Joint clean-up funding, more operational support and wider relief payment eligibility has been made available today as tens of thousands of Victorians continue to deal with widespread flooding across the state.
Victorians whose homes and businesses are destroyed or damaged in the floods can have their properties cleared of hazards, and made safe, at no cost – thanks to joint funding from the Australian and Victorian Governments.
RICHARD GLOVER, HOST: Anthony Albanese, the Prime Minister joins us now on Drive. Prime Minister, good afternoon.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon. Good to be with you.
GLOVER: We were intrigued. David Speers was just telling us about this battery project that you've announced for Tasmania. Can you tell us whether it really is an answer to our energy security problems?
Up to 500 ADF personnel will assist with the flood recovery in Victoria and New South Wales, as local communities continue to deal with the ongoing crisis.
The Australian Government has approved a request from Emergency Management Victoria to provide up to 400 personnel to assist emergency authorities or tasks including;
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: It’s fantastic to be back in Western Australia yet again, for what I think is my eighth visit to Western Australia this year, to be here in the beautiful city of Albany and to be a part of the rollout of a fibre-based National Broadband Network services. This upgrade that will be funded in the budget is $2.4 billion to make sure that an additional 1.5 million premises can be connected up to fibre based NBN services. It's about high-speed broadband, it's about bringing Australia into the 21st century.
GEOFF HUTCHISON, HOST: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Welcome to the studio.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good to be here.
HUTCHISON: David Rowe drawing in the FIN Review. Have a look at that. Had you and Katy Gallagher and Jim Chalmers desperately sandbagging the economy ahead of next week's budget, what is your most pressing concern?
OLIVER PETERSON, HOST: In just five days, the Federal Government will hand down its first budget since coming into office in May. Since then, interest rates have increased on five occasions, they're tipped to go up again next month, and inflation is soaring. The nation is in the midst of a cost of living crisis. Unemployment numbers today sit at 3.5%. Just 900 jobs were added last month. The Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese joins me live here in the 6PR studios today. Welcome back to Perth.
The Australian Government is fully committed to delivering the Western Australia Comprehensive Cancer Centre, to provide world class care and better health outcomes for people with cancer.
Cancer is the leading cause of death by disease in Australia, and in Western Australia three in every ten deaths occurs as a result of cancer.
The new centre will improve patient survival rates, enhance quality of life, and help reduce the necessity to travel long distance for treatment.
Establishing the centre will create around 500 new jobs during the construction phase.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Can we begin by speaking briefly about the floods. This morning we've had the opportunity to visit the communities of Deloraine and Latrobe, following Monday, my visits to Forbes and Parkes in western New South Wales, and then on Sunday I visited Bendigo and also Rochester with the Victorian Premier. What I have seen throughout Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania is the devastating impacts of these floods. My heart goes out to the communities who have been impacted.
Australia and Singapore have signed a first-of-its-kind Green Economy Agreement (GEA).
The landmark bilateral agreement between Australia and Singapore—our largest two-way trading partner in Southeast Asia—will support Australian businesses to seize economic opportunities presented by the global clean energy transformation.
The GEA builds on existing cooperation between Australia and Singapore to take action on climate change and strengthen trade and investment in clean energy across our region.