Thank you, Prime Minister. Firstly, apologies for the interruption and thank you for pressing on with your speech.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Not my first speech. So, the objective should always be to keep going.
WEIR: I am told that those two were motorcycle enthusiasts upset that the MotoGP has been taken by Adelaide. We've given them Marty Pakula's phone number and two free tickets to the F1 Grand Prix and they seemed happy.
PRIME MINISTER: I thought they might have been Bombers supporters upset that you had a Hawk on the stage giving a speech.
WEIR: That's also - luckily we can laugh. You had a bit of a scare last night, but you posted a picture of Toto, your fearsome guard dog this morning.
PRIME MINISTER: Tougher than she looks.
WEIR: Yes. I'd also like to dispel the myth that the safety threat was Karl Stefanovic lingering too long in The Lodge after his podcast.
PRIME MINISTER: I can do that. I think it's just a reminder, take every opportunity to tell people, turn the heat down for goodness sake. Like, you know, we can't take these things for granted. Turn it down.
WEIR: Now to serious business, in your speech you mentioned your dream, and you are a train nerd, admitted, of fast rail going from Sydney to Melbourne. Now, the Sydney to Newcastle leg is I think $93 billion is early costings on that, my journo maths -
PRIME MINISTER: It's a bit less than that -
WEIR: Is Sydney to Melbourne -
PRIME MINISTER: Has a five in front.
WEIR: My journo maths would say Sydney to Melbourne would be $485 billion. Now I know you're a train nerd, but this has already been likened to an episode of Utopia. Why do we need this and can we afford it?
PRIME MINISTER: The first thing to say is that Sydney to Newcastle makes most sense in terms of density of populations but it's also the hardest. A lot of Sydney to Melbourne is actually a lot easier by definition as soon as you think about that, getting through the Hawkesbury and across what is pretty hard terrain and would have to largely be under the ground rather than over. The big thing that makes sense between Sydney to Melbourne and changes the economics of it is the uplift of regional economic development that you would have along the route. So, the vision is you would have under three hours CBD to CBD, but you would also have non-stop journeys, but you would also have journeys that transformed even Australia's largest inland city that I live in, Canberra, would be transformed if it's less than an hour. So, you change a whole lot of - it's not just a transport policy, it's an economic development policy. It's a housing policy. It's a growth strategy as well, with huge productivity benefits if you think about the time that it takes people travelling to an airport, sitting, waiting to board, all of that. There's a reason why around the world high speed rail has taken off. No one now flies from London to Paris. That used to be the case. It's now just a game changer.
WEIR: In Victoria, if you say something's going to cost $485 billion, we don't believe it. I think we were shocked, but possibly not surprised in the last couple of weeks when Geoffrey Watson's report came down, 'Rotting from the Top', into corruption criminality in the CFMEU, particularly Victoria. But obviously, Queensland is looking at it as well. Reading from the Herald Sun's front page: 'Extortion, sex for jobs, drug deals, strippers, bikies and $15 billion fleeced from Victorian taxpayers'. The Opposition here in the state has called for a Royal Commission. Do you believe we need something like that to get to the bottom of this corruption and criminality? And if not, why not?
PRIME MINISTER: We had a Royal Commission into unions and it was a Royal Commission into Bill Shorten and Julia Gillard under the former government. That's what they did. Meanwhile, John Setka increased his power in the construction division of the CFMEU. They did nothing about it. We've done something about it. I expelled John Setka from the Labor Party within three weeks of becoming leader. We established, now, Mark Irving is doing a terrific job in my view, setting up the system which has seen 50 per cent of the organisers, for example, removed from that union. There's no place for corruption anywhere, least of all in the labour movement. And that's why my government did what the former government didn't do, which is actually to take action and deal with it. And that is precisely what we have done. Figures float around. It's about as transparent as your figure of $400 odd million, sort of made up, with respect. You know, people can have that. If there's any evidence of any corruption, it should be reported to the police and action should be taken. I have zero tolerance for any of it whatsoever. And I'm sure that the Victorian Government, I know, Jacinta Allan has the same position.
