Anthony Albanese will be attending the official opening of the terminal seven years after work began at Badgerys Creek. And given that he's in our neck of the woods, he's kindly called in for a chat. Very good morning to you, Prime Minister.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning, good to be with you. And it's an exciting day for Western Sydney.
ROBINSON: Now tell me about that, do you think it's going to be Australia's most Instagrammable terminal as it's been called in the press today? Is it selfie worthy?
PRIME MINISTER: It certainly is, and it's state of the art in functioning, most importantly. This project has created some 11,500 full time jobs already. It is a major project which will transform Western Sydney. It's not just about the runways, it's about what comes with the Aerotropolis - the business, the activity that will occur around the airport because airports are a catalyst for investment and so this is so important. And today as well we'll be announcing that Air New Zealand has become the first Trans-Tasman airline to sign an agreement with Western Sydney International. It joins Qantas and Singapore Airlines that have indicated they'll be flying from there and it will make some such a difference, make it so much easier for people to travel, but will bring that economic activity to Western Sydney.
ROBINSON: You mentioned 11,500 jobs there, Prime Minister. It's something that has divided our listeners, particularly those that live over the Blue Mountains. Tweaks to the flight paths were announced last week. Here is the Blue Mountains Mayor speaking to us last week.
MARK GREENHILL, BLUE MOUNTAINS MAYOR: Well, as far as the Blue Mountains are concerned in still a disaster and the lower Blue Mountains is particularly flogged by this. And as the second runway opens, iconic areas will be impacted in the upper mountains as well. So this is not a good thing.
ROBINSON: That was the Blue Mountains Mayor speaking with us last week. Prime Minister, do you think planes should be allowed to fly over the heritage listed Blue Mountains? And can you understand why some people aren't happy about this?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the Blue Mountains Mayor is a friend of mine and he's always been opposed to the airport. That's the truth. And the truth is also that there were more complaints from Blue Mountains residents about Kingsford Smith Airport and its operation and flight paths than they were from my own electorate in the Inner West of Sydney. I'm someone who understands airport noise. And when you look at the apron of the Western Sydney Airport compared with Kingsford Smith, my home would actually be on the site of Badgerys Creek Airport there. What we've done is to minimise the impact on residents. One of the great advantages that Western Sydney Airport has, and the Mayor spoke about the second runway at Western Sydney rather than the first, which is what will be open this decade and for the following decade, is that you can have simultaneous take-offs and landings towards the south-west, which has very few residents compared with every other airport right around Australia. And so we want to make sure that the noise impact is minimised. We've had extensive consultation over years. Of course, what happens with airport master plans is they're all reviewed every five years, there's regular monitoring and we want to make sure that you maximise the efficiency at the airport but also minimise airport noise. That's something I certainly am very conscious of.
ROBINSON: Okay. Staying with issues that matter to Sydneysiders, Prime Minister. At the National Press Club yesterday, you singled out the New South Wales Premier, Chris Minns, for his efforts on housing.
PRIME MINISTER: You know, the courage, frankly, that someone like Chris Minns has shown on Rosehill. He was right. He was absolutely right in putting forward something that was controversial, but that's the sort of thing that we're going to need to do.
ROBINSON: Prime Minister, it may have been courageous, that plan to deliver 25,000 homes there at Rose Hill, but it didn't get up, it didn't result in any more homes. Do we need bold ideas that will in fact translate?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we do. And Chris Minns certainly wasn't due to any lack of effort on behalf of him or on behalf of Peter V'Landys and other people in the Racing New South Wales sector. And indeed, the head of the Australian Organisation, Peter McGauran, as well all supported the project. The structure of the people who voted against it by a narrow majority, of course, has blocked this occurring. We need more housing and it needs to be close to public transport and close to amenities, close to jobs. And housing supply is the key. We can't just wring our hands and say people have an issue with younger generations getting into housing without committing to doing something about it - and the key is supply. My Government has provided an incentive for state and territory governments to increase supply. And the Rosehill project, I stand by that. I think it was very worthy. And whilst it didn't get up, what it has done is accelerate the debate about housing supply and the need to look at innovative solutions in order to achieve those outcomes.
ROBINSON: Do you think that the New South Wales Government should have compulsory acquired Rosehill?
PRIME MINISTER: Well that's a matter, I'm not here to second guess the New South Wales Government. There would have been issues there no doubt that would have been considered. But Chris Minns was unambiguous in his support for it and he deserves congratulations for the leadership that he showed.
ROBINSON: Moving to overseas now. Big news overnight that Australia has imposed sanctions on two hard-line Israeli Ministers. Why did Australia decide to join Canada, New Zealand, Norway and the UK in these sanctions? What do you hope they achieve? What's the message that you're trying to send with this?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the message is very clear that the actions that we're seeing and some of the comments that have been made by these two Ministers, Ben-Gvir and Smotrich, have incited violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. Some of the comments that they have made have aided what is a serious impediment to a two state solution. We've continued to engage with the Israeli Government. The Israeli Government does need to uphold its obligations under international law and some of the expansionist rhetoric that we've seen as well is clearly in contradiction of that from these hard-line right wing members of the Netanyahu Government.
ROBINSON: When you look at the response, Israel has condemned the move, calling the sanctions outrageous. The US has chosen not to join the sanctions and has described it as extremely unhelpful and that it will do nothing to get us closer to a ceasefire in Gaza. Are you concerned about those responses?
