SELINA WALKER, CHAIR, YERRABI YURWANG: Yuma. Dhawura nguna, dhawura Ngunnawal. Hello, my name is Selina Walker and this is Ngunnawal Country. Thank you for coming. And just want to acknowledge my elders, my Ngunnawal elders, and pay respect to my elders past, present, future. Make mention of my grandmother, Auntie Agnes Shea, who was the most senior Ngunnawal elder here, who passed two years ago. And in the spirit of Reconciliation, welcome to Country. So Ngunna yerrabi yanggu, which means you may leave footprints on our land, or in other words, welcome to Country. Just remember that when you walk on the land of the Ngunnawal people you're walking on the blood of my ancestors, so please tread lightly and treat it with respect. Thank you.
ANNE KIRWAN, CEO, MARYMEAD CATHOLICCARE CANBERRA & GOULBURN: It's always wonderful to hear Selina speak so proudly of her people and her connection to Country and culture. So, we're very blessed to have Selina on board with this proposal. So, I also want to start by acknowledging that we're meeting today on the lands of the Ngunnawal people, and pay my respects to elders past and present, and also welcome any other Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people who may be here with connections to Country. I was born on Ngunnawal country, and it is a wonderful place to live, work and raise a family. Welcome today to the steps of Mackillop House, which is Marymead CatholicCare’s crisis accommodation for women experiencing homelessness, with or without accompanying children. We opened the service during COVID and we're just about to celebrate five years of running this incredible program for the ACT community. My name is Anne Kirwan, and I'm the CEO of Marymead CatholicCare. We are the social services arm of the Catholic Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn, and since 1957 we have been delivering services to people in need across the ACT and surrounding New South Wales region. It's an absolute privilege to be here today to share our excitement and incredible appreciation for the funding we have received from the Commonwealth Government under the Crisis and Transitional Accommodation Program, which we call CTAP. Particularly want to acknowledge Senator Katy Gallagher, Minister for Finance, who's our Senator of the ACT; Dr Andrew Leigh is here with us, who's the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury, he’s our Member for Fenner; and Alicia Payne, who's the Member for Canberra. I also want to extend my thanks to our partners, Yerrabi Yurwang, in this, who's represented by Selina Walker, who is the board chair for Yerrabi Yurwang. And we also have Sue Webeck, who is the CEO of Domestic Violence Crisis Service, our partners. I want to thank everyone here for their unwavering dedication to this cause and ongoing commitment to women and children experiencing domestic and family violence. The Crisis and Transitional Accommodation Program, CTAP – the funding represents more than just financial support. It provides housing, which is a lifeline for women and children who are escaping domestic and family violence and who need safe, secure and dignified accommodation. With this grant, Marymead CatholicCare will partner with Yerrabi Yurwang and purchase seven homes in the ACT, increasing the supply of crisis and transitional housing to the social services sector in Canberra and ensuring more vulnerable families have a place to rebuild their lives. Our partners from the Domestic Violence Crisis Service will provide specialist guidance, including advice, risk assessments, security updates, safety planning, legal support, referrals and advocacy. This essential and lifesaving work is made possible only through collaboration. By working alongside Yerrabi and the Domestic Violence Crisis Service, we aim to ensure that women and children in our care, with a priority for First Nations families, will receive wrap around support that ensures their safety, security and long-term recovery. These partnerships are vital in turning crisis into hope and uncertainty into opportunity. This grant is one small step forward in increasing the supply of housing options in our sector, but we know so much more needs to be done. Sadly, more than one woman is killed every week in Australia by a partner or a former partner, and every three hours, a woman is admitted to hospital as a result of domestic and family violence. And 40 per cent of young people under the age of 25 report being exposed to domestic and family violence in their homes. The statistics are dire. With this data and its impact on our society, our young people and our community wellbeing. It is magnificent that our federal and local ministers remain focused on what is really happening in our community and what really matters. We applaud their commitment to our community and to Women and Children in crisis. Initiatives such as the CTAP fund demonstrate a desire for systemic change and ensuring that every woman and child who seeks safety can access supports that are culturally safe and that there is somewhere for them to go. Thank you everyone for making this possible, and we look forward to working together to continue to address this ongoing issue and improve the lives and wellbeing of children and families in crisis. Thank you.
