ALICIA PAYNE MP, MEMBER FOR CANBERRA: Good morning, everyone. I'm Alicia Payne, the member for Canberra, and I'm here this morning with Minister Katy Gallagher and with Sarah McDougall and her children, Eloise and Ryder, who have welcomed us into their home this morning to talk about how important it is to have flexibility and working from home rights for workers. As we know, Peter Dutton wants to take this away from public servants. He also wants to cut 36,000 public servants, because he has no respect for our hard-working public service and the important role they play in delivering critical services for Australians, but also in the good governance and good policymaking of this nation. His attacks on public servants are Canberra-bashing at its finest. It is driven by politics and nothing about the facts, because he knows how hard people work and what they're delivering for our country each and every day, but he's making these attacks because he's got no other policy ideas and he wants to target our city. Canberrans should be very concerned about risking a Dutton government, because it will offer nothing to our city or to our country. Working from home is an important requirement for the modern workplace and for modern families, and we've been talking with Sarah this morning about what it means to her family that she can balance her work with spending time with her young children, including while working from home. This is something that has been hard fought and won by workers, and something that shouldn't be rolled back. And of course, the APS is a leader for workplaces around the country, so to think that Peter Dutton would stop there is not the case. He is going to come after workers' rights in this country. And these are things that, particularly through the pandemic, a lot of workplaces were forced to adjust to allowing people to work from home, and we've seen great benefits in that, including productivity. So, I want to thank Sarah again this morning, so much for talking with us and sharing her story. And she would like to talk a little bit now about why working from home is so important to her and her family.
SARAH MCDOUGALL, RESIDENT: Hello, everyone. I'm Sarah McDougall. Having the flexibility of working from home is wonderful for me and my family. As a single mum of two kids, who are ten and eight, it's great to be able to have the flexibility working from home, to have different options. It means I can spend a little bit more time with my kids. It means I can be home for them, in case one of them is sick coming into the winter season, and it just means less time in the car, less money spent on parking, petrol, and, of course, all those lunches and coffee.
SENATOR THE HON KATY GALLAGHER, MINISTER FOR WOMEN: Thanks very much, Sarah. It's great to be here with Sarah and her children and with Alicia, really to hear firsthand about why working from home is so important. And we know it is a feature of modern workplaces, it should be a feature of modern workplaces. We're all in a search for talent, it's a very competitive labour market out there, and to be able to offer people, families, that flexibility is so important. Not just for our economy in terms of making sure that we've got a productive economy, but also for families in balancing up all of those extra demands. And when you are the sole parent in family and you've got two school aged children that flexibility is essential, and if you don't have it, you're often likely not to work. We know that women's workplace participation is the highest it's ever been under the Albanese Government, and part of that is the ability to work flexibly, whether it be working from home, part time arrangements, a blended, hybrid mix of in the office and at home. We know that women are taking up those opportunities and any attempt to wind them back is going to harm those families, but also harm that labour productivity that we're after to make sure that people are they who have the flexibility to choose or to move to new jobs, but also look at what those jobs offer, whether it's pay or flexibility or other conditions that make those choices real for people. So, it's great to hear from Sarah and again, to remind ourselves why working from home is so important. Happy to take any questions people might have on this or anything else.
JOURNALIST: Minister, is it reasonable that there are government agencies where 50 per cent of staff never come into the office?
GALLAGHER: Well, the conditions in the EBA mean that employees, public servants, have a right to request work from home arrangements, but that has to be approved by the managers, by the supervisors. So, in small agencies, in agencies where they've got workforces that are outside of – in regional or rural areas – yes, you will be seeing some of those results. But what that shows is that we are able to attract talent from around the country, and we are able to support employees with those flexible working arrangements. But I have asked the Public Service Commissioner to have a look at how the working from home arrangements are working across the public service, where they're operating well, if there's any issues with them, and he will provide a report to me. Because it's important that we keep an eye on what's happening, but also that the public service leads the way in working from home and other flexible working arrangements.
JOURNALIST: Just on something else. Last night, David Pocock launched his campaign for the election coming up this year, and many of the people that attended said that they previously had never felt represented by either the major parties. How do you feel representing one of these major parties at this election?
GALLAGHER: Well, I think I've been on the record a number of times, we take nothing for granted. You have to work hard to get the support of your community. It's always been the way. I don't think having an independent in the contest changes that. People in the ACT are educated voters. They know how to vote for who they like, and they will do so. And I've been fortunate enough, as has Alicia, to win the support of the Canberra community, and that's what I'll be doing again when we go into this election campaign.
JOURNALIST: Minister, have you seen the allegations of violence against women on CFMEU sites and by CFMEU connected figures? And what's your reaction to that?
GALLAGHER: Yes, I watched the report last night on 60 Minutes. I think the footage was horrifying. We all understand that violence against women in this country is at crisis levels, but to see it play out on primetime TV like that, in footage like that, is extremely distressing for everybody involved and for people who have suffered violence, either domestic, family, or sexual violence. I imagine last night was very, very difficult watching for them. I've made some comments about that. I've spoken to Minister Watt. He's spoken to the Administrator. And we'll be considering what any other steps need to be taken in light of what we saw last night.
JOURNALIST: What did you ask Minister Watt to tell the Administrator, and when did that conversation occur?
GALLAGHER: I spoke to Minister Watt last night after 60 Minutes, and it was really to explore what powers the administrator has to look at issues around violence, violence against women in this construction industry. And no doubt I'll be speaking with Minister Watt further today.
JOURNALIST: The administrator has made clear that his investigations into broader issues of corruption in the CFMEU, which are obviously linked to the employment of bikies and hence to domestic violence, have been hampered by the ongoing High Court challenge. Do you think that the government can step in with firmer legislation to cut that challenge off at the pass?
