The Albanese Government today announces the appointment of Ms Jillian Segal AO as Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism in Australia, as part of our ongoing efforts to preserve social cohesion in Australia.

The conflict in the Middle East has deeply affected communities across Australia.

The appointment of the Special Envoy is a critical step in the Government’s efforts to ensure all Australians feel safe and included.

Every Australian, no matter their race or religion, should be able to feel safe and at home in any community, without prejudice or discrimination.

KRISTY MCBAIN, MINISTER FOR REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TERRITORIES: Well, good morning. It's a real pleasure to welcome you to Queanbeyan, the heart of the nation's capital. I'm just kidding. We're obviously over the border in New South Wales. But we're very excited to have the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, here and the Minister for Health, Mark Butler, to make this announcement in Queanbeyan today. Urgent care clinics are required right across this country, and it's no different here in Queanbeyan.

The Albanese Government is strengthening Medicare to deliver a better, fairer and stronger health system and responsible cost of living relief.

In just over 12 months, the network of Medicare Urgent Care Clinics has achieved an historic milestone with more than 500,000 free visits across the country.

Half a million presentations since the Albanese Government established the first clinics in June 2023, with Australians receiving treatment for a range of conditions and injuries that are urgent, but not life-threatening.

I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and I pay my respects to their elders past, present and emerging.

It’s great to be with you again this morning.

Last night’s awards were a fantastic celebration of the work that all of you do in every community in Australia.

And another reminder of the power and value of this forum - the opportunity it gives all of us in the Federal Government to demonstrate our respect and appreciation for local government.

The Albanese Government is getting on with the job of building homes for Australia, with successful recipients announced under Stream 1 of the $1.5 billion Housing Support Program.

A total of 80 projects across Australia will receive funding, including 73 local government projects and seven under the states and territories.

This funding will support master planning and development projects to accelerate housing supply and ensure residential growth in local communities is accessible, affordable and sustainable.

This week we delivered more cost of living relief to more Australians. Every single Australian taxpayer got a tax cut, not just some, meaning that 13.6 million Australians have kept more of what they earn.

Every household began to receive $300 of energy bill relief and 2.6 million award wage workers saw their third consecutive pay rise, backed by my government.

We know Australians are doing it tough and that's why we are providing cost of living relief and doing it in a way that is putting downward pressure on inflation.

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’s such a pleasure to be here with you. Even on the coldest winter’s night, you can be assured of a warm welcome here in Canberra.

When the Australian people gave Labor the privilege of forming government, one of our priorities was fulfilling our vow to bring the Australian Council of Local Government back to the table – where you belong.

The Albanese Government will invest at least $2 billion over the next decade to bolster Australia’s cyber capabilities with the announcement of a strategic partnership between the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) and Amazon Web Services (AWS) in Australia to deliver a Top Secret (TS) Cloud for the Australian Government.

This landmark partnership will see AWS establish a sovereign TS Cloud in Australia to deliver resilient information, communication and technology (ICT) services for the Australian Government, generating up to 2,000 local Australian jobs.

Today the Government will introduce the new Future Made in Australia Bill 2024 and Future Made in Australia (Omnibus Amendments No. 1) Bill 2024 to Parliament, a major step in making the Australian economy more prosperous and resilient.

This legislative package is a key part of putting our Future Made in Australia plan into action, so Australia makes the most of the major economic and industrial opportunities of the energy transition.

SARAH FERGUSON, HOST: Prime Minister, welcome to 7:30.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Thanks for having me back.

FERGUSON: Will Senator Payman still be in the Labor Party at the end of this week?

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Well that, of course, is a decision for her. She has made the decision that she can't be bound by what puts our team together. And I would like to see her re-join the team and that option is certainly available to her.