final straw, you would imagine. But let's go to things that do concern us here in Australia. Cost of living once again, you said last week that your changes to the Stage Three Tax Cuts are going to make things better for Australians doing it tough. But this week, sadly, we found out that 20,000 families have been forced to sell their very own home due to rising costs. When are we going to start seeing the result of these changes, do you think?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think when people get their pay packets this week or next week, depending upon when they're paid, what they'll see is those tax cuts flowing through double for the average person who was compared with what they were going to receive under the Liberal's tax cuts, Labor's tax cuts deliver a tax cut for every single taxpayer, all 13.6 million of them. And for those people who are working earning under $45,000 a year, they wouldn't have got a single cent under the former regime. So between that, the $1,300 between the Commonwealth and Queensland Labor Government energy price relief as well, will make a difference. In addition to that, on July 1, people received a wage increase, everyone on an award wage. So that will make a difference as well. People earning more and getting to keep more of what they earn. So, I'm very proud of the change that we made. It was a difficult decision, and it was controversial at the time, but it's done the right thing, and it will mean more dollars in people's pockets.
CLARE: So, is cost of living the big issue? I mean, there's youth crime, there's domestic violence, there's so many things. Is that the big issue?
PRIME MINISTER: Cost of living is overwhelmingly the biggest issue facing not just Australian families, but around the world at the moment. The global spike in inflation that occurred as a direct result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine had an impact on energy costs, but as well, the overhang from COVID with supply chain issues had that global spike. We saw inflation in places like the United Kingdom reach double digits and that has had a real impact and that's why the tasks that we've had, as you get inflation down and we are moderating inflation, it's down to almost half of what it was when we were elected, but at the same time provide that cost of living relief. And that's why we've been able to make these cost of living measures to help people. But at the same time we've produced two budget surpluses in a row, which is really important for putting that downward pressure on inflation. We know that these are difficult times, but we're very confident that we can see it through, that the Australian people are resilient and that we're doing our best to make a positive difference.
HINE: Prime Minister, you're in Queensland to announce three new candidates for next year's election. Run us through that, that's why you're here.
PRIME MINISTER: I am indeed. And there will be more to come over the next week as well. But today I'll be in Dickson announcing Ali France will saddle up again to be the candidate for Dickson. She ran last time, she got almost a three per cent swing towards her. If she gets that, she will be the member for Dickson. It's under two per cent now as a margin. But in addition to that, I announced yesterday Rebecca Hack, she's an award winning teacher and educator, has been pre-selected to run in Ryan. And Rowan Holzberger, who's a local dad there in Beenleigh, he's raised his family, he's our candidate for Ford down there in between the Gold Coast and Brisbane, there in the outer suburbs. So it's a good time to announce candidates at the same time as the tax cuts are hitting in and people are seeing the difference we're making.
CLARE: Sorry, Prime Minister. Mark just mentioned that the election for next year. But is it next year? A lot of people are saying you might be going early.
PRIME MINISTER: No, look, I think that three years is too short. I've said that on the, on multiple occasions, but we're just making sure that we're prepared and that everything is in place. We'll make sure that our candidates are on the ground talking with people about issues of concern and we want to make sure that we're ready for an election.
EDWARDS: Well, just a personal one, at the moment you'd be pretty upset about your Rabbittohs. I got in trouble last time when I asked you about your favourite NRL team. They said it was light and fluffy. But you must have been a bit sad about the loss at Kayo Stadium last night?
PRIME MINISTER: I watched it on TV here in the hotel in Brisbane. It was a great game. Six tries a piece, lots of attack. But I think the best team did win, the Dolphins -
HINES: He says that because he's in Queensland.
EDWARDS: Yeah, that's right.
PRIME MINISTER: No, no, no. I'm very two eyed - one red eye and one green eye. And I -
HINES: Did you have to watch in your hotel because they couldn't get you tickets.
PRIME MINISTER: No, no, I've got a bit of a cold, so I didn't want to be out, out and about. But the Bunnies played well without Latrell and Cam Murray. But the Dolphins overwhelmingly -
EDWARDS: Played better.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, they were on the attack for most of the game.
CLARE: Mate, no Latrell, they don't play well. That's all you need to know.
PRIME MINISTER: But we came home, we hung in there. So I took a great deal of spirit out of it. We've won five in a row. People had written us off and now there is still a chance that we can make the finals, which if we do make the finals, we'll give it a shake.
EDWARDS: And no doubt better under Bennett next year. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, thanks for your time this morning.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks so much.
