Australia and Japan have committed to bolstering cooperation on economic security to achieve more resilient supply chains for both countries and the region.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi of Japan met in Canberra today and signed the Joint Declaration on Economic Security Cooperation.
JANE NORMAN, HOST: Prime Minister, thanks for your time.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Hey, good to be with you.
NORMAN: Let's get straight to the Budget. You've said this is one of the toughest that you'll be handing down. Just how much has it had to change just in the past couple of months?
The Albanese Government is delivering cost-of-living relief through a major Medicare investment in the upcoming Budget, making Medicare Urgent Care Clinics a permanent part of Australia’s health system.
This significant health measure includes an additional $1.8 billion over five years from 2025-26 and $525.6 million a year ongoing from 2030-31 to keep Medicare Urgent Care Clinics open and free.
NICK BRYANT, HOST: Prime Minister, thanks for joining us on Saturday Extra.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Wonderful to be here.
BRYANT: I would say that Saturday morning in Australia is my favourite time. I just think you see the spirit of Australia. I wonder what the Prime Minister of Australia gets up to on a Saturday morning in Australia.
BEN ENGLISH, EDITOR OF THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Well, congratulations. Well, it has to be acknowledged you did play an instrumental part in getting this over the line. So that was great and also thanks for the money. $72.5 million, it's nothing to sneeze at, is it? I must say, well, I'm taking it, but that will be for the redundancy payments for all those meddling bureaucrats that are holding up developments?
Thanks very much Ben, and I thank the young graduate who was here welcoming us to country. And it's great to have someone from beautiful Thursday Island – it's a long way from Thursday Island, from TI to Western Sydney.
I also want to acknowledge Premier Minns and members of his team who are here.
The Leader of the Opposition Angus Taylor who is here.
Ben, I'll single him out of all the people here, because The Daily Telegraph are of course sponsors of this forum, but more importantly, they have been advocates for this airport for a long period of time.
JOURNALIST: Thanks, Prime Minister. So, what concerns do you have for the Alice Springs community, given the scenes we saw overnight after the arrest of a man of the death of a five year old girl?
The Albanese Labor Government has secured two shipments carrying 100 million litres of jet fuel, and another shipment of 50 million litres of diesel to keep Australia moving.
These three new fuel shipments, going to Brisbane, Perth and Darwin, are in addition to the eight shipments already announced in partnership with BP Australia, Ampol, and Viva Energy, which will reach Australia in May and June.
Combined, the Government has secured over 450 million litres of additional diesel and 100 million litres of additional jet fuel to make sure Australians have the fuel they need.
ANNA HENDERSON, HOST: Prime Minister, thanks for joining SBS World News.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good to be with you, Anna.
HENDERSON: The Interim Report has stated that despite an increase in funding for the national intelligence community, the proportion allocated for counter-terrorism significantly declined between 2020 and 2025. Did those funding decisions leave the intelligence agencies without essential resources?
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: On 14 December last year, our nation was shattered by an act which was evil. An antisemitic terrorist attack shook the nation. The deadliest terrorist attack that has ever occurred on Australian soil, targeting Jewish Australians on the first night of Chanukah at our iconic Bondi Beach. This should have been an occasion where every Australian could celebrate what is a victory of light over darkness. Instead, 15 innocent men, women and children were killed and many were wounded.