: Welcome again to the program, the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese. Good morning.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning, a beautiful Rockhampton day.
NEVEN: It is isn't it? A beautiful day for Beef Week?
PRIME MINISTER: It is stunning, yeah. And I was at the dinner last night, it was crowded. There were over 600 people crammed into the basketball arena there and it was a fantastic night, actually. People were really optimistic about the future for the industry over the next couple of years and that is great to see. It was a great chance to catch up with farmers and producers and the industry, some of the exporters. For the first time, there's people, first time since 2018, people from overseas have been able to visit. So, there'll be lots of deals done, which is good for jobs and the industry and for our economy here.
ANTHONY STEFANOS, HOST: Well, speaking of the industry, you've committed a fair bit of money to it. $519.1 million to be exact. Can you tell us what's going on there?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that is money from the Future Drought Fund and it's about drought mitigation. Put simply, we shouldn't just wait for droughts and floods, these weather events to happen, and then fix up the impact of it. Where we can let's get ahead of it. Let's acknowledge that there have been more intense and more frequent extreme weather events. We've listened to farmers who've said, can we build up resilience. So, by spending a dollar today, you might save two or three or four or five later on, because if you make farms more resilient, then that will make a difference. So, we've listened to the industry and farmers about drought and its impact. And here in Queensland, of course, you know about natural weather events. I've been here already this year on seeing the other side of the extreme weather events with floods. And in all of these areas, we just need to get ahead of it. So, this is $520 million, these programs start from the 1st of July. Things like better tools for farmers to help mitigate the impact of drought, strategies for local communities dealing with it, increase investment in drought hubs. These are all measures that will make a practical difference. And it's in response to the Productivity Commission, did this review, made recommendations. We held a National Drought Forum and consulted with stakeholders and this money will be included in next Tuesday's Budget.
NEVEN: Okay. And did you get to actually talk one on one to any of the farmers about this fund last night?
PRIME MINISTER: I did, and I told them the announcement was coming and they were rapt because they were pleased that we had listened. Many of them participated in the National Drought Forum that was held last year and the consultation that they were engaged with. So, they were pleased. They spoke to me about their record exports that are going on as well. Next year, from July 1, it's expected that our beef and veal exports will be worth $12 billion, which is amazing. They've surged. Export volumes have been up by a third so far this financial year in volumes. Places like the UK, we did a Free Trade Agreement that I sort of finalised in meeting over there with Rishi Sunak when it came into force. And the exports there have just gone through the roof and that's fantastic for our farmers. Seventy per cent of our beef here is exported, so it's a great product for us to have around the barbie, but it's also a great industry for Australia. Last night there was one of the Indonesian importers was there, I spoke to last night as well, involved with the live cattle trade and he was there and I was able to have a chat with him as well, which is really important for our relationship. You might remember a year ago there was the issue of Foot and Mouth Disease. We dealt with that really constructively. There were calls by some shut down the exports to Indonesia. We resisted that and dealt with it cooperatively.
STEFANOS: And now all you've got to do is wipe your shoes on a mat when you come back from Bali. As simple as that.
PRIME MINISTER: Pretty practical thing to do, isn't it?
STEFANOS: Yeah. This is a great investment for our local farmers, not just here in CQ, obviously, but across the country. Last time we had you on, Prime Minister, Pinky and I were actually campaigning against each other for Hoist for Hospice. We were raising money for the Fitzroy Community Hospice, if you remember. Pinky had just given you a massive pitch and I've just got a little grab, if you don't mind.
NEVEN: I wondered if you might be able to spot me a pineapple and donate to this great cause, Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, a pineapple is indeed on its way. Don't worry, I won't send you a cheque. Your people will talk to my people.
NEVEN: That's the one.
STEFANOS: Pinky doesn't have people. She's an independent running Prime Minister. I've employed a team under me. I got a campaign manager. I've got little minions working all around. And yet still, this brings me to a very important point. I'm getting absolutely flogged in the polls here. Do you have any advice? We're in the final 24 hours of the election.
PRIME MINISTER: Mate, you gotta pitch harder. You can rely upon a team, but you need to lead.
NEVEN: Would you like to know the results, Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, I'd back you in. I gotta say, I reckon you were ahead there. And he wasn't sounding very confident.