SENATOR THE HON KATY GALLAGHER, MINISTER FOR WOMEN: Well, thanks everyone for coming today, and to Anne and CatholicCare and all the team here for hosting this event. I'm joined by Dr Andrew Leigh and Alicia Payne as the local members. And it's great to be part of a team that is really focused on how we can make a difference for people, particularly women and women and children leaving family and domestic violence situations. I think Anne's really covered all of the reasons why the Commonwealth is partnering with this announcement today. And can I just acknowledge the community sector partners – to Selina Walker from Yerrabi, CatholicCare, we’ve got Sue Webeck here from the Domestic Violence Crisis Service. These are organisations on the frontline, dealing every day with women and women and children in crisis. They are often operating on the smell of an oily rag. They are making good with what they have and making sure that every dollar stretches to keep that extra person safe that knocks on their door at five to five on a working day needing help, often with children in tow. Government's job is to look at how we resource this and how we tackle the big issue of family and domestic violence in this country, or how women are treated in this country, essentially. And we're trying to do that across portfolios, whether it be in legal assistance, social security, housing. You know, in the area where I'm Minister for Women, we are looking at every which way, including with my new portfolio of Government Services – how we provide payments and sometimes that that can put women at risk as well. We are looking at this across the board. We are investing as much as we can. I think we've done over $4 billion into women's safety, and in addition to that, we've put about $4 billion into legal assistance and providing certainty for those on the frontline providing legal support to families in crisis. So, our job is to resource it and to work with the community sector partners on how to make a difference to deal with those systemic, structural problems in our economy that mean that women are vulnerable, to constantly look at the way that government provides services to make sure we're doing everything we can to support women, particularly single women, those who are leaving violent situations, often with children in tow. Whether it be the Single Parenting Payment, Commonwealth Rent Assistance, programs like the Crisis and Transitional Housing Program, every lever available to government we are trying to use to make sure that we can keep every woman safe. The statistics that Anne read out are unacceptable in any country. The fact they are happening here is a national shame, and we need to work across the economy, across the community, to change this, to make sure that children aren't growing up in these situations and then perpetuating violence as a way that they understand, you know, goes on in family. So, I'm deeply committed to this. I know that there's more that we have to do. We have to find more resources. We have to look at how the service system can be supported by government. But we're genuinely putting our shoulders to the wheel, working with the community sector as those first responders to make sure that we can make a difference. I look forward to seeing and hearing about how these seven houses will be filled up – probably from day one, unfortunately. But what a difference it makes and hopefully supplements some of the crisis response we have here in the ACT. I'm going to hand to Alicia and Andrew to say a few words, and then hopefully Sue as well – and Selina.
ALICIA PAYNE MP, MEMBER FOR CANBERRA: Hi everyone. It's wonderful to be here today with Anne and the team and hear about the difference that the work that they're doing here makes to women and children in Canberra when they can find a safe place when they are escaping domestic and family violence. The statistics are absolutely dire and unacceptable, and we know that domestic and family violence is the leading cause of homelessness for women and children in Australia. This grant is about supporting Marymead CatholicCare to create between six to eight new dwellings for women and children in our region here in Canberra escaping domestic and family violence and giving them the chance to move on and rebuild their lives. And so, I'm really proud that our government is focusing on this, and we have a commitment to end domestic and family violence within a generation. And we are getting behind that with every policy we leave a lever that we have, as Katy has just said. And this grant will make a difference to women in Canberra, a huge difference to women and their children who need a safe place to stay. No one should have to choose between violence and homelessness, but too many women are facing that choice right now, right here in Canberra and all around the country. And the fantastic services here – also acknowledge Sue from DVCS and Selina from Yerrabi. Incredible work that they're doing. In spite of that wonderful work, they are forced to turn too many women away because they don't have the accommodation to provide. And this, you know, is about addressing that as part of a broad program around the country where we are wanting to build new dwellings for women and children to find a safe place when they need it most.
ANDREW LEIGH MP, MEMBER FOR FENNER: Thanks, Alicia, and it's a real privilege to be standing with Anne, Sue, Selina, Katy and Alicia on this important announcement. I remember as a child hearing a knock on our door one night. It was a friend of mine from school and his siblings and his mum who'd come to our house in order to escape family violence. That knock is a knock that will be heard in various places across Australia tonight, one of the places people will be turning to help is Marymead. This announcement provides more opportunities for women and children fleeing domestic and family violence. As a nation, we've done better in providing that housing, so, as Alicia so perfectly put it, women and children don't have to choose between homelessness and violence, the rise of women's shelters first and now better transitional accommodation. But we need to do more, and this is part of the Commonwealth Government's commitment as part of our broad national plan to end family violence. This is just one piece sitting alongside the education and alongside all of the other important that is being done to end the scourge domestic and family violence across Australia.