GALLAGHER: Well, we support the work of the administrator, and so obviously he will be speaking with Minister Watt about that. And the government will consider any issues that he raises, as you would imagine. But we are the first government that's actually taken the serious steps, passed legislation to clean up all of the issues that they've highlighted in the reports on 60 Minutes and in the Nine papers. We are absolutely determined to do so. There was new, concerning, horrifying, awful footage last night, and we need to respond to that as well.
JOURNALIST: We've seen reports about how high grocery prices are getting and the cost of living is getting. Is there anything that the government is going to do in the Budget to help with cost-of-living relief to bring prices down for everyday families?
GALLAGHER: Well, the fourth Albanese Budget will have a high premium on responsible economic management. Of course, cost-of-living will be front and centre, making sure that we are supporting households where we can, now that we're seeing inflation come back to the more normal range. So, you will have to wait until March 25 for that, but you will see a high price paid on cost of living, what we can do further to assist households. But also how we make sure we're paying down the Liberal debt we inherited and making sure that we’ve got room to make investments into those services people care about. I mean, the fourth Budget will follow the same path of the previous three, where we have done exactly that. Budget repair, paying down debt, delivering two surpluses, making sure we're getting inflation down, making sure we're getting wages up, creating jobs and supporting households with cost-of-living.
JOURNALIST: Hold on, did you bell the cat on a surplus, then, if you said it follows the previous two?
GALLAGHER: Well, we've delivered two surpluses, is what I said.
JOURNALIST: Further on the Budget, can we expect to see any extra support for mental health services for those in the wake of Cyclone Alfred? We've heard a lot of people in the Northern Rivers of New South Wales have suffered significant traumatic experiences during this latest event and are expecting support at that time.
GALLAGHER: We continue to work with the New South Wales and Queensland Government on the response to Cyclone Alfred, and you will see in the Budget the extent of the support that's being provided in disaster recovery and support for those communities. We provide payments, emergency payments, disaster relief payments. We'll work with New South Wales and Queensland Government about further requests that they have. We also of course fund Medicare, which has an entitlement to mental health supports, as you would expect, and that would be available to people in those regions. But if there is further that we need to do, we are there, actively engaged in those discussions with Queensland and New South Wales Governments.
JOURNALIST: Minister, there's evidence that underworld figures formerly involved in the CFMEU are still on construction sites without the same union banner. Should there be an audit of taxpayer funded infrastructure projects to ensure that there are not violent men ultimately receiving money that comes from taxpayers?
GALLAGHER: Well, I know Minister King has improved substantially, significantly, the processes is around reporting against Commonwealth investments into infrastructure projects. But again, I would say the administrator has our full support to examine any further issues and any areas of concern that he has that require action from the government. That is why we've got the administrator in there. That's why we've resourced the administrator to do that and to provide that information to government. I know Minister Watt has also been talking with Minister King about matters raised through the reports last night. And as I said, if there's further steps that we need to take, the Albanese Government remains absolutely ready to do so.
JOURNALIST: Does that include handing back CFMEU donations from recent years?
GALLAGHER: Well, that's a separate matter to the Government and its focus on taxpayer money. We've already made it clear about donations from the CFMEU from a party-political point of view, and that remains the case.
JOURNALIST: But what about past donations? Will they be handed back?
GALLAGHER: Well, I think the party – I'm not here as a spokesperson for the party, but my understanding is that there would be no donations from the CFMEU.
JOURNALIST: The Greens have offered to pass a suite of legislation that you guys have already announced, some of them election commitments, like the 20 per cent HECS. Will you take them up on the offer to pass them before the election, just in case there's minority government or you guys lose power, and if not, why not?
GALLAGHER: We'll be campaigning for a majority government at the election. So, that is our focus. The Greens like to stand up and sort of shout from the sidelines in non-sitting weeks. We have a very short Senate sitting week. We've got a Budget to hand down. We'll have other bills to get through. It always remains a chamber of negotiation about what can get done within that time, and it is very limited in the Senate. But I will be engaging with the Greens, as I do with all crossbenchers, about what we can get through the Senate that week.
JOURNALIST: Can I just ask, on the Sex Discrimination Act, when Labor came to power, they promised religious freedom laws and changes to the Sex Discrimination Act to protect LGBTQI students and staff. We've heard stories, and we've published stories, about staff and students who have had to leave Catholic schools, who have been sidelined at Catholic schools. Now, is Labor going to take any commitments to the election to either reform this? Is any progress on both religious freedoms and changes to the Sex Discrimination Act regarding those carve-outs completely iced with no bipartisan support? People at the last election said they felt hope, and now they've been completely abandoned.
GALLAGHER: Well, we had our commitments around that, and we've been unable to implement them this term. And that's a question best placed with Peter Dutton, who has spent the majority of these three years wrecking and saying no from the sidelines, and he's never met a culture war that he doesn't want to jump on and prosecute. And we've had to govern with the reality of that. So, I'll leave future announcements to the Attorney-General in this space, but I don't want to let Peter Dutton off the hook. We have tried, we have reached out, we had meetings to seek agreement with Peter Dutton, and he said no. And that unfortunately means that we haven't been able to progress that agenda through the Parliament.
JOURNALIST: Just on the Senate sitting. Medicare, your funding announcement has been agreed to, or at least in principle, apparently, by the Coalition. So, would you like to see if that can get through before we vote?
GALLAGHER: Look, we'd like to get legislation through the Senate. We have a lot of legislation still in the Senate. I don't think for a moment we believe Peter Dutton and his commitment on Medicare. It's an important part of our second term agenda, and we will be arguing for that over the course of the next couple of months. But what we can get through the Senate – it is a minority chamber, we have 25 votes, we have a very short sitting week that week and we'll see what we can get done.