The Australian Government is pleased to recommend to Her Excellency, the Governor-General, that Abigail Bradshaw CSC be appointed as the new Director-General of the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), succeeding Rachel Noble PSM.

Subject to approval by the Federal Executive Council, the change will take effect on 6 September 2024.

CHRIS JONES, HOST: Well thank you, Prime Minister, and welcome to Townsville. You wouldn't want to be anywhere else today.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Absolutely. I'll be going back to cold Canberra after this.

JONES: Don't know why you don't stay the weekend.

PRIME MINISTER: Very, very pleasant. I'll speak to my diary people about my schedule.

EDWINA ANDREW, FEDERAL LABOR CANDIDATE FOR HERBERT: It's an amazing day. I'm very excited myself and the announcements that we're about to hear, but to hand out to the people here who are going to be doing this, I'd like to introduce Senator Green, Senator Chisholm, Minister Plibersek, and of course our Prime Minister.

KATE JEBOULT, HOST: We have literally rolled out the big guns. The biggest gun in Australia, it is the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese. Good morning, Albo.

PRIME MINISTER: It is absolutely wonderful to be here in Townsville. It's a little bit warmer than Canberra, I've got to say.

JEBOULT: It's a bit toasty, isn't it?

PRIME MINISTER: Just a lovely day. It's great to be here.

MICHAEL CLARKE, HOST: One of the stars of that show, which you can catch on iview now, is the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, who is with us today. Prime Minister, welcome to the show.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning. Can I say this. So, the stars are the people who are doing the interviewing in this show. It's absolutely delightful and I do encourage people to have a look either in the weekly episodes as they drop out or all are available on iview.

CLARKE: Did they ask you some tricky questions?

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.

It gives me great pleasure to be back in Townsville for this significant event.

I’ve been to every single Bush Summit since the first one in Dubbo in 2019.

It is a catalyst for an important conversation, and I thank News Corp for its commitment to keeping it going. 

It’s a conversation about the challenges of the present.

In a major boost for the region the Prime Minister today announced the Albanese Labor Government will save the Great Barrier Reef Aquarium “Reef HQ” with an extra $100 million investment after the Liberals left it underfunded and doomed to fail.

The project is expected to create more than one thousand jobs and give an enormous economic boost to Townsville.

Australia is one step closer to establishing a Net Zero Economy Authority to ensure the workers and communities who have powered Australia for generations can seize the opportunities of the country's net zero transformation, with legislation passing the Senate today.

The global transformation to a net zero economy is a massive opportunity for Australia, its regions, industries, and workers.

The Albanese Labor Government is continuing to deliver on its commitment to provide greater support to Australian families by introducing legislation today which will pay superannuation on Government-funded Paid Parental Leave.

The introduction of the Paid Parental Leave Amendment (Adding Superannuation for a More Secure Retirement) Bill 2024 in the House of Representatives builds upon recent reforms which have made Paid Parental Leave more flexible, accessible, gender equitable, and which increase the length of the scheme.

It’s an honour to be here among so many incredible leaders, and so many incredible women.

Tonight we honour the extraordinary achievements of rural Australia's women leaders.

This is a night to recognise excellence — and to celebrate resilience.

A lot is asked of rural and regional communities like yours.  

We ask you to grapple with geography in a way most Australians will never have to.

But in facing these challenges — the volatility of the weather, the tyranny of distance — you show us what you’re made of.

You show us how you work together.