SUE WEBECK, CEO, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CRISIS SERVICE ACT: Thank you very much for everybody coming out here. I think we often talk a lot about women and children escaping violence, but what we know is that when they make a decision to leave, they haven't escaped. That the trauma and the impact that is felt by that woman and those children can last an incredibly long time, and the systems that become involved in that family's lives once they choose to leave are unimaginable. There are intersecting systems with the family law court, there potentially is intersection with criminal justice or civil justice. And when someone does not have a safe and supportive accommodation environment, that task becomes monumental, and it delays the safety of healing for that family. So, these new properties will actually create a place for people to heal. We can respond to people in crisis. We can support them into accommodation, but this accommodation is supporting them into a home, a home where they can establish, a home where they can begin to heal and they can create safety for their family. This is part of the community sector responding to the call to action of the National Plan. It is not simply a Commonwealth Government responsibility. It is the responsibility of States and Territories, and it is also the responsibility of community service organisations and every single community member. The work that goes into building a partnership with organisations is immense, and for organisations, which are running on the smell of an oily rag, that is an incredibly large investment to build trust, to build shared knowledge, to build shared understanding of the people that we exist to serve, and then to be bold enough to create an idea and to seek support for that. Without the leadership of CatholicCare, Marymead, this would not be possible. A larger community organisation getting in and backing smaller ones to ensure that we have fit for purpose community responses. Two in five children who have experienced maltreatment in their life report being exposed to domestic and family violence in their home by the time they were 15. Two in five. They are all of our children. They are our children's friends. They are our neighbours. They are the kids that we see riding their bikes on the street on Christmas Day. It is simply not good enough that we continue to allow this to happen, and this moment is a moment where we change the trajectory for a large number of children in the ACT to find safety, to find healing and to be emboldened to have the future that they deserve in this country. This isn't just a number. It isn't just seven dwellings. This is an immeasurable amount of impact in our community and lives changed, and so we are incredibly grateful to get to do this work, to work alongside partners in the community, but we are also incredibly proud to be trusted by the ACT community to reach out when they need support.
WALKER: As the proud Chair of Yerrabi Yurwang, we absolutely welcome this announcement and want to mention our CEO, Auntie Delaney-Thiele, who worked alongside Anne for this grant. These two strong women have done incredible work, not just in this space, but in lots of spaces. And the partnership between Yerrabi Yurwang and Marymead CatholicCare care is just flourishing, and it demonstrates that we can actually work together, being Indigenous and non-Indigenous, as long as the morals and values align. These houses do create, you know, immeasurable safety and change here in the community. And clearly, what we're doing is not working. And if we change, nothing, nothing will change. So, this is the first step towards a positive change for our families. And you know, you've heard the stats and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are more likely to be experiencing family and domestic violence. And so, this to be targeted at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is a great announcement. I look forward to future announcements. As mentioned, you know, this is only a small amount, and here in the ACT, as across the nation, there is a huge housing crisis, which does not help those experiencing family violence. And so, we need to build up a suite of houses to be able to meet that need, but we equally also have to stop the problem from happening. So, our women and children should not be escaping domestic or family violence. So, there needs to be more efforts put into like perpetrator programs, because our men clearly need the help so that we can actually eradicate this. So yeah, thank you to Katy and Andrew and everyone behind me. I can't remember all their names because names just run through my head daily. But yeah, thank you. Thank you so much to the Government for this. As I said, this is the start of something different. And as Sue mentioned, this is changing the trajectory for many, many families. So, thank you once again.
JOURNALIST: I might start with Anne if that’s alright. So, the six to eight figure that's been used, and can you give me a sense of what kind of housing types you're looking at? I imagine you might need a variety, given people in different life circumstances.
KIRWAN: Yes, certainly. So, the grant was $3.5 million, and Marymead CatholicCare is putting in half a million of its own reserves. So, we're aiming to purchase seven homes. They'll be diverse, and they will be sprinkled across the ACT in unknown locations. And we will be looking at townhouses as well as units, because units do offer increased safety for women in terms of inability to get access by the offenders. So, they'll be sprinkled. No one will know where they are, and they will just be people moving in as tenants and then moving out as they secure permanent housing.
JOURNALIST: And do you have a sense of it, might be difficult to tell at this point, but over sort of a fixed time period, how many different people you might be able to have through those properties? I imagine ideally, you'd have more than just seven and you'd have some turnover.
