ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: Thanks for joining me. There were terrible scenes on our televisions last night from Kabul. They were heartbreaking scenes indeed. And many Australians would have found it extremely difficult. My thoughts are particularly with the families of the 41 defence personnel who gave their lives serving Australia in Afghanistan. Their families will be doing it really tough. My thoughts are also with all of our veterans and their families at this difficult time. I've encouraged the Government to give whatever support is needed to reach out to our veterans' communities through their organisations to make sure that they're given every support that's required. It is also, of course, a difficult time for the Australian Afghan community, many of whom, of course, have loved ones back in their original homeland. Australia has a moral obligation to assist those who helped us. But it's more than a moral obligation. It's a matter of our national security. It's absolutely vital that Australia sends a message to the world that when others help us, we will help them in return, we will stand by them in their time of need. And I have encouraged the Government to do whatever it can to bring these people who assisted us to Australia. We've been calling for this for many months now. And it's unfortunate that now we find ourselves in this situation. My thoughts particularly for those people who provided assistance, away from Kabul. In Tarin Kowt, in the Uruzgan Province, we need to make sure that they're given support as well. And my concern is that for those who aren't in Kabul, how do we get them there in order to provide support for them at this difficult time? We need also to recognise, I note the Foreign Minister's comments this morning on the AM program regarding Temporary Protection Visa holders, this isn't going to be resolved in their lifetime. The idea that there's something temporary about people, particularly the Hazara community and others, that at some stage, they'll be going back to Afghanistan, is just not real. And we need to give them the certainty of Australian citizenship on a permanent basis, rather than some pretence that somehow their circumstances are temporary. They are not. And they need to be given that security.
Can I also give a message regarding COVID? With half the country in lockdown, we're now at a circumstance whereby more than half of those above the age of 16 still remain unvaccinated. And a bit over a quarter have received two doses. We need to do much better to get those rates up. We do need to open up. But we need to, while the current restrictions are there, obey the rules, stay safe, look after each other in the interests of people's health, but in the interests of keeping each other safe as well. And I pay tribute to those people who are doing it tough at the moment. I think there is something though that, as Scott Morrison approaches three years next week since he's been Prime Minister, and in a Government that's been in office for more than 10 years, I remember a time, regardless of which party was in office, when governments got things done. One of the things that's characterised this Government is it's always too little, too late. Whether it's the calling of Royal Commissions, whether it's the response to bushfires, whether it be the rollout of the vaccine, quarantine, and now Afghanistan. Scott Morrison is characterised by always responding too little, too late. He waits until there's an absolute crisis before he acknowledges there's an issue, and then blames someone else. The fact is that this Government needs to accept responsibility for its actions. It needs to be much more proactive in getting things done and governing in the interests of the country. Happy to take questions.
JOURNALIST: On the humanitarian intake from Afghanistan, when Tony Abbott was Prime Minister, he announced 12,000 additional places for Syrians and Iraqis. Should the Government be considering doing that in addition to our existing humanitarian intake?
ALBANESE: Well, the existing humanitarian intake is, of course, more than that. And at the moment, it's not being filled. So we could fill the humanitarian intake, but we could also give consideration to such a visa. We need to certainly reach out particularly to those people who are vulnerable because they provided assistance to Australian troops on the ground. They're the people who are particularly vulnerable at the current time. And the immediate priority has to be getting Australian citizens and permanent residents out who want to leave Afghanistan, but also to provide support to those people who gave us support and help in our time of need when Australian defence personnel were serving in Afghanistan.
JOURNALIST: Should Australia treat the Taliban as a legitimate government? And how, if Labor were in government, how would Labor approach this relationship?
ALBANESE: Look, our immediate concern is dealing with keeping Australian citizens and those who supported Australia safe. That needs to be the question that's before us today. Those questions will be considered down the track. But let me say this. That the Taliban were a brutal regime. They have a dangerous ideology. An ideology based upon hate. A misogynistic ideology as well. They acted in a way that was cruel and inhumane. That defined their regime, which is why Australia and other democratic nations combined to take action against that regime. There's no evidence at this point in time that anything has changed. But those matters will be considered down the track. Our priority has to be getting Australian citizens and permanent residents back here, but also providing support to those people who deserve it. Those people who provided support to us, including those people around Tarin Kowt and in Uruzgan Province, who provided us with such strong support while Australian defence personnel were there.
JOURNALIST: Was Australia's involvement in the war worth it?
ALBANESE: Look, these are matters that will be considered over a period of time. But the truth is that this was a regime which was being used for terrorist attacks. We know that Australians were directly impacted by the Bali bombing, as well as, of course, in September 11, which saw Australians lose their lives. We know this was a brutal regime. And Australians who served in Afghanistan, we continue to thank them for their courage, for their serving of Australia's interests and the interests of humanity.
JOURNALIST: Have you had any further update re Parliament sittings?
ALBANESE: I've had no communication from the Government. But there's no reason to suggest that Parliament won't sit next week. And so I await that.
JOURNALIST: Just on vaccinations, do you think that there are certain industries that are higher risk where vaccinations should be made mandatory?
ALBANESE: With regard to vaccinations, I just encourage Australians to get vaccinated. We need to lift those vaccination rates. We need to make sure that we lift supply so that people are able to get supply. I was contacted by one of the medical centres in my electorate just this morning seeking more supply. They can't fill the spots. The appointments are increasingly getting further and further out. We need to make sure that we deal with these issues. Thanks.
