I've organised today's mystery guest.
HOST: Uh-oh. Are we playing like game?
HOST: I can't believe this person has agreed to be our mystery guest. Anyway. Okay.
HOST: Really? Are we guessing now?
HOST: Sidle towards the door, mystery guest. Now, you're going to have to bring your guesses through me, please.
HOST: Okay. All right. They're behind a box.
HOST: Okay. Well, they're in a suit. Hold there, mystery guest. Okay. They're in a suit.
HOST: What questions would you like answered?
HOST: Okay. Am I Australian?
HOST: Yes, you are.
HOST: Am I a politician?
HOST: You've dabbled from time to time.
HOST: Am I from Melbourne?
HOST: Spends a lot of time in Melbourne but not from Melbourne.
HOST: So, dabbled in politics. Former life, athlete?
HOST: I'm not aware of the athletic ability, but says yes.
HOST: Am I an actor?
HOST: I mean -
HOST: Singer?
HOST: A lot of people would say he has been acting, but I can say he's not.
HOST: Do we see him on the telly?
HOST: Oh, do you what!
HOST: Is it the Prime Minister?
HOST: Drop the box. It's Albo!
HOST: Now, the last one was Niall Horan and the one before that was Robbie Williams. What a thrill, Albo.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: You're going downhill now.
HOST: See what I mean. I can't believe you agreed to it.
PRIME MINISTER: I love the 'athlete'. When I'm asleep, dreaming of being a great athlete.
HOST: And those on the Opposition benches do from time to time accuse you of being an actor. I like that Cliff said you only dabble in politics.
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, exactly. I do other stuff. I'm pitching up to be a regular guest on this show so it'll have to be Jase, Lauren, Clint, and Albo.
HOST: I'm still getting used to saying the other one. I don't want to start on a negative note, but did you have a late night watching your Hawks?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh my God. Like, one goal aside in the third quarter and when we were still 15, 14 points up, Freo couldn't kick a goal. And then they just stormed the last five goals.
HOST: Did you stay awake for the whole game?
PRIME MINISTER: You bet I did.
HOST: It's too late.
PRIME MINISTER: No. The footy's on. You can't turn it off in the third quarter.
HOST: Albo's the Prime Minister. He needs to support those people in Perth that live in a different time zone. You do have constituents there.
PRIME MINISTER: It was such a cracking game. And I thought when we were 15 points up, Jack, what a star. See, there's hope. There's hope for old people everywhere.
HOST: How old's Jack Gunston?
PRIME MINISTER: I think he's 34, 35.
HOST: That's old, isn't it Albo?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah. Well, five goals in the first half.
HOST: What's your thoughts on the Wiz? Because the Wiz is a regular.
HOST: Don't we love him?
PRIME MINISTER: Three goals.
HOST: Well, you're a full nuffie. Footy nuffie. You know all the stats and everything.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, yeah. I'm a nerd. I couldn't do it.
HOST: That's impressive.
PRIME MINISTER: My football career athleticism began with playing in Reclink Community Cup. They play at Vic Park here, but I play in Henson Park in my electorate. And my advice to listeners out there is begin your footy career before you're 50, not after.
HOST: Yeah. Oh, that's when you tear your achilles.
PRIME MINISTER: I was very ordinary.
HOST: What were you good at, at school?
PRIME MINISTER: I played rugby league.
HOST: Academic wise? Did you do all right?
HOST: You would've been on the debating team.
PRIME MINISTER: I wasn't a great student. That's the truth. I did okay.
HOST: I'm not even taking the mickey, because this is the chat I had with my sons. I'm like, guys, as long as you turn up and try, that's all I ask.
PRIME MINISTER: I did okay. I fell across the line to get into economics at Sydney Uni, literally by two marks. I got there and there you go. Found it pretty easy there.
HOST: Did you ever get a detention or suspended or in school? What were you normally doing?
HOST: Did you have a cheeky dart behind the shelters?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I'd never had a cigarette in my life.
HOST: Oh, really? Good on you Albo. I want to know about what you got detentions for at school.
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, I was naughty.
HOST: Were you?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, I was a bit naughty.
HOST: Did you ever wag?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh yeah.