WEIR: We had on the front page today: 'New contracts for tunnelers in the SRL Suburban Rail Loop. $360,000 a year'. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? And particularly is it a good thing when nurses, police officers, teachers are getting $90,000 on average? How is that sustainable?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it depends what they're doing in terms of tunnels, I'm not sure what the professional qualifications are. In some areas there's massive skill shortages and labour works in a similar way to other parts of the economy, supply, demand. Tunnelling is a difficult, complex issue. If you're talking about people with the skills and engineering knowledge to deal with things properly, it may well be that that makes absolute sense and that's what the market sets. But you know, we need to make sure in all projects, of course, we need to make sure that there's proper value there. But I think that when you look at, I had the privilege, even though there was zero federal dollars in it, of riding on the Metro that's opened, I think that's a transformative project. It's one of three transformative projects in the east coast of all the capital cities. Unless you're fixed up the central bit of the rail network, then you couldn't expand it, that bit's done now. It makes sense to have a rail network that operates in similar in the great cities of the world, London, Paris, New York, Melbourne, that doesn't require everyone to go into the city and then out again. That's why the Airport Rail Link and what I've spoken about today, about Sunshine Station, makes a great deal of sense as well. And that's what SRL is about.
WEIR: Going back to it, we have people holding up lollipop signs being paid $200k, how if you are a teacher or a police officer or a nurse, not just in Victoria but Australia, you know, cost of living, interest rates going up - now what's your message to them? What have you got in the May Budget potentially for them?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, of course we've got tax cuts, that's one thing we've got. When I was at the Children's Hospital the other day here, Flemington Road there meeting nurses, I reckon most people here would be surprised to hear that someone training to be a nurse, of which we need more, they don't go into it because they're going to earn a squillion dollars, but I spoke to four nurses. They varied in their prac time from four weeks to six weeks - that previously they weren't paid at all for doing that. So, while they're studying to be a nurse, many of them will be working in a Crown serving drinks or doing something as well. They weren't able to do that while they're doing their prac placement. That's nuts. So, we have aimed at, in all of these areas, how do we provide practical assistance? That's what the 725,000 Free TAFE places around Australia have done. Many of them are in the care sector, such as nursing and aged care, child care as well. The other thing we've done is to increase pay in areas like aged care and child care with up to 20 per cent increases. If we didn't do that, the aged care sector is an example where we did have a Royal Commission of which the interim report was titled 'neglect' in one word. Unless we did something in those areas, we wouldn't have a workforce to look after our youngest Australians or our older Australians.
WEIR: I'm not hogging the microphone. Sally will ask a series of questions on behalf of the VCCI members in a few minutes. Talking about the Budget, capital gains discount being reduced is clearly on the agenda. Why is this a good change for Australia?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it will shock you, Sam, that our Budget is on the second Tuesday in May.
WEIR: I was hoping I was going to get you there.
PRIME MINISTER: I see what you did there and that, you know, we're working through our budget processes. We'll do that. We have a range of priorities in the Budget. Fiscal responsibility is front and centre. We have got inflation with the three in front of it, remains steady today, but we want to get it down. Had a six in front of it when we were elected. We'll continue to work on that, and we'll look at other issues as well, including -
WEIR: Bill Kelty on Monday, I think here in a Senate Inquiry, said the CGT discount, any changes to that is meaningless unless there's really bold tax reform. And he was looking at, you know, significant tax cuts. Have you got the appetite for, you know, you're well ahead in the polls, you're very comfortable, not that being PM's ever comfortable, but this is the time that you and I'm sure Jim wants to do it, could really strike.
PRIME MINSTER: Well, we've got tax cuts embedded in the Budget now -
WEIR: That's a cup of coffee, Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, mate, there were $7 - $8 billion of tax cuts across the forwards and I remind you that they were opposed by the now Leader of the Opposition, and they said they would legislate to put taxes up for all 14 million Australians. We're putting taxes down, but we also will always look at economic policy and reform. What we have been very keen to do, because in part, we know there is a lot of frustration at the way that the political system works is to deliver on the commitments that we took to the election. We've been ticking them off one by one, but we've also said that's the floor, not the ceiling. That's not the limit of our ambition. And you'll see reform in the Budget. You'll have to wait to see the second Tuesday to see when that will occur.
