ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: This morning I attended and participated in the NATO Public Forum with the Belgian Prime Minister, with the Spanish Prime Minister, our hosts here at the NATO summit and also the Foreign Secretary from the United Kingdom. I then as well have had a number of successful bilateral meetings, including with the President of the European Commission and the President of the European Council.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: This morning I had a very successful meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Justin had rung me and congratulated me after the election and over the last couple of days we had a number of conversations. But this morning was an opportunity for us to further explore how we can cooperate with our common view when it comes to tackling climate change and the opportunities that it represents, but also having more social inclusion. We have very similar political perspectives and Prime Minister Trudeau has invited me to visit Canada.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Well it’s been a terrific opportunity to speak to the OECD today and to then answer questions from OECD members. People who’ve heard a speech which was emphasising the importance of inclusive growth, the importance of acting on climate change and economic reform, but also commending the OECD for its work. The questions I received during the forum were from the United States about the importance of climate action as economic reform going forward.
JULIE COLLINS, MINISTER FOR HOUSING & HOMELESSNESS: Can I start by thanking Centacare Evolve Housing and St Joseph Homes for having us here at this site today. I'm Julie Collins. I'm the Federal Minister of Housing, the Federal Minister for Homelessness and the Federal Minister for Small Business. And it's great to be here with my colleagues, Senator Carol Brown and Senator Catryna Bilyk. And of course, to have and welcome back to Tasmania, our Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese. This is Anthony's first visit back to Tassie post the election.
Today, I am announcing my intention to recommend to the Governor-General the appointment of four new secretaries of Australian Public Service departments.
LEIGH SALES, HOST: Prime Minister, welcome to the program.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good evening.
SALES: Do you wake up every day now and go wow, I just had a dream that I'm - wait, I am the Prime Minister!
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will travel to Europe from Sunday 26 June for the NATO Leaders’ Summit in Madrid. The Prime Minister will then travel on to France to accept President Emmanuel Macron’s invitation to meet in Paris.
The NATO Leaders’ Summit comes at a critical time. The conflict in Ukraine has significant consequences that reach far beyond Europe. Australia’s attendance also allows for engagement on strategic priorities for NATO engagement in our region.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, what's your main aim at the Summit? And how much stake do we have in this in terms of how it relates to security threats back home?
SABRA LANE, HOST: As you just heard, the Prime Minister is on his way to those NATO talks. In his third overseas trip since winning office just over a month ago, Anthony Albanese is also going to Paris to meet the French President and possibly to Ukraine. But he's left behind a domestic political headache with some crossbench MPs and senators threatening to block legislation because the Government's cut their parliamentary staff from four advisors to one. Before Anthony Albanese flew out last night, I asked him whether he was prepared to reconsider.