Anthony Albanese is on a mission to ‘get things done’ in his second term of government

Anthony Albanese has explained how he will get the public service to act faster, declaring why Labor is in its “era of delivery”. See what his first priorities are for Australians.

Exclusive: Anthony Albanese will put a rocket under the public service to act faster and be “more efficient” in his second term, declaring Labor is in its “era of delivery” on health, education and economic reforms.

The Prime Minister says he is on a mission to “get things done” and wants foundational supports for children for autism to ease cost pressures on the NDIS, a new hospital funding agreement with states and an environment watchdog established within a year as he signals his government will speed up the rollout of major policies.

“There are things to be learned from the first term, some things took longer than we wanted them to take, and we want to address those issues,” he said.

In an exclusive interview ahead of the start of the 48th Australian parliament on Tuesday, Mr Albanese revealed he believed some bureaucrats had recently been too timid and overly cautious.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in his office at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“I think that there was a response from some of the public service to the Robodebt royal commission of everything being slower than it needed to be,” he said.

“I think the public service as well wasn’t valued by the former government, and had lost their confidence as well.”

Mr Albanese said this week Labor will introduce laws to cut all student HECS debt by 20 per cent, protect workers’ penalty rates and strip funding from childcare operators failing to uphold safety standards.

The federal government is hosting a productivity roundtable next month and Mr Albanese said while attendees “can raise whatever they like” he wants the process to produce “practical” measures to boost the economy.

“I would like to see a smaller number of initiatives with broader support rather than the reverse, where you have just a list,” he said.

Mr Albanese dismissed the significance of advice from Treasury accidentally released last week suggesting more taxes and lower spending was needed, saying it was not “unusual” for departments to produce such documents after an election.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese outlines his priorities in his second term of government. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

One issue he does want discussed at the roundtable is Labor’s plan to introduce a Commonwealth environmental agency, which was shelved last year as talks with the Greens and Coalition stalled and concerns from Western Australia scuppered the bill.

But Mr Albanese said given the plan was born of a review instigated by the former Coalition government, it should be possible to find political consensus on the issue.

“What does (an) agreement look like that produces better sustainability, but quicker outcomes,” he said.

Labor was returned to government with a thumping majority of 94 seats out of 150 in the House of Representatives, a result Mr Albanese said he believed the party’s success was largely down to its focus on cost-of-living relief though cheaper childcare, medicines, boosting wages and power bill subsidies.

He said getting those “fundamentals right” meant Labor could now bring Australians with them on “longer term reforms”

“This is the era of delivery, already we’ve delivered those things that we said we would do, I want to look back on delivering those as well as setting us up for delivering for the rest of the term as well,” he said.

Reflecting on his visit to China last week, Mr Albanese said he hoped the two countries could increase co-operation on green steel, which he said would be critical to ensuring iron ore mining remained “significant for our national economy”.

As so-called summit season approaches, Mr Albanese is expected travel overseas again for multiple gatherings of world leaders including ASEAN in Malaysia, APEC in South Korea, the G20 in South America and the UN General Assembly in New York, where it is anticipated Mr Albanese will finally come face-to-face with US President Donald Trump in September.

A Quad leaders meeting with Mr Trump as well as the leaders of Japan and India is also anticipated.

Mr Albanese said the Quad, which is widely seen as a forum for countering China’s influence in the region, would be “important”.

The PM reiterated that in his meetings with Chinese leaders last week he was “very clear” that Australia was an ally of the US.

Asked what his message to Australians was about his diplomatic agenda, Mr Albanese said he aimed to demonstrate Australia was a “reliable, consistent partner”.

“We are, I think, in turbulent times, we are calm and consistent about what our values are and we’re clear about our engagement and that means we can be trusted,” he said.

Originally published as Anthony Albanese is on a mission to ‘get things done’ in his second term of government