Press conference - Parliament House, Canberra

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning. Firstly, I want to recognise three parents who join us here this morning. Mia Bannister, whose son, Ollie, lost his life last year. Ollie was just 14 years old. Robb Evans, whose daughter, Liv, lost her life in 2023. Liv was just 15 years old. And Emma Mason, whose daughter Tilly lost her life in 2022. She was just 15 years old. No parent should lose a child at that age. Mia, Robb and Emma are three parents, but their stories are felt by countless other parents and by communities right across the country.

Albanese Government protecting kids from social media harms

The Albanese Labor Government is backing Australian families, parents and kids by announcing today YouTube will be included in its world-leading under-16 social media laws.

Delaying access to social media, including YouTube, until the age of 16 will protect young Australians at a critical stage of their development, giving them three more years to build real world connections and online resilience.

Radio interview - Triple J Breakfast

CONCETTA CARISTO, HOST: Right now we have a very big special guest to say hello to. Good morning, Prime Minister.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning. Good to be with you.

CARISTO: Yeah, thanks for coming on. Now, we've just had the Hottest 100 of Australian Songs go down on Saturday. You were listening. What did you think of the countdown? Where were you listening from?

Government continues to make medicines cheaper

The Albanese Government is making cheaper medicines even cheaper – with legislation being introduced to Parliament this week that will mean a prescription on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) will cost Australians no more than $25 from 1 January next year.

The last time PBS medicines cost no more than $25 was 2004 – more than 20 years ago.

This is another key cost of living measure delivered by the Albanese Government.

Statement on the situation in Gaza

The situation in Gaza has gone beyond the world’s worst fears.

The position of the Australian Government is clear: every innocent life matters.

Every Israeli. Every Palestinian.

This conflict has stolen far too many innocent lives.

Tens of thousands of civilians are dead, children are starving.

Gaza is in the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe. Israel’s denial of aid and the killing of civilians, including children, seeking access to water and food cannot be defended or ignored.

Government moves to enshrine penalty rates protection

Millions of Australian workers will have their penalty and overtime rates protected under new legislation introduced to parliament today by the Albanese Labor Government.

Our number one focus is continuing to deliver cost of living relief for the Australian people.

We want people to earn more and keep more of what they earn – this protects that for millions of Australians.

The Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Penalty and Overtime Rates) Bill 2025 will prevent variations to awards that would reduce or remove an employee’s penalty rates or overtime rates.

Radio interview - KIIS FM

KYLE SANDILANDS, HOST: Prime Minister's here, everyone. Everyone up off your feet. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese now. Jackie, you're just about to pick him up. I hope he's not angry with me because I was supposed to ring Albo back, but he was in the middle – he was at the G8 summit. Then I was supposed to ring him and then I noticed on the news he was in China. I thought I better not interrupt with my rubbish while he's dealing with the Chinese president.

Albanese Government introduces legislation to cut student debt by 20 per cent

The Albanese Labor Government is today introducing legislation to cut 20 per cent off all student debts.

This will wipe 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 around $5,520 wiped from their outstanding Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) loans.