Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announces $6 million donation to Telethon

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese praised West Australians’ generosity at Telethon before setting an ambitious target for fundraising as he announced a $6 million contribution from the Federal Government.

Speaking to 7NEWS presenter Michael Usher, Mr Albanese said the Federal Government supported the world record fundraiser — the largest per capita Telethon in the world — because the research funded was universal.

“That’s a recognition of the work that’s done here to help the whole nation through research and everything else so it’s appropriate that the Australian government play our part,” he said.

Encouraging donations, the Prime Minister said WA should aim to raise more than $80 million for Telethon this year, trumping last year’s record total of $77.5 million: “Let try and put an eight in front of it”.

Announcing the Federal Government’s contribution the Prime Minister said every donation to Telethon was something to be proud of.

“People are so generous, whether it’s giving their pocket money, or the money from the piggy bank, or whether it’s people who could afford more giving more, people are incredibly generous. They are incredible.

“Your generosity in this state is extraordinary.”

Mr Albanese said the best part of the event was meeting children who benefitted from Telethon’s fundraising.

“They are so uplifting. They’re full of joy. They’re going through hardship themselves, and their families, and they’re just a joy to spend time with, and they’re so positive and vibrant about life,” he said.

“It makes you recognise that we need to value each other.

“The spirit of the whole of WA and the way that WA pitches in — this is the largest per capita fundraising telethon, not in Australia, in the world. It is extraordinary, and is something that West Australians should be really proud of.”

The Prime Minister attended the Telethon Ball on Saturday night, along with fiancée Jodie Haydon, donated a dinner with the pair at Kirribilli House — which he revealed sold for $100,000.

“I’m not sure how much was myself and Jodie, or the fact that Peter Gago from Penfolds, the chief winemaker, will be serving wine at the dinner, so it’ll be pretty good,” he said.

After his announcement, Mr Albanese made a surprise visit to the PerthNow phone room, where he took half a dozen calls from West Australians donating to Telethon.

Speaking again to Usher, Mr Albanese also answered a trivia question from The Chase star Issa Schultz, including whether he could spell “Joondalup”.

Joking after Usher asked if had ditched King Charles and Queen Camilla to head west for Telethon, Mr Albanese said he was darting back to Canberra to attend a welcome ceremony at Parliament House on Monday.