CHRISTOPHER LUXON, PRIME MINISTER OF NEW ZEALAND: Ngā mihi nui, kia koutou, we welcome you again, Prime Minister Albanese, and to all the delegation that's with us as well. We just are so grateful that you've come. Thank you for spending this time with us. And welcome to Queenstown, which is, of course, a place that a lot of Australians come to get a true winter experience in, and a lot of New Zealanders leave to go get a true sandy beach experience in Australia to get away from the winter. But look, we just want to say, thank you so much. It's great that you're here.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will travel to New Zealand from 9 to 10 August to join Prime Minister the Rt Hon Christopher Luxon at the annual Australia–New Zealand Leaders’ Meeting.
Australia and New Zealand share a deep and enduring bond as friends, neighbours and allies. Australia has no closer partner, and both countries are committed to strongly backing Pacific-led solutions to the region’s challenges.
DANIEL MULINO, ASSISTANT TREASURER AND MEMBER FOR FRASER: Good morning, my name’s Daniel Mulino, and I’m the Member for Fraser, which includes Sunshine, where we are here this morning. It’s wonderful to be here this morning with the Prime Minister, with the Minister for Health, and also with Alice Jordan-Baird, who is the Member for Gorton, the electorate which neighbours this one. We’re here at an Urgent Care Clinic, one of the Government’s most important policies coming out of the last election.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon. I am pleased to announce my Government will recommend to the Administrator of the Commonwealth that Ms Krissy Barrett be appointed the ninth Australian Federal Police Commissioner. Before going further, I do want to firstly thank Reece Kershaw for his decades of service and commitment to protecting Australians and Australia's national interest, including six years as AFP Commissioner.
The Government will recommend to the Administrator of the Commonwealth that Ms Krissy Barrett APM be appointed the ninth Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner.
This will be a historic appointment for the AFP, with Ms Barrett becoming the first woman to hold the position of Commissioner.
The Albanese Government has established a new First Nations Economic Partnership – with the Coalition of Peaks and the First Nations Economic Empowerment Alliance.
The Partnership will work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people around Australia to leverage land and Native Title, boost skills and education, create jobs and back business.
I acknowledge the people of the Yolngu nation, their elders, leaders and families who have made such an extraordinary contribution to Australia.
In particular, I acknowledge the Gumatj clan whose lands we are meeting on today.
It is an honour to be back here at Garma for a fourth time as Prime Minister and to join so many of my colleagues and all of you in celebrating ‘25 years of Success’.
From humble beginnings, Garma has grown and transformed beyond even the extraordinary vision and imagination of its founders.
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.