Albo's in the house.
LAUREN PHILLIPS, HOST: Good morning, Albo.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good to be here, and I brought a muffin.
HAWKINS: Thanks for the muffin.
PHILLIPS: Yes, Jase this morning was saying, 'Albo, if you're listening, I'd like a raspberry and white choc muffin'. And he's delivered.
PRIME MINISTER: Is this like cash for comment? Muffin for comment, or something like that?
PHILLIPS: You know the way to his heart.
HAWKINS: Listening to your constituents is very important.
PRIME MINISTER: It is, absolutely. And last time I was in here, though, it did go a bit crazy. That dance.
PHILLIPS: Now, that was our Gen Z producer that thought that would be a bit of fun and she -
PRIME MINISTER: With no notice.
PHILLIPS: With no notice. She put us on her personal TikTok page, thinking no one would see it in the next minute we were on the front page of every news bulletin in the country. Sorry about that. You've been on the front page for worse.
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, well, but it was okay. Exactly.
HAWKINS: You knew the moves.
PRIME MINISTER: I tried.
HAWKINS: I wanted to hit you up straight up about a story we were chatting about this morning. I don't know if you've seen the footage. Poor Danika, the sports reporter at the Today show.
PRIME MINISTER: I did see it.
HAWKINS: Yeah, she was on the telly, reporting from the Olympics and yeah, unfortunately, had -
PHILLIPS: She got involved in Après. Now, have you ever been to the snow and had a few bevvies after a bit of a ski?
PRIME MINISTER: I'm not really a snow guy, I've got to say.
PHILLIPS: Oh, so you're right into the Après then, without the skiing.
PRIME MINISTER: But I have said that when I did go to the snow the last time, which was a long time ago, my boy was little, he just jumped on skis. Whoosh. Straight down. I was hopeless. Preferred the lodge, myself, and a glass of red. But I did see that. I did get to speak to the Winter Olympians the night before last. Alisa Camplin organised a video call between us and Jakara Anthony and her teammates. It was fantastic. They're so excited over there. And how well are we going?
HAWKINS: We think Danika deserves a medal. Let's just hear a little bit of Danika. [CLIP] She's a good mate of Clint's, we're having a bit of fun with it this morning.
PHILLIPS: We love her.
PRIME MINISTER: I'm pro-Danika. Good on her. She's over in Italy and she would have been tired. She would have been tired.
HAWKINS: Exactly. And cold.
PRIME MINISTER: It's the time difference, it would have been having an impact. Nothing to see here.
HAWKINS: She's celebrating. We're doing well over here. And it does creep up on you, doesn't it?
PHILLIPS: There was this blizzard, so there was no Winter Olympics that day. So, she was just helping the economy.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, they all looked pretty happy, I've got to say, when I have my video call with them. They're just fantastic young people representing us. How well is it, I've got the Canadian Prime Minister coming here in a couple of weeks. We're ahead of Canada.
HAWKINS: Yeah, I know. Mark Carney will hate that.
CLINT STANAWAY, HOST: That's a good point, isn't it? How's that?
PRIME MINISTER: We're winning medals from people who live in Cairns and the Gold Coast and Pambula, for goodness' sake.
PHILLIPS: I just said that. Queenslanders winning Winter Olympic medals is amazing.
PRIME MINISTER: Jakara's from down the coast here. It's incredible.
PHILLIPS: It's amazing. Good on them. It's been our most successful Winter Olympics yet, hasn't it? And we're not even finished.
HAWKINS: What are you gonna do with the Canadian Prime Minister while he's here?
PRIME MINISTER: He's going to speak to the Parliament.
HAWKINS: Oh, that's the boring stuff. What are you gonna do, though? You gonna take him out? You know, get a little Go-Boat down the Yarra together or something?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we might be going to do something in Sydney, go to a footy match, maybe, might be the plan.
HAWKINS: League or AFL?
PRIME MINISTER: The first game is Swans versus Carlton at the SCG, so there's a possibility that that's on, but we're just trying to finalise the itinerary.
HAWKINS: I mean, that's only two hours. We were chatting off the air. I was telling you how we did that Super Bowl. It's a long game.
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah it is. For an Aussie, there's a lot more gaps than there is action, I've got to say.
STANAWAY: And we represented Australia with distinction at the Super Bowl. Prime Minister, we must tell you as well.
PRIME MINISTER: No, Danika Mason moments?
PHILLIPS: We definitely did that.
HAWKINS: Yeah, we definitely did.
PRIME MINISTER: Good. As you should have. You were repping.
PHILLIPS: Exactly. Now, just quickly, how's married life? How's gorgeous Jodie? Are you still in that newlywed bubble
HAWKINS: Oh, yes. Congratulations.