NEVEN: No, he hadn't been. I was absolutely backing myself in. But everything took a turn for the worst in regards to me having to be hoisted up in like, minutes before -
STEFANOS: Seconds even, much like national politics, Prime Minister, as I'm sure you're aware, when it comes to the big party and the Independents, big [bleep] small. Mine prevailed.
NEVEN: So, Anthony ended up getting a $4,000 donation at the last minute. So, that took him to $8,383.90 and I was only lowly behind at $6,406.90. So, I went up in the crane Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: Including my pineapple.
NEVEN: Exactly. But we do need to give a shout out because it was an incredibly successful campaign and they raised well over $100,000 in a couple of weeks.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, well done to both of you. Between you, almost $15,000 is a fantastic effort and a part of you backing in what is a really good cause for the local community here. So, well done to both of you. You both win it.
STEFANOS: Thank you. Thank you very much.
NEVEN: We did want to touch base with you as well about the meeting you had with National Cabinet last week and all of the changes and the funding included to help women who are suffering violence in their relationships, particularly. I did want to just ask you about the Leaving Violence program. So, it seems that the Government has said they want to permanently establish this now, which is up to $5,000 for someone to actually get in a moment of crisis when they actually need to leave a relationship. I just wondered what other supports are involved in that, because we know women are most likely to suffer something violently or end fatally when they actually leave that relationship.
PRIME MINISTER: Absolutely. This is a national crisis when a woman dies at the hand of their partner or former partner, an intimate partner, someone that they know once every four days on average, this year. And that's why making this permanent, it's not just the $5,000, it is also the support services and advice. How do we get a woman, or woman with children often, into housing? It might be temporary at first, but then how do we assist them onto other payments as well? But that $5,000 provides a level of initial security. It's just a first step so that people can leave a situation which is violent rather than thinking, well, I know I'm at risk here, but how do I get out, how do I feed my kids? How do I deal with the immediate? So, that's on top of other initiatives that we've done. We now have 10 days paid domestic and family violence leave. We're putting money into emergency housing as well as permanent increase, we have $25 billion we've delivered in housing support, including public housing, social housing, emergency housing, which is really important as well. We need to change culture as well. Like, this can't be just government, it needs to be a whole of society response.
STEFANOS: Actually, I think that's a great point. And what brings me to my question, which is, I think it is a cultural shift across the country and there are a lot of people that contribute to that culture shift. Literally on the Today Show behind us, we can see that Chanel Contos is on there, which she campaigned for consent education. What will the Government do in terms of education for perpetrators? Because the support for victim is victims is fantastic. But I think there's more needed in terms of educating the people, doing the crimes at the start.
PRIME MINISTER: It certainly is. It's something that was a focus as well about perpetrators. How do we deal with not just the impact of violence, how do we stop? It has got to be the objective here. So, one of the things that came out of National Cabinet was increased action on the internet, basically, access to issues like violent pornography, the portrayal of misogyny online. Those issues being dealt with as well by our Government, by the regulators, is really important. In addition to that, there's some terrific programs about education in schools. It's one of the things that came out of the Victorian Royal Commission that reported in 2016, is a program about respectful relationships, so that our youngest kids, basically, can learn, as they're going into those teen years, about the importance of respectful relationships. This is a crisis that's having a devastating impact on women and children. But it's also the case we need to assert the positive, which is that if you have a respectful relationship, it benefits the men in relationships as well. You know, everyone benefits from this. This is literally a win-win-win situation. So, that is one of the things that came up at the National Cabinet. Jacinta Allan, the Victorian Premier who played a key role, talked about the impact that that's having through the school system. And that's something that what we've had since then is State Governments looking across the board at what they can do. I know Steven Miles here in Queensland as well, has already announced a range of measures and support increased over the last little while. But we need all of us to engage in this. So, sporting organisations, I had a bit of a chat with the NRL last week as well about what role they can play because you got role models that people look up to and that can be important about getting that message out there about respect.
STEFANOS: Absolutely. Prime Minister, it feels awful to cut you off when we're speaking about such an important topic but we are running late so we're going to have to let you go. So, if we get in trouble from ACMA, which is the whole broadcasting boss. Can you write us a note?
PRIME MINISTER: I can, mate. I'll give you a little excuse note and say that you were discussing a very important issue.
NEVEN: Look in future as well, make sure you download the LiSTNR app and stay tuned, okay?
PRIME MINISTER: Indeed. Thanks, guys. Great to chat.
