1. Prime Minister Albanese and Prime Minister Kishida met today in Perth and reaffirmed the vital Special Strategic Partnership between Australia and Japan. The leaders reiterated their commitment to realise a shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific region that is inclusive and resilient.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and His Excellency Mr Kishida Fumio, Prime Minister of Japan, have today signed a landmark Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation (JDSC), renewing a 2007 commitment to closer defence and security cooperation. 

The updated JDSC charts a path for closer cooperation between Australia and Japan over the next decade, reflecting the strong and growing strategic alignment of the two countries.

Australia and Japan have signed a new partnership on critical minerals to help build secure supply chains for critical minerals, which are crucial elements of clean energy technologies needed to help both countries meet net-zero commitments.

The new Critical Minerals Partnership was signed by Minister for Resources and Minister for Northern Australia Madeleine King and Hirohide Hirai Japan’s Vice Minister for International Affairs, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, during the Australian visit of Japan’s Prime Minister Kishida.

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.