KIRWAN: Yeah, definitely. So, our expectation, depending on the size of the family, is the current waiting period for families that we have here at Mackillop House coming through, who are living in the townhouses of the rear of the property, they stay for an average of 18 months. And around that time, they offered housing through Housing ACT. So, our expectation is about an 18 month stay, give or take, a little bit shorter, a little bit longer, depending on supply. The real challenge is a lack of supply, which then means there's lack of options in terms of exit points. So, we'll continue to work with Housing ACT in terms of prioritising our families, but we are very hopeful that we will have constant throughput of families coming through, because as soon as someone else secures permanent housing, it creates an option for somebody else to move in.
JOURNALIST: And the expectation is by the end of the year, you'll have acquired these properties. Is that right?
KIRWAN: Definitely, we'll be looking to purchase them in the next six months. Hopefully the housing market will not increase in terms of price. We'll be looking to buy off market in the target locations in the ACT, which is the Woden, Weston area, Gungahlin, Belconnen and Tuggeranong.
JOURNALIST: A lot has been said here about this being one step in a larger journey. From your perspective, having a broader sense of the situation in the ACT, what share of resolving some of the housing pressures does this go to? I know you spoke a lot about the deep effect that it will have, but what share of properties do you think this kind of makes up for in the short form?
WEBECK: I think at this point, for the national crisis that is domestic and family violence, any announcement about infrastructure is incredibly positive. And we see a high flow of people through our emergency and crisis accommodation who may have little to no option in terms of private rental or potentially even public housing assistance. And safe places like this to stop after the escape and to settle and to rebuild and to create safety actually changes somebody's ability to then potentially return to the workforce and be able to actually move through other financial assistance means to secure private rentals. So, the diverse approach to this accommodation is actually the really exciting part, that it's not a very clear pipeline around where people are coming in and going out. It's actually working individually with people. So, seven properties in themselves is not going to solve our housing and homelessness crisis in relation to domestic and family violence, but it certainly will give a large volume of utility to the sector in order to be able to respond better for people that don't currently fit in the kind of system response pathway, and hopefully get people out of that emergency accommodation that is quite small and quite transient into something that is more stable a whole lot quicker, before potentially leaping into the next parts of the housing system.
JOURNALIST: I'm struck as well that there was a bit made around the need for sort of more dense housing options to provide that extra level of security. It's something I know the ACT Government is at various stages of looking at. But can you explain to me a bit more why it is that a focus on more density as part of the overall housing mix would be particularly helpful in these cases?
WEBECK: So, I think one of the unique things about this partnership is that we're talking about the design of properties from the very start. We spend a lot of resources, both advocating but also financial resources, retrofitting properties for people who may need additional security requirements because of the threat, an ongoing threat of domestic and family violence. We know that a large volume of deaths across the country are at the responsibility of a man using violence who is fixated. When somebody is fixated, they go to every means to be able to continue to control and use power over the person that they’re using violence against. When we look at simple systems like swipe card access, like underground car parking – underground car parking means you don't have a car parked on the street, which means that it's harder to locate a vehicle. Internal access to a building means that you decrease the risk moving from the building out into the community and back again, but also the visibility of the community around you. You can build community and safety within a complex for people, but also simply things like access points to that dwelling are limited. We're not, you know, on a big block that has a front door and a back door and ten windows on the outside of the property, or dark corners in a backyard. We've got a lot more safety and visibility. And it's one of the things that we often talk about, and we implore developers and private businesses to consider, how do you actually design for this at the start, so that we're not having to do it when we know that the rates of people experiencing violence are exponential? But also, it is a great gateway to building community for a family who may be incredibly isolated to have that kind of apartment or townhouse living environment.
JOURNALIST: I might ask the Minister if I can. I know there was a mention in some of your material earlier that there was a million-dollar commitment before the last election. That's now three and a half. So, has that money already been spent, or is that part of this pot as well?
GALLAGHER: No, that's part of this commitment, and it builds upon a whole range of other measures that we're putting in place right across the country. So, we knew this was an area of significant need. I think the extra money we've put in in Government is in recognition of that, and also that we're looking at different ways of providing support to the sector. We accept that $3.5 million for seven homes isn't going to answer all of the issues in Canberra, but it's going to provide some extra capacity whilst we work on the bigger agenda, which is to end violence against women and children in a generation.
JOURNALIST: You're in the position of being the Minister for Women as well as a Senator here. I wonder, can you reflect on the last three years and confidently say that you have started to turn the ship around? Because we have seen throughout the term, there have been figures still far too high, of unfortunately, deaths and also other disruption from domestic and family violence. But how do you reflect on that as you come up to the end of the term?
