I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, and I pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging.

I would also like to acknowledge all the Indigenous members of Parliament, in particular the Minister for Indigenous Australians, Senator Malarndirri McCarthy and her predecessor the member for Barton, Linda Burney.

I am grateful for the commitment to the Partnership shown by States and Territories, responsible for so many of the services and supports that can help close the gap.

The Albanese Labor Government is building Australia’s future, delivering on commitments to First Nations people to help close the gap in partnership with peak bodies, states, territories and local government.

Today, the Government releases the Commonwealth’s 2024 Closing the Gap Annual Report and 2025 Implementation Plan.

Chuc mung nam moi.

I’m delighted to be here and to share in these celebrations with you.

I am proud to be only the second prime minister to be here following the Labor Prime Minister, Julia Gillard,

And very pleased that my friend and our fantastic Labor candidate for Fowler, Tu Le, is joining me on stage and has offered to translate my remarks.

I acknowledge Chris Bowen, Anne Stanley, Dai Le and all the other federal and state parliamentarians who have the great privilege of representing this wonderful part of Sydney and Australia.

Xian nian kuai le

Gong hei fat choy

Saehae bok mani badeusey

Chuc mung nam moi

Thank you so much for your kind invitation to be here with you today.

Thank you to the organisers and every volunteer and every member of this great community for making this festival reality.

This is what community is all about.

It also gives me great pleasure to acknowledge Premier Chris Minns, Mayor Trenton Brown, and of course your fantastic representative in Federal Parliament, Jerome Laxale.

JUSTINE ELLIOT, MEMBER FOR RICHMOND: Well, great to be here today in Lennox. And of course wonderful to have our Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, back on the north coast. And of course, the Prime Minister knows our area well, he knows the people here very well, we're really pleased that he's here again today.

STEWART BRASH, HOST: PM Anthony Albanese, good morning.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Great to be back in Alice.

MARION SCRYMGOUR, MEMBER FOR LINGIARI: I want to acknowledge and welcome, say thank you to the Arrernte people whose land we are standing on today. It's great to have the Prime Minister again in Alice Springs for the thirteenth time. I keep counting how many times the Prime Minister has come into Alice Springs. The Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, Lia Finocchiaro, Ebony and Dawn from Congress, but my important colleague from the member for Solomon from Darwin. So it is fantastic to have the Prime Minister here and the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory.

The Albanese and Northern Territory Governments, together with the Aboriginal Peak Organisations Northern Territory (APO NT), have signed a landmark Partnership Agreement to strengthen service delivery in remote First Nations communities in the Northern Territory.

The Albanese Government will commit $842.6 million over 6 years to deliver the Northern Territory Remote Aboriginal Investment (NTRAI).

The funding will:

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Well, this is one of the occasions where I won't begin by saying that I'm glad to be here, because I wish this wasn't happening. But at the worst of times, what we see is the best of the Australian character. And here what we see is Queenslanders, whether they be emergency services personnel, whether it be our police and fire services, the volunteers through the SES, and of course our Australian Defence Force personnel – particularly those based at the barracks here in Townsville – but right throughout Australia.

An $8 million Community Relief Fund, jointly funded by the Albanese and Crisafulli Governments, is now available to councils impacted by flooding and severe weather, to allow them to kick off essential and immediate recovery activities.

Funding of up to $1 million per Local Government Area is available for Burdekin, Cassowary Coast, Charters Towers, Hinchinbrook, Palm Island, Townsville, Whitsunday and Yarrabah Councils.