WEIR: Last one for me. We do have a new Leader of the Opposition, the Coalition. What do you think are Angus Taylor's strongest attributes?
PRIME MINISTER: Persistence, confidence - he's got that. But well, you know, good luck to him. It's a hard job.
WEIR: His biggest weaknesses?
PRIME MINISTER: I think removing the first female leader to lead the Liberal Party will be something that sends a message to half the population. As well as the fact, his record on energy. 4 gigawatts left the system, one gigawatt came in. Tax cuts he opposed. I mean, I couldn't believe last year's Budget when they opposed the tax cuts and then doubled down and said they'd actually introduce legislation to put taxes up. I thought that was extraordinary. So, they went to the election with higher taxes and bigger deficits over this year and next. Good luck putting the argument that they're more responsible economic managers next week.
WEIR: It looks like you're relishing the fight.
PRIME MINISTER: Absolutely.
SALLY CURTIN, HOST: Thanks very much, Prime Minister, on behalf of business in Victoria for prioritising us today. A declaration from me. I'm a Bombers supporter. Sorry you brought us up. We're not all too bad.
PRIME MINISTER: There's a couple out there.
CURTIN: There's a few of us still, yes. A question from one of our members, David. There's about 550 people in the room today representing over 200 businesses, and the Chamber represents every type of business from a small business, regional business, mid-size, large. They're all here. And there's probably 550 views about the state of Victoria's economy right now. What's your assessment of Victoria's economy right now?
PRIME MINISTER: That Victoria's economy remains strong. Like the rest of the entire global economy, there's been challenges. Been challenges with global inflation arising from the spiking global energy prices, the ongoing issues that came out of COVID and the disruption that that represented economically. But the foundations are really strong here. Victoria has been historically the centre of Australia's manufacturing. What we need to do is to maximise the comparative advantage as well that Victoria has. So, in areas such as health, you look at the precinct around Carlton, around there, and it is some of the best research in the world as well as some of the best hospitals and the best service delivery as well. You look at the other plus that Victoria has, is its population. The diaspora represent connections with everywhere in the world. If you think about the subcontinent and other areas that are going to drive global growth, then there is huge opportunity to use those linkages which are there. Victoria has a strong financial system as well. Many of the banks and financial institutions are based here. And so, I think stability as well is very important going forward.
CURTIN: Thank you. We've also got those amazing events, of course.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, there's all of that as well. I got into trouble a few years ago at this forum and if Sam, you could not tell Ben English I repeated the line as a Sydneysider - the truth is that, you know, Victoria, with the events around here and the location compared with Sydney's, you know, the Olympic Stadium is fantastic, but it's way out. You know, it's not next to the CBD the way it is here. There's nothing better. I can't do it these days, of course, but there's nothing better than walking to the G or walking to Rod Laver, walking around. And it is fantastic. The Grand Prix's on in a couple of weeks. All of these events are absolutely fantastic.
CURTIN: I could go on, the most amazing TAFEs in the nation and the universities, but we'll keep going. Our state election survey found -
PRIME MINISTER: There is that as well. And one of the things that I'll say this as well, that Victoria's done really well. When you go to Indonesia or Malaysia or Vietnam - RMIT, Monash - the Victorian institutions have been very good at having those linkages with the growth economies. They've done a fantastic job.
CURTIN: And spoiler here, we're actually exporting our TAFE and we're taking that to Cambodia and I think that's the first time we've done that. So, that's amazing. In relation to, we've recently surveyed all our members ahead of, obviously it's an election year here in Victoria. We found the biggest issue facing business is cost increases, staff supply, energy. What is your government doing to reduce costs for business?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what we're doing across the board is investing as well in energy, partnering in areas like, projects like Marinus Link. That was talked about for a long period of time, but we've got done between Tasmania, the Rockliff government, the Allan government here and the Commonwealth will make an enormous difference in terms of supply, in terms of cost to make a difference, to get them down. That's been one of the big things that we could do. The work that we're doing on skills and training as well, whether it be the funding of universities through the Universities Accord, the Free TAFE, the University Hubs as well in our outer suburbs, in our regions are making a difference as well, making sure that that labour supply can be kept up. The creation of Jobs & Skills Australia. So, we identify what are the skills that Australia needs in 5, 10, 15 years' time, how do we set up the system so that's created going through. And even earlier on as well, in terms of workforce participation and capacity, childcare is not about minding kids, it's about our economic capacity, about developing skills because of human brain development, but also about women's workforce participation and how we take advantage of all of our population, allow us to use the capacity which is there.
