Senator the Hon Katy Gallagher

SENATOR THE HON KATY GALLAGHER, MINISTER FOR FINANCE: Well, it’s great to be here with my colleagues, Andrew Leigh and Alicia Payne, to be part of this important milestone for the National Security Office Precinct. This is a very significant build for the nation’s capital, but also a very important construction project for the city of Canberra. This is going to be a building of national significance. It is going to be the first time we have a national security, purpose-built building for these agencies in the Parliamentary Triangle. We know that it is needed. It was a project that was not funded by the former government, but when we came to government and recognised the importance of it, we put funding in the first Budget to make sure that this building could get built, as national security agencies had been recommending. So, this will be a construction for the next three to four years. Obviously, it’s in a prime position in the Parliamentary Triangle. There’ll be thousands of workers on this site, 10,000 overall through the course of the project, and importantly, opportunities for about over 200 apprentices run by Lendlease, which also has a great program to support women in construction. So, I think the opportunities that come for people who are interested in the trades, they should keep an eye on this project here in Canberra, because it’s an opportunity on a project they’ll probably never get to work on again. But really pleased to be here with my colleagues, and to have been a part of a government that’s funded and made this building a priority. Happy to take questions.

JOURNALIST: Be good to have light rail running past.

GALLAGHER: Well, obviously we’ve partnered with the ACT Government to ensure that light rail gets through to Commonwealth Park and then obviously working with them on the project through to Woden. But this is a big employment base, this part of Canberra, so it makes sense to make sure that public transport is connected into these large workplaces. Obviously, we’ve build the car park as the first stage of this project, that is now operational and being used, just over near the National Gallery, and that’s freed up this site, which was a surface car park for this important building.

JOURNALIST: The Coalition wants to remove work from home for public servants. What do you make of this policy? Do you think it’s a good idea?

GALLAGHER: Well, for a start, I think we should have policies for Australia that work for Australians. And I think copying policies from another country, in particular the United States, isn't really applicable or shouldn't be applicable here. We should have a contest over what policies are right for us. We know that working from home arrangements are a part of modern workplaces. It's allowed the public service to employ people from outside Canberra, for people in regional and rural towns who probably never thought they could work for the public service have been able to do so, and we know that for modern families or for working families in the modern era, working from home arrangements help them balance a whole range of other priorities. I asked for a review of the working from home arrangements by the Public Service Commission a couple of months ago, just to make sure that we are keeping an eye on how it's working across the APS, if there are any challenges with it, but also, what are the benefits that come with it? The anecdotal feedback from managers, to me, is that it's working well. It's allowing agencies to recruit and retain people, and that all operational needs are being met. So, I think the Coalition's announcement is really cheap politics, trying to get a headline rather than genuinely looking at what the public service needs and what employees in the public service and employees and families across the country need.

JOURNALIST: The National Accounts are out today. Are you expecting stronger growth figures?

GALLAGHER: We'll see what those show when they're released. I see that the economists – the consensus is that we continue to see the economy grow. But growth has been subdued over the last couple of years, when inflation has been high and interest rates have been increasing. But what we've got now is we've got inflation coming down, unemployment at pretty low levels, we've got wages going up, and we're seeing interest rates coming down. So, I think all of those indicators point to a promising future, and that we have turned the corner and been through the most difficult of those times.

JOURNALIST: How confident are you that that narrative will sink in with voters? We've seen incumbent governments around the world, in the US, UK, Germany, kicked out over the cost-of-living crisis. How confident are you that you can buck that trend?

GALLAGHER: Well, we've always made decisions based in the national interest and based on what Australians need. When inflation was high, we looked at how we could provide cost-of-living help that didn't add to inflation but really genuinely helped households. So, energy bill relief, investments in childcare, investments in Medicare, free TAFE, all of those policies were designed to help families, help households through this time, and we'll continue to make those decisions in the national interest. And I would say our opponents have opposed all of that cost-of-living help. So, we know that if they had got their way, these times would have been a lot harder on households than they were because of the decisions that we took.

JOURNALIST: It's a week to the day until Trump's metals tariffs. How confident are you of an exemption, and has the government done any modelling of the economic impact if we don't get an exemption?

GALLAGHER: Obviously, a lot of work is underway in relation to some of the announcements made by the US. We've had very close engagement through the Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, Defence Minister, the Treasurer was over there last week making the case. We think we've got a very strong argument for an exemption from any tariffs that the US put on and will continue to argue that. A lot of effort is going in. But you would expect that all of our agencies and all of our ministers are working really hard on this, including any impacts from some of the decisions that have been taken around global trade over the last few days.

JOURNALIST: The Canberra Liberals have announced a 19-year-old as their lead candidate against you in the race for Canberra. What do you make of your competition?

