Q: Prime Minister, we’re here in Western Sydney where there has been considerable unease in the community about the Government’s response to the conflict in the Middle East and the issue of Palestinian recognition. If you are elected, will you act on the wishes of party members and recognise a Palestinian state?

Albanese:

We’ll act in accordance with the position that we have taken of principle – which is that we support two-states. We don’t believe that Hamas has any role in a future Palestinian state and we understand that this isn’t a time just for gestures, this is a time for real progress and one of the things that’s occurred during this debate is that there’s been too much performative actions and gestures and not enough real advance that makes a real difference to people’s lives.

Q: Recognising the Palestinian state is a performative gesture?

Albanese:

Quite clearly, we need to acknowledge that Hamas can have no role in a Palestinian state. That is my position. My position has been my entire political life has been the right of Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace and security.

It isn’t a matter of being on the sideline like at the footy tonight where you’re cheering one side because this is not a situation where that’s appropriate. Israelis and Palestinians both have an interest in peace and security.

The way that I have acted for a long period of time and my Government and we had some criticism from people across the spectrum, is to take that principled view to make sure that we always have our eyes on that solution and that’s something that the prospect of which has gone up and gone down and gone up and gone down again in recent times.

I think it is – it’s essential that out of this crisis emerges a better future for everyone in the region.

Israel has openly said it is annexing more Palestinian territory (which is illegal), has banned any aid from entering Gaza (which amounts to a war crime), is killing between 70 and 100 Palestinian civilians a day (a war crime) and has openly said it will follow through with Trump’s ethnic cleansing plan (a war crime).

Q: Campaigning in Fowler this morning, last time around, Kristina Keneally was parachuted in over the top of your candidate. Do you see why many people took it as arrogance and do you accept it was a mistake?

Albanese:

Yes.

Q: Donald Trump was on Air Force One said every country has called us. Have you or anyone in your immediate ministry contacted Trump or his administration in the last 24 hours?

Albanese:

Yes.

Q: Just before, when you were on stage, there was a bit of a grizzle where you were asked if you were going to the footy and said, “I’m not allowed to have fun in this job.” Serious question – do you feel straitjacketed in this?

Albanese:

Look, I wish I could go to the pub with my mates without any of you.

Journalist: We’re not your mates?

Albanese:

No, without security with some of you as well! There are people here who I’ve had really good engagement with. It’s a different dynamic. One of them is laughing right here. You know, you can catch up and stuff. There are restrictions in the job but that’s part of the deal.

That’s part of the arrangement and it’s an incredible privilege that I have and tonight I will be watching the Rabbitohs beat the Chooks on TV and I look forward to that. I’m watching it with Jodie and my son and Toto. All four of us are South Sydney supporters. Toto, in fact, thinks that little rabbit is actually a Toto symbol.

What “phenomenal offers” would Australia give the United States to lift the tariffs? (Trump has said he is open to hearing “phenomenal offers” which means that things are not going well, if he is bending already. But this is what Trump does – bends and reverse ferrets when things go wrong and pretends it is actually a genius masterstroke of negotiation. Which we all know it’s not, but people usually believe the story you tell them and Trump is amazing at selling himself)

Albanese:

What we’ll do is probably not make a phenomenal offer at a press conference but we’ll engage diplomatically in a considered way. That is what serious governments do. What we don’t do is, under pressure, make comments about defence being on the table and these comments that were made yesterday. Serious governments engage, government to government. That is what we have been doing.

Asked when he would “eyeball” Trump in person, Albanese says:

I’ve been invited to the United States, of course, and vice versa. I will go as soon as possible, but I make this point as well – I’m not getting ahead of myself here.

You know the first visit that I want to make after the election is to Government House in Canberra, to Yarralumla. I’m not getting ahead of myself. Elections are hard to win and there are four weeks left in this campaign and I know that for Labor, we’ve been in power, Australia’s oldest and greatest political party, but we’ve been in power for around about a third of the time.

So I’m not getting ahead of myself and I’m not making plans beyond May 3, except for, along with this bloke here, [Chris Bowen] the day after May 3 is of course May the fourth be with you.

He’s a Star Wars nerd, this guy.

Would Anthony Albanese lock Australians out of returning to Australia in the event of a border shutdown due to another global pandemic?

I’ve said clearly the Australian passport means something. I can’t commit to a blanket [opening] If someone is someone who is engaged in an act, potentially, of violence from Australia…

Q: We’re not talking about that, Prime Minister.

Albanese: You asked for a blanket commitment. I won’t do that. What I will do is put the principled position that I have, which I think is very clear.

Anthony Albanese held a press conference a little bit ago where he was asked about the cyber attack on superannuation funds, including Australian Super.

He said:

We will respond in time. We’re considering what has occurred, but bear in mind the context here. There is an attack, a cyberattack in Australia about every six minutes. This is a regular issue. With he have beefed up funding for the Australian Signals Directorate. We have worked, and I’ve sat personally in a round-table with all of the big banks, with the big financial institutions, with superannuation funds, and others, convened with our security ministers, along with our Communications Minister, Michelle Rowland. We’ll have a considered response to it, but the agencies, of course, work very strongly on it

A very big thank you to Glenn for allowing me that break. You have Amy Remeikis back with you now.

The leaders have done their main event for the day – kissing the News Corp ring and making announcements for western Sydney (even if some were hypothetical) and will now move on to the next steps.

Weekends on campaigns (at least this early in the piece) are usually a little quieter because they know no one is watching.

That’s it from me, folks.

Handing back to Amy, who’s just broken the world record for writing 800 words.

Column writing should be an Olympic sport.

Back you, golden girl ….

Anthony Albanese is still taking questions in Western Sydney.

He is asked to expand on his comment yesterday about the dangers of building a nuclear power station near Newcastle … because there are regular earth tremors in the region.

He insists the financial danger is greater than the danger danger:

The main risk with nuclear is shown by the fact that no-one in the private sector will touch it with a barge pole.