GALLAGHER: I would begin by saying, government can't solve the crisis of violence in homes across Australia. But we can provide leadership, and we can provide investment, and I think we've got a very strong record when we look at back over three years. This was an under-resourced, under-acknowledged area of need. We've come in, we've provided billions of dollars of investment. And those numbers seem big, but when they filter out into new housing, into new services, into staff, working with women, that's making a difference right now. We're also looking at structural things, as I said. So, we've increased Commonwealth Rent Assistance. We know that many women who have left violent relationships rely on public housing, rely on that. Single Parenting Payment, increasing that to the age of fourteen takes pressure off predominantly women lead, who are the head of those families. We've legislated Domestic and Family Violence Leave. We've got the Leaving Violence Payment. We're looking at all of our systems across the government. We're resourcing the community legal centres. We're investing $32 billion into housing, of which large proportions of that are going to women who require social or affordable housing. So, we've got a proud record, but there is much more to do. And we've got to start at the youngest possible age with some of the attitudes towards women we've got, that's going to take some time, but we're resourcing those programs in schools as well. There isn't a single solution, unfortunately, to this. I wish there was. I'm sure all of us wish there was, but it's going to take a lot of effort. As I said, the government, working hand in hand with the community sector is also part of it, listening to what these guys see every day, and trying to find the resources to meet some of those needs.
JOURNALIST: So, when do you realistically think we can expect to see some real, quantifiable change in some of the figures and some of the consequences that unfortunately people are experiencing? I know everyone would like it to end as soon as possible, but realistically, what are your hopes and expectations over the future?
GALLAGHER: Well, this has been a long-debated target, subject, in all of our discussions on the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children. We landed on, to end it within a generation. So, that gives you the acknowledgement that this is not something that you can say will be done in five years. It's a longer piece of work. But also, I think we have to start looking at other measures. In some ways, I expect some of those figures will get worse as more women come forward and trust the legal system and put their trust in services where they are prepared to report. At the moment, I'm not sure that's the case, and so statistics tell us one thing, but they don't tell us the whole picture. And service outcomes, access to housing, access to support services, access to programs and education, perpetrator intervention programs, how many people, how many men, complete those – they’re all data sets that will be kept an eye on.
JOURNALIST: And so may be the case that you need to come back and increase levels of resourcing as more people feel that they are confident enough and can trust the processes to make the very difficult decision to leave a violent scenario. So, I guess the question is, are you prepared for the fact that you might have to up the level of commitment here?
GALLAGHER: I think one thing I am certain of is that we need to do more in the sector and government. You know, one of our responsibilities is to find the resources to do it. And when we have conversations about waste and public spending, I would urge people to think about programs like this and the money that we've put into these types of responses. I don't see them as waste, I see them as essential.
JOURNALIST: A couple of questions for Sue, if I may, please. So, I know you've sort of touched on a couple of these before. How welcome is this federal funding, but also how important is it to get continued financial support so it's not all on your back moving forward?
WEBECK: The funding injection from the Commonwealth is – we can't underestimate how significant that is. When you start to think about the Commonwealth investment across a large array of sectors, the investment is quite considerable. What we feel on the frontline of that is quite minimal. So, when you start to look at the scale of the issue, but also the diversity of how people want to access support, where they're coming to in the service sector. We are not feeling the joy of large volume financial investments. This is an infrastructure investment. So, without the support of the Territory Government, any support and engagement that we have in this is coming from our existing resources, which we already know don't stretch to meet the demand that we're seeing every day. It is a very difficult position to be in, to know that when you turn up to work every day, there will be at least 40 per cent of people who reach out for support from our organisation who we won't be able to respond to that day. That people will ask for a critical response to their support needs, and we won't be able to actually do that for a week or two, until we have the space in order to write that support letter, to write that referral, whatever it might be, we continue, I think, as a community, to play into a game of politics that we don't necessarily understand, which is we all get really excited about these large new investments into the community. What we aren't understanding is actually that we need the investment in the existing supports. We're framed in an idea where we think that new is going to mean we can solve. But actually, we’ve never had a fully-funded baseline service intervention. And if we actually had a fully-funded baseline existing service system, we would then be able to tailor exactly what else is needed, rather than propping up an under-resourced, unable to continue to function sector across the country, really, by inviting new initiatives in and new organisations in and new pathways which actually creates a larger administrative burden. So, it is an incredibly welcome investment in the ACT community. We are also deeply urging investment in the existing service system so that they can appropriately support new initiatives.