PRIME MINISTER: It's fantastic. A big day - well, we already spend a lot of time from a distance, of course, due to the nature of the work that I do. But it is lovely. We got to have four days, a whole four-day honeymoon down on Kangaroo Island. And it was terrific and it was just good to have - we had a small event there at the Lodge, just family and friends and it was a great day. It was raining in the morning, which apparently is good luck. Poor Jodes was a bit worried, to say the least. And I was completely bullshitting, saying, oh, no, it's just sprinkling outside. And it was pouring. It was pouring down. It stopped just in time.
PHILLIPS: Just like me as a weather girl, just make it up.
HAWKINS: Be honest. The wedding speech, did you get the speech writer to do it or did you -?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, come on. I did the vows myself, as did Jodie. And I must say, a highlight was my beautiful son gave an amazing speech at the wedding.
HAWKINS: What, was he the best man?
PRIME MINISTER: No, no, we didn't have a best man.
HAWKINS: I was gonna say, did you have a bucks?
PRIME MINISTER: No, no bucks.
HAWKINS: Disappointing. I could have thrown you one. We can do a post-bucks.
PRIME MINISTER: I had lots of offers. Russell Crowe was offering. That could have been dangerous.
HAWKINS: Very dangerous.
PHILLIPS: Yeah, don't do that.
PRIME MINISTER: But no, there was none of that. We were busy working. And so, Toto was the ring bearer. She did a great job.
PHILLIPS: Oh, Toto. The animals get me.
PRIME MINISTER: She did a great job. She had a little pouch thing that you can get online with that hat on it. You know, JH loves AA, and the rings go in that. And she ran up the middle of the aisle.
PHILLIPS: That's a bit cute.
STANAWAY: The PM's been on Etsy. Hey, we're on the air with the Prime Minister, Albo's in the house this morning, we've got to take a quick break.
PHILLIPS: We're going to come back, actually talk about the country next.
STANAWAY: Yeah, yeah, yeah. We'll fix the world problems after this.
[BREAK]
HAWKINS: Good morning, Melbourne. It is seven minutes to eight. You are on the air with Jase and Lauren. Clint's here as well, so is the PM. Albo is in the house. He might hang around to play the $5k question. Do you need $5000 bucks this morning? Probably leave it for the people.
PRIME MINISTER: I could give it away to a charity or something.
PHILLIPS: Oh yeah, or you could be the phone a friend if someone needs help.
HAWKINS: That's a good idea. Hey, we're just having a quick chat off the air. We'll take every dollar. Live music. You were saying you and your son share that passion. I know my 12-year-old's hanging to go to like his first big concert and Ed Sheeran's in Melbourne next week. You gonna go?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, no. My first concert, I was about 12. And where I grew up, it shared, like, an old English type public housing estate where your front doors face each other. When you're at your door, there's someone there. And the girls next door were a bit older and my mum was in hospital, so it was just me at home. And they took me to ACDC, a little band at Paddy's Market. A free concert with about probably 200 people, maybe, tops, there. And it blew my mind. I'll never forget it. No, there's something about live music. Foo Fighters, come back. I just saw a poster outside.
HAWKINS: Because we've chatted before about when you took your dad to Pink. And there's just something about going with a parent or, you know, one of your kids to their first concert.
PRIME MINISTER: It's so good.
PHILLIPS: It's very, very cool. Now, this has been a fun chat, but I suppose we do need to talk about the state of the country.
HAWKINS: We are out of time. Thanks for coming in.
STANAWAY: Let's first and foremost start with the rise of One Nation. Pauline Hanson has made many comments over the journey that have raised eyebrows. But for me, this one in the last few days, that there are no good Muslims is troubling. What are your thoughts on the rise of One Nation and are you concerned by those comments as well? Because, you know, it struck me.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, those comments are disgraceful. And they're aimed at just dividing people. And this week Ramadan starts, so it's a particularly holy time for Muslims. There's markets on in Sydney at Lakemba, and Dandenong here in Melbourne. And it doesn't take the country forward at all to just dismiss people because of their faith and who they are. And that is what Pauline Hanson does.
STANAWAY: So, if you look at the polls, though, PM, people are looking for an alternative. Why do you think that is? Why do you think they are on the rise?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, there's a range of reasons. If you look at the mainstream conservatives, they're a bit of a mess, without being too political here, that's pretty obvious. They're sort of busy attacking each other and not really looking like an alternative government. And I think people look for - are frustrated. Cost-of-living pressures are real. We're trying to address those. This week here in Melbourne and Tassie, I've been to a child care centre. I've looked at bulk-billing being increased, which is on the rise, going pretty well. We are doing what we can to take those cost-of-living pressures off people.