PRIME MINISTER: I think those responses are predictable, frankly. But we have engaged and put forward in a very clear and direct way to the Israeli Government, including a one on one conversation that I had with the President of Israel, President Herzog on the sidelines in Rome that I had just weeks ago. We have continued to express our concern about humanitarian issues in Gaza. We've continued to have a consistent position which is to call for a ceasefire, call for the release of hostages, to continue to condemn as we have unequivocally the actions of the terrorist organisation Hamas, including the atrocities that were committed on October 7. We've continued to declare that Israel has a right to live within secure borders. But we've also declared that Israel must comply with international concerns and international law which is there.
ROBINSON: Can we expect, given that the sanctions are in relation to the West Bank, I know that the western allies joint statement added that of course this cannot be seen in isolation from the catastrophe in Gaza. Can we expect more from the Australian Government when it comes to what's going on in Gaza?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the Australian Government aren't participants in this conflict. That's an important statement. And one of the things that we need to be very cautious of is the issue which some people have attempted to do, which is to either blame people here in Australia for the opposition that they have to actions of the Israeli Government. And so, you know, we will continue to put forward our constructive positions, we'll continue to engage, but we'll do so in a way which also recognises that there are limits to the impact that Australia can have. But what we are doing through these sanctions, together with importantly, four of the Five Eyes nations have supported these sanctions - Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom as well as Norway, is clearly to send a message to Israel of the concern which is held right around the world, really, is what we're seeing.
ROBINSON: What discussions in light of these sanctions might you have on the sidelines of the G7 with President Trump regarding this?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, this isn't the priority for the discussions that I have with President Trump. This is something that we've communicated very directly to Israel.
ROBINSON: So then when, if we can stick with G7 then when you do go and meet and hopefully get a sideline with the US President, no doubt trade will be on the agenda there. You've spoken about what's not on the table when it comes to negotiations - PBS, media bargaining code and biosecurity. What would be on the table and what could potentially look like a win-win?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'll speak directly with the US President about the relationship between Australia and the United States and I'll do that respectfully and I'll do that directly rather than through the media - that's how you get outcomes. And the three discussions that I've had with President Trump have been very constructive. The United States relationship is an important one that Australia has. It's an important security relationship, it's also an important economic relationship. We have a Free Trade Agreement with the United States. We also will point out that the United States has a trade surplus with Australia. I've consistently said that these tariffs are an act of economic self-harm that increase the prices that are paid for Australian goods and indeed goods throughout the world that are paid for by Americans. And that that is not in the interest of the United States.
ROBINSON: You were asked at Press Club yesterday about what's going on in LA at the moment and the Australian reporter who was shot with a rubber bullet. I'll just play something from LA.
KAREN BASS, MAYOR OF LOS ANGELES: I think it's terrible. I think it sends a terrible message. As you said, the Prime Minister of a country had to respond. The President of Mexico has responded. Again, I know that these countries look at this and I don't think that thought there was some grand thing happening here that required ICE agents to come and disrupt workplaces or chase people through Home Depot parking lots.
ROBINSON: LA Mayor there, Karen Bass speaking. How do you feel about being inserted there into US domestic politics and what are your views on what's happening in LA right now? We've had one person text in, Jackie, a listener, saying, 'Please ask the Prime Minister when he's going to strongly and unequivocally condemn what is happening in the US'.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, you've answered your own question in the way that you've asked that, which is that I don't comment on internal US domestic politics. What I do do is comment on the interests when Australians are impacted. And Lauren Tomasi, I spoke to yesterday morning, she should not have been harmed in this way. We found that unacceptable and we've made that clear to the US Administration.
ROBINSON: Do you have a view, though, just a personal opinion, on what you're seeing play out on the streets?
PRIME MINISTER: I'm Prime Minister of Australia, and the Prime Minister of Australia when I comment, it is as Prime Minister of Australia, rather than personal opinions.
ROBINSON: Okay, all right. Just finally rounding out on the productivity toundtable that was announced at the Press Club yesterday. You'll bring, or you'll look to bring businesses and unions and workers and stakeholders back to the table. Do we really need another summit to tell us what's needed on productivity, Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER: I think it's a good idea to bring people together and to get dialogue -
ROBINSON: But given that we've had two pretty sizeable reports from the previous Coalition Government. We've got the Productivity Commission with its preliminary report at the moment focusing on five productivity inquiries.
PRIME MINISTER: The previous Coalition Government was some time ago. We're in our second term. It is not unreasonable to bring people together. One of the things that I've said is that business and unions have common interests. We have a national interest in boosting productivity. This has been something that has been around for decades. If the solution was easy, then perhaps someone would have grasped it a decade ago. The former Government was there for a decade, during that time there was very low productivity. We want to engage directly, constructively, rather than people, you know, shouting at each other. What would be a good idea, always, is to bring people together, and that is what we'll be doing.
ROBINSON: Prime Minister, really, thank you for your time today. I just want to ask, did you catch the Socceroos?
PRIME MINISTER: I didn't catch them, but it -
ROBINSON: You heard about them.
PRIME MINISTER: The hours beat me there, but it's an absolutely fabulous result. And beating Japan in Perth last week was a cracker as well. Of course, the first time we've beaten Japan for a long period of time.
ROBINSON: Yeah and off they go to the World Cup.
PRIME MINISTER: It will be absolutely superb and a great effort and I think that the whole of Australia welcomes our participation in the World Cup. I was there in Sydney for the Aloisi penalties and everything that happened versus Uruguay a long, long time ago. That was a long time between drinks in the 1970s.
ROBINSON: It was, wasn't it? I feel like we're back, though.
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, now it's pretty regular. We're doing much better. I must say the system's a bit fairer in getting us through as well. We had to really climb mountains to even make finals. So it's a great thing and great for Australian football, the world game.
ROBINSON: PM, really appreciate the time that you've given us this morning. Thank you very much.
PRIME MINISTER: My pleasure.