ALICIA PAYNE, MEMBER FOR CANBERRA: Well, honestly, I'm pleased to see I finally have a candidate from the Liberals announced. I think it's important to see people running in the election. It's a democracy and I welcome the contest of ideas and the discussion we're going to be having with the people of Canberra in the next couple of months.

JOURNALIST: Something that came up in Senate Estimates last week was that a lot of the people who are in so-called diversity and inclusion positions within the public service are actually volunteers with other substantive roles. If a future government was to try and rid the public service of those roles, as they've suggested they'd like to do, how hard would that be? Is it actually possible?

GALLAGHER: Well, I guess the Opposition have been clear that they're going to sack 36,000 staff. So, that's the first big risk facing the public service. When we came into government, the public service was hollowed out. It didn't have the capability it needed to do the job. We were coming out of Robodebt and the scandal that had been imposed on hundreds of thousands of Australians. And we've spent the last three years rebuilding the public service, rebuilding capability. Part of that is about being an inclusive employer. We know that the global march for talent is a real race. And if we want the best minds, the brightest minds, people who want to come and work and dedicate their career to the public service, we need to be a good employer. That means that we are inclusive and that we have a public service that represents the community that we serve. We know that that is the best form of public service. So, some of those roles that the Opposition are looking at – and it's not clear if they're part of the 36,000 or whether that's on top of that, they're then going to cut other roles – is about people who do go over and above their other jobs. So, they're the champions of networks. They involve themselves in these arrangements on a volunteer basis. We think it's good. We think it strengthens the public service. We think it means that we can attract people with a disability. I went to the neurodiverse champions’ network last year. People with a whole range of backgrounds and skills are needed as public servants. And the work is complex, it's getting more complex. Look at this building and the people that are going to be working in this building, we need people from all sorts of backgrounds, from all over the country, to want to come and work in the public service. And I think when you play cheap, imported politics, as Mr Dutton is wanting to play with the public service, you're not going to have a public service that's able to do its job.

JOURNALIST: Are you concerned that there are big government contractors at the moment who are walking away from initiatives like that, that are kind of mandated under the Commonwealth Procurement Rules? I mean, the obvious one being Accenture, but there are a number of others that have been that have been noted over the last week or so.

GALLAGHER: Well, we expect people who are engaging in Commonwealth procurement to follow the rules and requirements and the laws of this country. And that means for some of those corporate players where they have made changes overseas, those changes can't be implemented here. The obvious one is our requirements under WGEA or the Workplace Gender Equality agency – that is law. I mean, those companies have to abide by the law of Australia and our Commonwealth Procurement Rules and guidelines.

JOURNALIST: So, would you expect Accenture to toe the line or lose work?

GALLAGHER: Well, they have to abide by the rules and guidelines that are operational in this country. And Commonwealth procurement is an important lever that we have. We spend $70 billion a year through Commonwealth contracts. We're looking at how we can strengthen that to make sure that the purchasing power of the Commonwealth is used for other benefits. And we will continue on that path. We're not going to follow the same path as other countries where it's not applicable and not right for this country.

JOURNALIST: The thousands of public servants coming to Barton, people are concerned that the CBD is being abandoned by the APS.

GALLAGHER: Well, I mean, Civic is, and the centre of Canberra is, still a big employment base. Obviously, the Commonwealth property – how we engage in leases, decisions that are made are on commercial terms. This building needs to be in Barton. It needs to be in the Parliamentary Triangle. There isn't a lump of land like this in other centres, particularly the proximity to Parliament. So, I would say Barton is always going to be a big employer but so is Civic. And the city is going to continue to grow the more we connect it with light rail and transport corridors and facilities, the stronger both of those centres will be.

JOURNALIST: Are there any departments or agencies looking at new leases in the city that you're aware of?

GALLAGHER: Look, honestly, I can't tell you that. Leases come up all the time, and they go through a process with the Department of Finance. So, they do come across my desk eventually, but it's usually at the end of the process, once they've gone through value for money and all those kinds of exercises. We have thousands of leases around the country. So, I can't honestly tell you that. Probably there will be many lease negotiations underway. I can try and find out for you, though, if there's anything more I can say.

JOURNALIST: Minister, you're one of the prime minister's closest confidantes. What's the thinking around Cyclone Alfred and the election timing? Will it affect when the Prime Minister calls the election?

GALLAGHER: Well, when the PM calls the election is a matter for him. Obviously, we are very concerned about Tropical Cyclone Alfred. The PM is there in Queensland today. Our priority is people's safety and making sure that if the state of Queensland or New South Wales need any assistance, that the Commonwealth is there ready to provide it. Queensland has asked for some sandbags. We're providing that support today. We've moved assets into that area. The Minister for Emergency Management, Jenny McAllister, is on the ground. We've got Tony Sheldon in New South Wales. So, I think you can see our priority really is how we respond and support those communities and make sure that everything that the Commonwealth can be doing is being done in that area. Thank you.