MICHAEL ROWLAND, HOST: PM, a very good morning to you.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning, Michael. Good to be with you.
ROWLAND: Great to have you on. So the board at the RBA has decided on that pause. A great relief to everybody. But do you agree with the board that inflation is still too high in Australia? And therefore, that is going to result more likely than not in further rate rises in the months ahead?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, inflation is above the target range. But it's heading in the right direction. It would appear that it peaked over the summer period, and has been heading downwards. That's a good thing. So, what we see is some key economic indicators that are good. We've had record jobs growth of 465,000 in our first year. We have lower inflation. And we have a higher surplus so that fiscal policy is working with monetary policy. But we know at the same time, so many Australians are doing it tough. And that's why my Government will work each and every day to make a positive difference, to put that downward pressure on inflation to make sure that the cost of living pressures are taken off Australians. Because we know that it's very difficult for many people out there.
ROWLAND: A lot of Australians will be looking at the prospect of what is going to be a surplus, obviously in and around $20 billion, if not more, for the financial year just past. They look at their own household budgets and are struggling to make ends meet. I know that the Government doesn't want to put further pressure on inflation by spending a lot more money, but is there scope, Prime Minister, with this windfall surplus, to at least provide more cost of living relief to struggling Australians?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we'll always examine what we can do. But just on Saturday, when July 1 kicked over, we saw cheaper child care come in. We saw paid parental leave be extended. We saw a tripling of the Medicare bulk billing rate so that more Australians, 11 million Australians, can see a doctor for free. We saw the funding for Medicare Urgent Care Clinics so that more people can get access to a doctor. We saw Energy Price Relief, a $3 billion plan between the Commonwealth and state and territory governments to take that pressure off energy price increases as well. We saw all of those measures come in just over a week ago. But we'll continue to examine what we can do. We do need to understand, of course, that if the Government just splashed money around, that would put upward pressure when it comes to inflation, which would work counter to what the Reserve Bank is doing on monetary policy. And we need to make sure that fiscal policy and monetary policy work hand-in-hand. And that's why we have banked most of the savings from the surplus. But that's why, as well, we announced when we were conscious about the surplus, the addition of $2 billion into public housing so that we could have that investment in a way that put that relief for the construction sector and the creation of jobs and economic activity when it was needed without putting pressure on inflation.
ROWLAND: The Minister for Indigenous Australians, moving to another issue, Prime Minister, is going to give this key speech about the Voice to the National Press Club today. She's going to say that if the referendum succeeds and the Voice happens, that she will ask the Voice to consider four key policy areas. They are health, education, jobs and housing. Should the Government, should the Minister, have been more explicit with such detail much earlier to avoid confusion about what the Voice involves?
PRIME MINISTER: Michael, we've been doing it non-stop every day, including the Minister, for a long period of time now. Every advocate for the Voice has been saying that this is about practical difference, closing the gap. When you've got a life expectancy gap of eight years. When you're twice as likely to commit suicide if you're an Indigenous Australian. When you're more likely to go to jail than to go to university if you're a young Indigenous male. Those are the issues that the Voice will concentrate on. That's why we need to recognise Indigenous Australians in our Constitution. But why, as well, we need to listen to them. We've been doing things for and to Indigenous Australians with the best of intentions for 122 years since Federation. It's time that we did things with Indigenous Australians and that we listen to them and get better outcomes. There's everything to gain here and nothing to lose by a Yes vote in this referendum.
ROWLAND: A couple of quick issues before you leave us, Prime Minister. Hong Kong authorities have put out those arrest warrants for two Australian residents, accusing them of breaching China's national security laws. The Government has been working very hard to get the relationship with China back on track. This is pretty serious stuff, though. At the very least, are you disappointed with what's happened?
PRIME MINISTER: I am of course disappointed. I've said we'll cooperate with China where we can. But we will disagree where we must. And we do disagree with China with these actions. We do disagree that someone like Cheng Lei, a journalist, is still held in China, without proper process at all. And we continue to advocate for the interests of Australia. We'll continue to do so. We will disagree where we must. We will engage in our national interest. And this decision overnight is an example of where Australia and China do have different approaches to these issues. And we'll stand up for our values.
ROWLAND: Just very quickly before we go, Prime Minister. I wouldn't normally ask you a question about a woman giving birth, but the woman in question is Ash Barty. She has announced overnight that she has given birth to a beautiful young Hayden. She and her husband, Garry, very happy. Clearly, some really happy news this morning.
PRIME MINISTER: This is fantastic news. It comes appropriately while Wimbledon is on. And we wish Ash, her husband and young Hayden all the very best. Ash Barty was just an incredible role model. There, this young Indigenous woman from Ipswich who just was a proud Australian on the court but also the way that she handled herself, including departing at the peak of her power, making that decision for second time, of course. She when off and played cricket for a while there as well. What a great Australian. And every Australian wishes her well.
ROWLAND: Prime Minister, thank you for your time this morning.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much.