Television interview - Sky News first edition

PETER STEFANOVIC, HOST: The Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, joins us live now. PM, what a moment. What a morning.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: It's just fantastic. Uplifting as the last fortnight has been. These amazing athletes, and not every one of them had a medal as they came down the steps, but every one of them was worth their weight in gold. They've done Australia proud. Our most successful team ever. But the character of the team, I think, really shone through. And the way that they've engaged, the embracing of their family and friends and supporters and volunteers who are here. It's an incredible day.

STEFANOVIC: Did you have a moment of the games? Was there a medal or even a non-medal moment?

PRIME MINISTER: Heaps. Well, I think a medal moment was the Opal's bronze medal match. Where what I liked was the fact that Lauren Jackson, who I've known for a long time, our greatest ever basketballer, there on the sideline just cheering on - she can't have been more excited, and that said to me a lot about the Olympic spirit. The Fox's entourage, all diving in when Noemie won, joined her sister Jess in winning the Gold. I've met their father here today and you know what a proud dad he is.

STEFANOVIC: So you might not be Prime Minister in 2032 when the Brisbane Games are -

PRIME MINISTER: Anything's possible.

STEFANOVIC: We are quite a way off, but I mean, look, are you happy with -

PRIME MINISTER: I'll still be in my sixties, which is relatively young for world leaders these days -

STEFANOVIC: That's very true, actually. So, I mean, any concerns about how that's shaping up? There's a huge fight over infrastructure at the moment.

PRIME MINISTER: It'll be great. I remember Sydney in the lead up to 2000. Eight years out in 1992, there was all this carping from the sidelines. Australia will get it done. It's what we do. And it will be a fantastic games of which we will be so proud, and it will once again showcase us to the whole world.

STEFANOVIC: What about funding now? I mean, I know I asked you this the other day, but I'll get you now that we're in person again. We've done so well, have you got all these sports now with their hands out going, 'Right, well, we've got to keep this momentum going, we need some more money?'

PRIME MINISTER: We've done it. We put $20 million on the table for the lead up to the Olympics, which just helped people like Noemie Fox go and get that international competition that was needed to provide that support. We've got $250 million for the Australian Institute of Sport. It was falling apart. It was left to decay there in Canberra, and that's so important for so many Olympic sports. And we have record funding for not just Olympians, but Paralympian's as well over the next two years that we announced in the lead up to the games at the PM's dinner that was held there in Melbourne in the lead up to the games. So we'll provide that support because it's important. When we think about the health budget, every dollar we put in a sport helps lower the health budget because people getting out there on the netball courts, on the athletics fields, in the swimming pools, on the footy fields, whatever it is, is a good thing. We need to get our young people off devices, get away from the TVs, even watching Sky, away from the TVs, what they're watching, and out on the fields on the weekend and during the week.

STEFANOVIC: I'm all for that. Now, I know you're going to go back to Canberra, but a couple of notes to this morning outside of the Olympics. I had Peter Dutton on the program a little earlier. He wants to stop on Palestinians coming here from wartorn Gaza. He wants to stop. Your thoughts on that?

PRIME MINISTER: Even on a day like today where we're just celebrating and coming together as a country -

STEFANOVIC: Well, to be fair, I asked him about it, so he was responding to a question.

PRIME MINISTER: Peter Dutton is always looking to divide. We'll listen to the security agencies when it comes to national security, and the Director-General, Mike Burgess, will play a critical role in that. And, you know, I seek to try to bring people together, not always looking for a wedge or to divide.

STEFANOVIC: Why not refer it all to ASIO?

PRIME MINISTER: They are.

STEFANOVIC: Why not have ASIO decide every entry, every visa -

PRIME MINISTER: Guess what they do? There's security checks.

STEFANOVIC: So you think there shouldn't be a stop? At least a pause -

PRIME MINISTER: There's security checks. There's security checks. What I think is important, but what the Director-General of ASIO thinks, who commented on this just on the weekend, is pretty important too, I would have thought.

STEFANOVIC: Ok. Final one, I know you're a music man. Bluesfest.

PRIME MINISTER: Bluesfest, the last one.

STEFANOVIC: Yeah. Got a thought on that? I mean, didn't have a great time there last time.

PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's been fantastic over such a long period of time. And it's an important tourism event for Byron Bay in the north coast of NSW as well. People come from all over the world, as well as from Australia. They don't just stay for a few days, they stay for longer. So that's a commercial decision, I assume, that's been made. But I think it's a pity.

STEFANOVIC: Yeah, all right. Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese. I know you're good to go. Thanks for sharing some of your time with us. I've got your team behind the camera there going, 'Hey, hurry up'.

PRIME MINISTER: Parliament starts at nine, which is about now.

STEFANOVIC: Yeah, thanks for spending some time with us.

PRIME MINISTER: Parliament and Laura Jayes are about to begin.

STEFANOVIC: And on that note, that's our coverage for now. Over to you, Laura Jayes.

LAURA JAYES, HOST: That's alright, you are very welcome to go over my time -

PRIME MINISTER: I just gave her the intro.

JAYES: A Prime Ministerial intro to AM Agenda, and that is entirely suitable.

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