SARAH FERGUSON, HOST: Prime Minister, welcome to 7.30.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good evening, Sarah.

FERGUSON: Will Australia recognise a Palestinian state at the time of the UN General Assembly in September?

The Albanese Labor Government has today cut all student debts by 20 per cent.

We are wiping more than $16 billion in debt for more than three million Australians.

Our number one focus is continuing to deliver cost of living relief for the Australian people.

Cutting student debt by 20 per cent will ease pressure on workers and students across the country.

For someone with the average debt of $27,600, this will see $5,520 wiped from their outstanding Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) loans.

We join in solemn reflection today to mark the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, an atrocity that shocked the world.

Over five days in July 1995, more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were murdered and buried in mass graves in and around the town of Srebrenica, and some 25,000 women, children and elderly people forcibly deported.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning. Firstly, I want to recognise three parents who join us here this morning. Mia Bannister, whose son, Ollie, lost his life last year. Ollie was just 14 years old. Robb Evans, whose daughter, Liv, lost her life in 2023. Liv was just 15 years old. And Emma Mason, whose daughter Tilly lost her life in 2022. She was just 15 years old. No parent should lose a child at that age. Mia, Robb and Emma are three parents, but their stories are felt by countless other parents and by communities right across the country.

The Albanese Labor Government is backing Australian families, parents and kids by announcing today YouTube will be included in its world-leading under-16 social media laws.

Delaying access to social media, including YouTube, until the age of 16 will protect young Australians at a critical stage of their development, giving them three more years to build real world connections and online resilience.

CONCETTA CARISTO, HOST: Right now we have a very big special guest to say hello to. Good morning, Prime Minister.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning. Good to be with you.

CARISTO: Yeah, thanks for coming on. Now, we've just had the Hottest 100 of Australian Songs go down on Saturday. You were listening. What did you think of the countdown? Where were you listening from?

The Albanese Government is making cheaper medicines even cheaper – with legislation being introduced to Parliament this week that will mean a prescription on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) will cost Australians no more than $25 from 1 January next year.

The last time PBS medicines cost no more than $25 was 2004 – more than 20 years ago.

This is another key cost of living measure delivered by the Albanese Government.

DAVID SPEERS, HOST: Thanks so much for being with us.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning, David.

SPEERS: Can I get your reaction, first up, to Israel's decision, the announcement in the last few hours that it will be allowing more aid through airdrops and convoys back into Gaza. Is it enough?

The situation in Gaza has gone beyond the world’s worst fears.

The position of the Australian Government is clear: every innocent life matters.

Every Israeli. Every Palestinian.

This conflict has stolen far too many innocent lives.

Tens of thousands of civilians are dead, children are starving.

Gaza is in the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe. Israel’s denial of aid and the killing of civilians, including children, seeking access to water and food cannot be defended or ignored.

Millions of Australian workers will have their penalty and overtime rates protected under new legislation introduced to parliament today by the Albanese Labor Government.

Our number one focus is continuing to deliver cost of living relief for the Australian people.

We want people to earn more and keep more of what they earn – this protects that for millions of Australians.

The Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Penalty and Overtime Rates) Bill 2025 will prevent variations to awards that would reduce or remove an employee’s penalty rates or overtime rates.