JOURNALIST: Just lastly then, you’re joining with two other services. Is this a necessity to keep the lights on because one group can’t do it alone, and is this something we see often?
WEBECK: I don’t think we see this often enough. Building deep, engrained partnerships with organisations takes trust, it takes resources, it takes shared values and shared vision. We are not able to solve the domestic and family violence crisis purely as primary response agencies. We’re not going to be able to do that. We need to invest in partnerships with the broader service sector to use their skills and their expertise to complement the work that we do, and vice versa. And actually, that is indeed what State and Territory Governments need from us and what the Commonwealth needs from us, because we can’t do this alone. The solution to this problem is actually the sum of us. It’s no individual one of us. And we need to be confident, and I think we need to be bold in trusting investment and partnerships across the sector, rather than feeling vulnerable potentially around sharing our expertise or losing a little bit of our community standing or expertise by sharing that with another organisation. But the reality is that people feel safer with different organisations in our community and there should be no wrong door when someone is reaching out for support, when they’re experiencing domestic and family violence. So, partnerships are key to actually working towards achieving the outcome of ending gender-based violence in one generation.
JOURNALIST: Dr Chalmers has said it's a battle of the suburbs. Does that mean people in the bush will be left behind when it comes to the upcoming Budget announcements?
GALLAGHER: I think you know from the last three budgets, that we've made decisions across the country, really. How do we help people, regardless of where they live? I think it's fair to say people in those outer suburbs have been really feeling the pinch of those interest rate increases. So, it's great that interest rates are coming down, but our cost-of-living help has been targeted across the board to help people with those costs, and it's an approach that will continue in the next Budget.
JOURNALIST: The Treasurer has been up North. Has that affected the Budget planning?
GALLAGHER: Well, the Treasurer has obviously some local responsibilities. It's been really important that we've had the Treasurer in Queensland as the emergency unfolded, not only for looking after his own backyard, but also being able to give us information in real time about what's happening, how much effort or investment is going to be needed to help those communities rebuild. And with the marvels of modern technology, we have been able to keep in touch throughout that, including a briefing from Dr Chalmers and his Queensland colleagues to the Cabinet on Tuesday.
JOURNALIST: Yes, Cabinet met [on Tuesday]. What came out of those discussions?
GALLAGHER: You know, Cabinet is obviously confidential, but I think it's pretty clear that we did get a thorough briefing on the major weather event in South East Queensland and Northern New South Wales, including from the National Emergency Management Agency, and really took perspectives right across the government about where, you know, where there were pressure points and how much we all needed to move in lockstep, particularly with state governments. So, you would understand a few days after that big event that that would be the main focus.
JOURNALIST: I have actually a local question in your senatorial capacity, David Smith is not here for me to ask this question to him. You think Simon Holmes a Court is playing a bit of a game getting out to the Press Club and saying, we've got really encouraging polling from Bean, not releasing what those figures actually are. Is he trying to pump up Jesse Price's tyres there?
GALLAGHER: Well, you wouldn't be surprised that you've got somebody who's running a political campaign telling people how popular they are. I don't think Simon Holmes a Court would be the first person to do that all the last look, I think everyone here, certainly with Andrew, Alicia, Dave and I, take nothing for granted. There's big money coming into the ACT. That's come from Climate 200 mainly, that started last election. I would expect it to continue this election. We haven't seen that sort of money in the ACT before, and that's a matter for Climate 200 to explain. But we take nothing for granted, really. We've got to work hard. We've got to be on the doors, on the phones, talking to people about what matters to them. It's Medicare, it's cost-of-living, it's housing, it's public service job cuts here. They are the main issues that people raise with me and Andrew and Alicia, and they're the issues that we need to respond to.
JOURNALIST: Did you expect it, or would you like to see the organisational wing of Labor redirect some of the resources to the ACT for both David Smith and for yourself to try and match some of that effort?
GALLAGHER: I mean, I think this is something that the electoral reform bill is trying to deal with. I mean, we've got to put a limit on how much money can come in and try to sway elections. I mean, the senate seat in the ACT saw almost $2 million spent on it in the last election alone. I expect that will continue. I think there will be big money put behind independent candidates in all of the seats, particularly with a focus on being as we've heard, and this is what we've got to try and manage. Is this what people want? Do they want just big spending campaigns, or do they want candidates that can actually deliver those outcomes, whether it be housing, Medicare, stopping those public service cuts that would devastate this city? Thank you.