HOST: Hit Breakfast with Dan and Christie with producer Matt this morning and we are honoured to be joined by the Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese joins us. Good morning, Albo.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning. Glad to be back in beautiful Hobart.
HOST: Yes.
PRIME MINISTER: Wonderful sunrise this morning.
HOST: We get them every single day, mate. And it's a new day with new challenges. What is on the agenda? What's the reason for the visit?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'll be with Dean Winter this morning looking at health care. We'll be visit using an Urgent Care Clinic with Julie Collins as well. Urgent Care Clinics have now seen so many people, some one and a half million people, and they've been a huge success. And so talking about health care, talking about the pay increase that everyone got, of course, on July 1 and all the other changes that came in. The fact that you can get a 30 per cent rebate on your battery is so important. If you have solar panels on your roof that will make your bills permanently lower. Two weeks extra paid parental leave, and superannuation on paid parental leave, which we lifted, superannuation up to 12 per cent. And of course, we want to encourage as well, more people to go into the trades. I was speaking to some business people last night, and they were speaking about skill shortage and more construction here in Tasmania. Tradies can get a $10,000 incentive if they go into being an apprentice in construction or electrical.
HOST: Do I become a sparky? Is that where my future goes?
HOST: Chippy?
PRIME MINISTER: I tell you what, there are no unemployed sparkies around. They do, they do pretty well.
HOST: Hey, you were talking about healthcare and that sort of stuff. One of the things that I've personally found a lot in my travels around Australia, is it's really hard to get into a bulk billing clinic. Bulk billing can help people before they need to go to an emergency care centre. Is there anything we can look forward to with getting more doctors able to do bulk billing?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, absolutely. We're tripling the bulk billing incentive for every single Australian, and we know that that will make an enormous difference. It's the biggest commitment we made in the lead up to the election. $8.5 billion worth of commitment. And I visited the centre there with Bec White at Bridgewater, apart from the fact they have a wonderful puppy helping them out and helping make everyone happy there as they come into the centre, they committed while we were there, they said this will make a difference, and one hundred per cent of people who come to see us to get healthcare, will be bulk billed. And so it will make an enormous difference. We did it for concession card holders last year in the Budget, and it made a difference there. If lifted bulk billing rates for concession card holders up to above 90 per cent. And we want to lift bulk billing rates to 90 per cent right around the country.
HOST: Yeah, absolutely. It's one of our, you know, the jewels in Australia's crown is our healthcare system. So, anything that we can do to really show off against the rest of the world makes me happy.
PRIME MINISTER: It's something we should be so proud of. The fact that if you get sick you can get the healthcare that you need. And that's why as well, improving the primary health care system, through measures like Urgent Care Clinics, take pressure off the emergency departments of hospitals, and they improve the entire health system. And it is something that is the best, in my view, in the whole world and something we can be really proud of.
HOST: That's what you got to build the infrastructure for, absolutely, Prime Minister. And we want to talk about this too, the Macquarie Point Stadium, the 23,000 seat multi purpose venue hosting AFL, AFLW, cricket, concerts, conferences. What are your thoughts on it, and how do you think it'll impact the state of Tasmania?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh look, I support it. I think that you need to view Mac Point as an entire urban redevelopment opportunity. To have not just a sporting facility, but recreational activities, restaurants, residential, commercial. I put money in when I was the Infrastructure Minister. $50 million for planning for Macquarie Point, and basically bugger all happened, I think is the technical term, for a long period of time. What cities around Australia have done is to recognise the beauty of their waterfront needs to be maximised. But it ends, it doesn't go down all the way to the Derwent, it does around Salamanca Place, et cetera. But, it will make an enormous difference to the city. It will attract concerts and activities here, not just sporting events. And that's why the small businesses I've spoken to are so supportive as well, because it'll bring a lot of life to the city, as does of course, Mofo, and other activities. You look at the MONA facility, there was some opposition to that when it was built. What it's done is bring people to the great state of Tasmania and add to the economy here.
HOST: And speaking of the economy, the RBA are going to be meeting today to talk about another rate cut. Have you got any thoughts and feelings on that, how it's going to impact Australians?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, look, they're independent, of course. But our job has been to get inflation down. And inflation had a 6 in front of it when we were elected. It's now at 2.1 per cent. So, it's well at the bottom of the band that the Reserve Bank aim for between 2 and 3. There's already been two interest rate decreases. So, we'll wait and see what decision that they make. But I'm sure that, I know what people with mortgages want to see today. And we'll wait to see what the RBA decides. It'll be about 2:30, usually, I think, they make their announcement.
HOST: Well, we're honoured to have you on our show, Dan and Christie. Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks, guys.