HOST: With the naughty past in mind, when your adviser said, let's run for Prime Minister, because we often joke about one of us running for council and we go too many skeletons in the cupboard. Were you ever worried about anything from the past coming back to bite you?
HOST: No.
HOST: Because when Lauren took the radio job, her friends rang up. Her friends rang her and said, Lauren, remember the video that's online. They'll find it.
HOST: Oh, The Footy Show. She performed on The Footy Show.
HOST: I was trying to sing John Farnham. It's not that. I mean, it is that bad, but it's not that much of a scandal.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, footage, you got me into trouble here.
HOST: That was fantastic. You did well.
PRIME MINISTER: No, it was pretty ordinary.
HOST: I don't know what's going on with you, Albo. One minute you're dancing to Taytay. Today you've arrived in a cardboard box.
PRIME MINISTER: It's all downhill.
HOST: Okay. We find you in Melbourne. It's always a pleasure to see you. What are you in Melbourne for today?
PRIME MINISTER: I'm in Melbourne for a few things. Today, we're announcing additional money for the Suburban Rail Loop. So, for rail here in Melbourne. And tomorrow, I'm at the Exhibition Centre. Tomorrow is 125 years of Australia, of our Federation. So, the first time that Parliament sat, until the 20s of course, sat here in Melbourne. And so there's, I'm not quite sure whether there'll be a reenactment or hopefully there'll be all of that. It'll be good fun tomorrow.
HOST: Why don't we make that Australia Day?
HOST: What takes up the night tonight?
PRIME MINISTER: Tomorrow morning, history.
HOST: That's a good question. Why don't we make that Australia Day?
HOST: That'd be a good day for it.
PRIME MINISTER: Australia Day debates are sort of pretty tiring. I just have no intention of changing it. We should celebrate lots. We need more celebrations. I think it's fantastic that Melbourne has a public holiday the day before the Grand Final. Just so people can chill.
HOST: Suburban Rail Loop. I mean, many in this city would say that it's a white elephant. Why are you supporting it?
PRIME MINISTER: Because getting people around a city is what you need as the city grows. You need public transport. Many people opposed the Melbourne Metro that I've now been on, and literally so have, I'm sure it's had more than a million visits already, trips. It's how you get around. And the idea of Suburban Rail Loop, but east and west, including the line to the airport -
HOST: Oh, is this the - Albo, we've been talking about this bloody airport thing for as long as I can remember.
PRIME MINISTER: Exactly. It's got to happen.
HOST: When will it happen?
HOST: Yeah, realistic timeframes. Because I'm not taking the piss here. I just feel like by the time it gets done, we'll be hovering.
PRIME MINISTER: No, you won't. No. It'll get done. The money's there to upgrade Sunshine Station, which will increase the capacity of the whole network as well, just like the Metro has. And the benefit of the Suburban Rail Loop is instead of people having to go into the city and out again to Southern Cross or one of those stations, you can just get around the suburbs.
HOST: Do we have a timeline on any of it?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, well, it's under construction. I'll be there in a couple of hours.
HOST: Will you be in a hard hat? Some hi-vis?
PRIME MINISTER: We're ready to go. I don't know. That's a couple of hours away. I didn't know, if you had asked me half an hour ago, would I be behind a cardboard box? I would've said no.
HOST: And a couple more from me if I can. Can the Allan Government be trusted to deliver it?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes they can. And we'll make sure, well, the Metro is unbelievable, the stations. And I've got to say, in the three big cities, Sydney did the same, their Metro effectively, it's just going gangbusters. The one here. And in Brisbane. And it goes back, people thought all these things wouldn't happen. They were funded originally when I was Transport Minister 15 years ago, and now people are travelling on it.
HOST: But we don't want to wait 15 years for it.
PRIME MINISTER: No, you want to get it done.
HOST: PM, there was a hostile homecoming last night at Melbourne and Sydney Airport for these so-called ISIS brides. There's been three arrests. Is there any concern over their homecoming, especially one which is now in the community here in Melbourne?
PRIME MINISTER: No, because I trust the authorities to do their job, the AFP and our security agencies, including ASIO, and they've done it. That's why three of the four adults have been charged and will face very serious charges. The other person will be monitored. I trust our agencies. They do their job. These people didn't get any assistance to come back.