CURTIN: Another question on behalf of one of our Committee for Melbourne members. Victoria has an opportunity to scale its critical mineral sector, particularly in relation to energy transition and defence. Against the backdrop of the Australia US agreement for critical minerals. What role do you see Victoria playing?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, huge. And you know, Victoria has an abundance of minerals like - gold is worth a bit at the moment, to say the least. But, you know, traditional resources but also new ones as well. And some of the work that we're doing. I'm being careful here because there's some announcements coming and I don't want to slip them out. Commercial arrangements do apply, but Victoria is going to play an absolutely key role in all of this. And part of Mark Carney's visit next week is about Australia and Canada as middle powers working together on our joint economic sovereignty. It's a bit of a contradiction, but the truth is that we can learn off each other and operate in a way that's consistent as well. And Victoria has enormous potential. And there'll be a range of things -- when I come next year, I will talk about the things that have been put in place over the 12 months in between. Because Victoria's front and centre in all of this as well and some of the transport and advantages that you've got with the number of airports that are around, linked in as well with our defence manufacturing, where Victoria has historically played a critical role as well.
CURTIN: We're delighted you're coming back next year, but before then, in July, we'd love to invite you back. Victorian Chamber's celebrating 175 years this year and we'd love you as part of our celebration.
PRIME MINISTER: Done.
WEIR: Prime Minister. We started with rapid rail and we're going to end with rapid fire questions. We've done this before. I tried to get your wedding date out of you one year, maybe twice. I failed.
PRIME MINISTER: 29th of November 2025.
WEIR: I failed. It's good that you remember it.
PRIME MINISTER: You were after an invite.
WEIR: I was, yeah. Toto took mine. So, I think it's 12 or 13 questions, one-word answers if possible. Let's go.
PRIME MINISTER: I'll try.
WEIR: You'll try. Sussan Ley.
PRIME MINISTER: Best wishes.
WEIR: Angus Taylor.
PRIME MINISTER: Leader.
WEIR: Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
PRIME MINISTER: Grub.
WEIR: It was clearly a popular announcement earlier this week about the letter you sent to the UK Prime Minister, British Prime Minister. Craig Tiley?
PRIME MINISTER: Legend.
WEIR: Oscar Piastri.
PRIME MINISTER: Winner.
WEIR: We hope! One Nation voters?
PRIME MINISTER: Frustrated.
WEIR: Pauline Hanson.
PRIME MINISTER: Divisive.
WEIR: Australia Day.
PRIME MINISTER: Great.
WEIR: Grace Tame.
PRIME MINISTER: Difficult.
WEIR: Donald Trump.
PRIME MINISTER: President.
WEIR: I think you've given me the same answer every time. I thought you were gonna say more to me, gonna say more difficult.
PRIME MINISTER: If you ask me next year you'll get it again.
WEIR: Barnaby Joyce.
PRIME MINISTER: You know, I can't do that in one word. I am just looking forward to the Barnaby Joyce v Pauline Hanson. And you know it's coming.
WEIR: ISIS brides?
PRIME MINISTER: Made their bed, they're lying in it.
WEIR: AFL or NRL?
PRIME MINISTER: That's unfair, is what I was thinking.
WEIR: Rabbitohs or Hawks?
PRIME MINISTER: I was on the board of the Rabbitohs for a long, long time. But I support both.
WEIR: All right, thank you, Prime Minister. It's been fantastic on behalf of everyone here for your time and everything. Yeah, thank you.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you.