HAWKINS: Honestly, does it give you a bit of a kick in the guts when you wake up and if you look at the polls and if they've gone down, and you know you've just been working your ass off for the last couple of weeks to get more money in our back pockets and stuff like that. Do you take it personally?
PRIME MINISTER: Two things. One is the truth is that politicians will say they don't look at polls. They all do. We all do.
HAWKINS: Yeah. We don't look at radio ratings at all.
PHILLIPS: We do when we go up.
HAWKINS: Yeah, we ignore them when they go down.
PRIME MINISTER: But the other thing is that there is an election every three years. Like we're not one year into a term. And so, if the election was held this week, then we win pretty comfortably. But we don't take any for granted. You just gotta do your job and remain focused on that.
STANAWAY: Well, there is a Victorian election coming up. Jacinta Allan and her Labor government will be very much accountable come November. There's been a few issues in this state. One of them is the CFMEU, $15 billion that has emerged, a big allegations of corruption. I mean, should she keep her job? Because many are calling for her head.
PRIME MINISTER: She should absolutely keep her job. I think she's a very good person. She has real compassion for people. I see her out and about with people. You look at the infrastructure build here in Victoria, the metro I got to go on, that was all done with very little federal support for infrastructure here in Victoria. The head of the person who's looking after construction, Mark Irving, is doing a good job here.
HAWKINS: So, do you think she was handed the lemon? Like, was there problems that she was handed.
PRIME MINISTER: You know, this, this figure, Mark Irving says there's no basis for the figure. And there certainly, you know, there's nothing to back it up there. Certainly, it's clear that there was corruption in the CFMEU. That's why we intervened, did something about it. Our predecessors did nothing about it. Someone like John Setka, I think, you know, I have no time for him. I expelled him weeks after I became Labor leader.
PHILLIPS: Victoria does seem like it's been in a really difficult time. It feels like a state divided. I've lived here my whole life, and I've never felt like Victoria's been in a less safe position, which is hugely concerning.
PRIME MINISTER: But you have so much going for you here in Victoria.
PHILLIPS: We do, we do, but we there's a lot that we've got to fix as well. I think it's a really interesting time for us.
PRIME MINISTER: Sure. But Melbourne, you know, Footscray Hospital opened yesterday. A new hospital. You've got a new train line with the metro. You've got plans for the airport rail link with funding being there as well. New schools.
PHILLIPS: If the airport rail link ever happened. My good golly gosh.
PRIME MINISTER: It's going to happen. It's going to happen.
HAWKINS: By the time we get the train in, we'll have hoverboards.
PRIME MINISTER: We're getting it done. There's finally funding in budgets.
PHILLIPS: When's it going to - when?
PRIME MINISTER: Absolutely. No, it's gonna happen.
PHILLIPS: 2034?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, people said that about the metro and now you can ride that also.
PHILLIPS: It also took about 74,000 years.
PRIME MINISTER: Because Tony Abbott came in and cut. $3 billion was allocated when I was Infrastructure Minister and he cut it. So, we're getting political now.
STANAWAY: Politics aside. Last question and it's a big one. It's a big one. Are you ready? Do the Hawks win the premiership in 2026? Is it your time?
PRIME MINISTER: It is our time. Because we've got the experience from playing in three Finals games last year as well as Finals the year before. You've got a young squad. You've got a fantastic coach in Sam Mitchell. And there's a really good feel about the club. Josh Weddle just signed for, extended his contract.
PHILLIPS: Who's your favourite player?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, Weddle's pretty good. But Calsher Dear.
PHILLIPS: Oh, yeah. We love him.
PRIME MINISTER: You know, I'm old enough as well so that, memories, it gives you some comfort when you got juniors playing and you used to watch their dad.
PHILLIPS: Yeah. That's saying something about your age.
PRIME MINISTER: It is, absolutely.
HAWKINS: So, you're saying the Hawks will see the flag before we see the train?
PRIME MINISTER: We're happy. We're a happy team at Hawthorne.
STANAWAY: I hope the arse falls out of them.
PRIME MINISTER: Come on.
PHILLIPS: If the Hawks make the Grand Final, you have to come to our Grand Final breakfast, Albo.
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, done.
PHILLIPS: You have to be there. Beautiful. Done.
HAWKINS: All right. Albo's won his first seat to the Grand Final. Breakfast. Comes with T's and C's. Got to get the Hawks in the final. Hey, good to see you, mate. And congrats on the wedding again because we haven't seen you since you tied the knot.
PRIME MINISTER: Enjoy the muffin.
