: Well, the Federal Government is tomorrow handing down a high-stakes Budget amid stubborn inflation and significant global uncertainty. The Federal Treasurer, Jim Chalmers promises the Budget will take the hard road of reform rather than the path of least resistance, flagging tax changes to tackle intergenerational equity. Anthony Albanese is the Prime Minister and joins me now. Prime Minister, welcome back to Radio National Breakfast.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning, Sally.
SARA: Over the weekend we saw One Nation win its first lower house seat in the Farrer byelection. Why do you think so many voters embraced One Nation?
PRIME MINISTER: I think the Liberal Party and National Party made a big mistake legitimising One Nation and saying, in adopting many of their policies but a lighter version of them, and then following that up by giving them preferences, they were saying effectively that it was okay to vote for One Nation rather than the traditional conservative party. I think also there's been a great deal of disappointment with the breakup of the Coalition. Not once, but twice. The removal of a leader who had represented of course that seat, in Sussan Ley, for 25 years, but who was removed without even being given the opportunity to do a single Budget Reply. And the way that that was done, having these meetings on the day of the funeral of one of their former colleagues, I think left an extraordinary legacy of betrayal for people who had supported Sussan Ley for a long period of time. And also, quite clearly there's a lot of people under financial pressure who feel like the system isn't working for them. And that's a message for all political parties in the system.
SARA: What do you say to people who voted One Nation on the weekend?
PRIME MINISTER: I respect people's right to vote whatever way they determine. But One Nation, of course, is not a party of government. They are a political party led by someone who's promoted grievance rather than solutions. And I understand, though, a protest vote will be cast. In this case, it was a devastating result I think for Angus Taylor and the Liberal Party.
SARA: You were definitive before the election that you would not pursue changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax. Why are you about to break a promise? And does that play into the narrative of people's exasperation, some people's exasperation with the major parties?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'll make two points. Firstly, tomorrow we'll deliver a Budget that is focused on relief for working people, on resilience for our economy and for reform. And my top priority is looking after Australians today. But how do we set Australia up for a secure future? And we know people are under pressure. And the easy path is to say, 'oh, well, we'll just sit back and watch that occur.' The difficult decision, but the right decision is to do the right thing with the right policies, to deliver. And clearly, people are frustrated. Issues like intergenerational equity. People are worried that younger Australians are never going to get a crack at home ownership. And that's not just the young people themselves, of course, that's their parents and their grandparents. And any responsible government like ours has to take these issues seriously. We want to meet our 1.2 million new homes target. We want to use every lever possible. We know the key to all of this is supply. And that's why even today, you've got an announcement with half a billion dollars, it'll be in tomorrow night's Budget, to implement the historic environmental reforms to get housing built quicker.
SARA: Prime Minister, does winning 94 seats, in your view, give you a mandate to do things that you didn't take to the election?
PRIME MINISTER: I made it very clear when I went to the National Press Club that we were determined to deliver on the commitments that we'd made and to do that quickly. Last year has been a year of delivery, but we also said that wasn't the limit of our ambition. There's a range of measures that we've had to take to respond. You'd recall we certainly didn't say that we would cut fuel taxes, but we've done that in response to the circumstances which are there. We'll respond appropriately.
SARA: But the circumstances that are here now, when it comes to intergenerational equity, how are they different from what they were before the last election?
PRIME MINISTER: How they are different is that they continue to be entrenched without reform. And that's the point. For a long period of time, young people have tried to save for a home. Another year has passed since the election and not enough has changed. And so many people have had another year of missing out at auctions, of renting and paying someone else's mortgage. And too many young people are close to giving up on the opportunity of owning their own home.
SARA: This has been a long issue. Why the, you know, 'I've said 50 times, we're not going to do this' why that kind of answer in the election, and a very different approach now?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, government is about making the right decisions for the right reasons for the times that you are in. And that is what we're driven by, by the best outcome for the nation. And if we do change our position on any policy, we will explain why it is that that is occurring. We know that a big priority of my Government, since 2022, has been housing. We've had the Housing Australia Future Fund, we've had the Shared Equity Scheme, we've had the environmental changes to fast-track housing approvals, we've had the National Housing Accord, we've had all of these measures in place. We do need to do more and use every lever at our disposal.
SARA: Who is more ambitious for reform in this Budget, you or the Treasurer?
PRIME MINISTER: We're in sync, as we always are. My Government is a government that works through issues collectively, we're a proper cabinet government that go through proper cabinet processes and get the right outcomes as a result of that.
SARA: Briefly, to the United Kingdom. In local elections there, there's been a big swing towards Reform UK and also towards The Greens. Keir Starmer's leadership seems to be in some trouble. He's a friend of yours and you gave a keynote speech last year at the UK Labour Party gathering. Do you hope that he stays as Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER: He is a friend of mine and I hope that Keir Starmer continues to serve as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He was elected a relatively short period of time. I've dealt with four Prime Ministers of Great Britain since I was elected as Prime Minister, and the revolving door of leaders does not lead to stability. We've had in Australia, of course, we had four elected Prime Ministers removed in a relatively short period of time. One of the things that I think assists my Government is the fact that we have had one Prime Minister, one Treasurer, one Finance Minister, one Defence Minister, one Energy Minister, one Foreign Minister in a period of time now for almost four years. That brings stability and means you can get things done. And I think that is important. And I don't want to see the UK go down the road that Australia went in and then the UK followed for a period of time.
SARA: Prime Minister, just briefly, on the weekend, we've seen reports of antisemitic remarks at a children's netball match. Without going into those individual allegations, how much does the challenge of social cohesion still concern you as Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, it's a major challenge here and around the world. I think one of the things that is happening is that people say extraordinary things on social media and online, and it's a short step between reading that and it being normalised and then to use - the allegations, I understand there are charges here, so I won't go into the specifics - but the idea that anyone would go to a children's sporting event and say anything that is hateful, let alone anything which is hateful on the basis of race or faith is just beyond belief, frankly. And I think that we as a society need to come to terms with that. We need to be better. We need to have the discussion, which is a good thing that that is occurring. And it's good that this was called out.
SARA: Prime Minister, thank you very much for your time this morning. Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much, Sally.
