Television interview - ABC 7:30

SARAH FERGUSON, HOST: Prime Minister welcome to 7:30. ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good to be with you Sarah. Do you consider Labor's modest improvement in the polls to be an endorsement of your Budget tax measures?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, polls come and go. What's important is that we get the governing right, and these are tax changes that are really important. Everyone has acknowledged during this debate that the housing system was broken, and therefore we have to do something about it.

And what we've done is two main things in these reforms. The first is to give young people a fair crack at owning their own home. The second is a tax cut for every Australian worker.

What about the post-Budget falls in housing prices? Is that what you wanted to see, cheaper houses for first home buyers? PRIME MINISTER: No, the Treasury estimates are that house prices will continue to increase, but they'll increase by a lesser amount than they would have otherwise with these changes.

That maybe had been Treasury's forecast in the Budget, but the banks are now saying something different. The CBA is saying prices will be flat through 2026. NAB is saying there'll be a fall of 2 per cent across all the cities.

So, what about those people who are seeing a drop in the value of their own home? PRIME MINISTER: Well, Sarah, prices are impacted by a range of measures, including of course interest rates is a primary one. But those Treasury estimates are there.

We stand by them. What is important is that last Saturday when people went to buy their own home, if it was an existing property, they weren't competing against investors who knew that if they could bid an extra $20,000 or $50,000, then taxpayers would essentially be subsidising that by increased deductions. So, this is about making the system fairer.

People can still negatively gear new builds, of course, and that's about boosting supply. But this is a measure dealing with a system that was simply broken and there is no one in this debate saying that the housing system was working for people. We know there's been a 400 per cent increase in house prices since 1999, more than double the increase in wages.

And that's why we couldn't continue to sit back and not pursue this reform. But if the banks forecast, and they are of course the lenders with skin in the game, if they are correct in their forecast, are you saying that homeowners should just be prepared to take the hit for the good of the country? PRIME MINISTER: No, I'm not saying that at all.

I'm saying I stand by the Treasury estimates which are there and we stand by that, and we stand by the reform that is about giving young people a fair crack into home ownership. We've seen home ownership rates drop for younger Australians, and I don't want to live in a society that's defined by intergenerational inequity, by people from my generation having access to buying their own home and having the security that comes from a roof over your head, to people who are the younger generations simply giving up on buying their own home.

That is why this reform is so important and the estimate is that 75,000 additional people will get into home ownership as a result of this reform. I want to move on to today's move on the social media ban, or delay as the eSafety Commissioner prefers to call it. The majority of under-16s in Australia are still on social media.

The Commissioner says the legislation was introduced too quickly and on thin scaffolding. Did rushing it make the limited early success of this ban inevitable? PRIME MINISTER: No, this has been successful.

There have been five million accounts cancelled as a result of this reform. Importantly – You don't deny that fact that most under-16s are still on social media. Obviously, many of them held multiple accounts.

PRIME MINISTER: No, some are. And when we introduced the legislation, we said that was going to be the case. We said we weren't going to allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good.

And what has happened and it is I think very clear from talking to parents, is that parents have been empowered to have those conversations. The fact we're having this conversation now has changed the dynamic, the power relationship between these big tech companies and young people who are vulnerable. The reforms that were introduced into Parliament today won't be the last of them.

We have issues like the nudify apps and a range of things. We will introduce legislation later this year about Digital Duty of Care. We need to tackle what is evolving change and new technological developments, by definition.

We'll continue to act and that's why this legislation, which will strengthen the laws that are already in place, is a positive thing. And we hope that it receives the same level of support that our first reform did. Let me move on to some other news of the day.

Reporting in the Nine papers reveals new evidence of ongoing involvement of organised crime in Big Build infrastructure projects in Victoria. What guarantees have you received from Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan that billions of dollars in federal funding will not be syphoned off by organised crime? PRIME MINISTER: Well, we of course have no tolerance for organised crime, and it's appropriate that authorities take action.

When it comes to the CFMEU, I was Leader of the Labor Party for a matter of weeks, in my first month as leader, I expelled John Setka from the Labor Party. He took us to court and we won that legal action. We have put the CFMEU into administration, something that was not done by the former Government at all.

And yet, Prime Minister, here we are in June with new evidence of the involvement of organised crime in those Big Build projects. If I could come back to my question Prime Minister, have you sought any reassurances from Jacinta Allan that no federal money would end up in the pockets of those organised crime? PRIME MINISTER: Well, of course, and the Premier has made her position very clear as well of her opposition to any corruption, which is there.

It's appropriate the authorities take action. There needs to be, for corruption, some engagement of employers as well as people in these processes. And it's appropriate that the strongest possible action be taken.

And yet clearly from the reporting that we're seeing, whatever is happening it is not working. Do you want to find out how much the CFMEU's corruption has cost the state? Because the Premier clearly doesn't want to know the answer.