HOST: Sorry, just because there is a lot of confusion on that. Are they allowed back into Australia because they're Australian citizens?
PRIME MINISTER: They're Australian citizens. That's the law.
HOST: They're not dual citizens. They're Australian citizens.
PRIME MINISTER: They're Australian citizens.
HOST: So, they just got on a Qatar flight and came home. The Australian Government, we didn't pay for that.
PRIME MINISTER: No, we didn't.
HOST: We're not paying for --
PRIME MINISTER: Nope. Absolutely not.
HOST: Do you understand the concern though if there is a member, a so-called ISIS bride in the community, there might be neighbours who are living next door to this person. Should they be concerned?
PRIME MINISTER: No.
HOST: Do you understand their concern?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, I understand in part because of the way that some of this is put out there publicly, I have nothing but contempt for people who go overseas to essentially assist in whatever way, people who want to attack our way of life. That's why though we have to, because we are different from ISIS, we actually support the rule of law. Australian citizens are entitled to Australian passports. They're entitled to come into Australia. What we're entitled to do though is to throw the book at them and that's precisely what we're doing.
HOST: Might be a silly question, but, so some have been charged but one's just being monitored?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, that's right.
HOST: Is there a reason they haven't been charged as well?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, because they haven't broken Australian laws, because the assessments have been made about that. So, the authorities do the assessments. These people aren't one homogenous group. They're not all the same.
HOST: It's case by case.
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah. And it's examined in great detail. And if it is possible to throw charges at people, then that will occur and they'll face the full force of the law.
HOST: Can I, just a change of pace, Sunday is a lovely day for so many. Mother's Day, you lost your mum. How do you reflect on a day like that? It must be a tough day for you, but you must remember what a beautiful person she was and the upbringing that you got.
PRIME MINISTER: Absolutely. Mother's Day is really special. My mum's at Rookwood Cemetery. She died in 2002. She was just 65 years old. And she was spent. She was done.
HOST: Really? Just a hard life?
PRIME MINISTER: She had such a hard life. She was an invalid pensioner. She was crippled up with rheumatoid arthritis and then had a range of other issues and she was done.
HOST: What's a nice memory that comes to mind when you think about it?
PRIME MINISTER: Just her unconditional love. She was there for my first speech and she was up in the gallery. And she just cried the whole way through, which for a single mum, chose to have a kid out of wedlock, chose to tell me that my father had died, because for a woman in 1963, it was acceptable to be a widow, but it wasn't acceptable to be a single mum.
HOST: Really? I didn't know that your mum had done that.
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah. So, I didn't know that. When I was about 14, old enough, she told me that actually he's in Italy and told me that. And I eventually found him when I was 46, but that sacrifice that a mum can make and she had a hard life, but she gave me obviously the confidence that comes with the unconditional love that a parent can give their child. Now I'm here as PM.
HOST: I was about to say, whatever your politics are, she'd be bloody proud of her son.
PRIME MINISTER: Oh yeah, it's amazing. And she had nothing. We did it pretty tough, but she had all these sayings from that generation, 'there's always someone worse off than yourself.' And all of that. And she meant it. She was a really generous person.
HOST: Well, Mother's Day can be hard for a lot of people. It never gets easier.
PRIME MINISTER: I went to the cemetery last Sunday and left flowers from The Lodge garden. I cut roses. Here you go.
HOST: You'll get in trouble for that, mate.
PRIME MINISTER: I'm probably getting in trouble. I cut roses from The Lodge garden and took them because I just thought, yeah, that's pretty special.
HOST: We've got the news to get to PM, but I just want you to stick around for a mument because we've got a lights-on singalong and we've asked you to pick the lights-on singalong song. So, don't reveal it just yet.
HOST: I think last time we asked you to do this, you threw a bit of shade, didn't you?
HOST: Yeah, you did. Yeah, you did. You did. It was just after we got shafted from the other mob and you flipped the bird in song form.
HOST: There was a message to Dutto as well.
HOST: Yeah.
HOST: All right, Albo's on the air with us this morning. The PM's going to stick around and kick off lights-on singalong next here on Nova.