PRIME MINISTER: Well, we've put it into administration, Sarah. Do you want to know how much it costs the Victorian Government in corruption? PRIME MINISTER: We have taken the strongest possible action.

We have no tolerance whatsoever for corruption. So, how do you respond then to the fact that it's ongoing in Victoria? Strong evidence showing monies being paid from contractors to organised crime figures.

PRIME MINISTER: Where there is evidence of corrupt conduct in any area of Australian society, it's appropriate the authorities, the police take action, people are charged and people have the book thrown at them. It's that simple. If I may, the police can only take action if they have evidence to go on.

PRIME MINISTER: Well, you're quoting, Sarah, with respect, you're quoting a media report. There's either evidence or there's not. If there's criminal activity, there should be the strongest possible action.

Full stop, exclamation mark. Yes, but the Premier herself keeps urging people to go forward, she wants people to go to police, but is it realistic that individuals should be expected to go to police when they are talking about making reports of corruption against dangerous organised crime figures? Do you think realistically that is a way to stamp out that corruption in Victoria?

PRIME MINISTER: What's important is if there's corruption, that there'd be action taken. You have just suggested there's a report, I assume with evidence of corruption. That should be the subject of police action.

Today, Andrew Hastie said that multiculturalism has become a loaded political term, is what he said this afternoon. One of two extremes he described it as, along with Pauline Hanson's monoculturalism. Outside of the World Cup, how do you define multiculturalism?

PRIME MINISTER: It's who we are as Australians. And I thought that Paul Hogan nailed it today as well. We've never been a monocultural society.

If you go back to First Nations people, there were 400 First Nations in Australia. The First Fleet had people of Catholic, Protestant, Jewish backgrounds. You had people in chains and people in charge of people in chains as well.

We are a modern country that are multicultural in our nature. That means we have respect for each other. That means we're loyal to Australia.

And we also, though, respect that we're made up of, with the exception of First Nations people, we're all either migrants or descendants of migrants, in some way either directly or going back generations as well. And one of the great things about our nation is that I think we can be a microcosm for the world at our best, that shows that people of different ethnicities, different faiths, different backgrounds live overwhelmingly in harmony, and are enriched by our diversity as well as driven by our loyalty to the best country on earth, which is Australia.

And the Socceroos, I think, exemplify that through their actions. And I thought that their video that they did for SBS was Australia at its best, and we're all proud to cheer on the Socceroos. As we will again this Saturday morning.

Now, Pauline Hanson's support has gone backwards a little bit in the most recent polls. She's still the first choice for 29 per cent of Australian voters. Most people say she better understands them and their concerns.

Why do you think so many Australians take the view that you don't understand them? PRIME MINISTER: Sarah, what my job is to do, is to represent the national interest. That's what I do.

To respect every voter, and I want to represent the interests of every voter. Every Australian is entitled to have a government that does their best for them and their best for the nation as we see it. Pauline Hanson has had a long political career, but we have seen the rise of populist right-wing parties throughout the Western world.

That's something that reflects a range of changes, reflects a range of frustrations. What we need to do as a government and we are doing is address firstly and primarily cost-of-living pressures that are on people. They're real, and that's why in two days' time every Australian will get a tax cut.

Minimum wage workers will get an increase in their pay of some 6 per cent and award wage workers 4.75 per cent. And what we'll continue to do is have a laser-like focus on cost-of-living measures, because we recognise that people are doing it tough. So, is one of the lessons then from Andy Burnham's success in the United Kingdom, success in a by-election that's likely to make him Prime Minister, that you need to find a better way of communicating with people who are disaffected with mainstream politics?

PRIME MINISTER: With respect, Sarah, we didn't wait for a by-election across the other side of the world to be engaged with people who are disaffected from mainstream politics. It's a question of communication, Prime Minister. PRIME MINISTER: It's what my Government has been doing, and one of the reasons why I sit here as Leader of the Government, is because we have been concerned about those costs of living measures.

That's why I spoke about what's coming in on 1 July, that's why we went to an election last year and were successful, advocating for tax cuts opposed by the Coalition, advocating to cut student debt, opposed by the Coalition, strengthening Medicare, Free TAFE, all of these measures as well, to make a practical difference to people's lives without being distracted by some of the issues that clearly are still distracting the Coalition and what my job is to do, is to bring the nation together, unite the nation and to have strong economic growth, but make sure as well we have an economy that works for people and that's why we have taken on issues such as housing reform and tax reform that were put in the too hard basket for a long while.

Prime Minister, thank you very much. PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much, Sarah. PM&C acknowledges the traditional owners and custodians of country throughout Australia and acknowledges their continuing connection to land, water and community.

We pay our respects to the people, the cultures and the elders past, present and emerging.