Senator the Hon Katy Gallagher

SALLY SARA, HOST: Well, now that a preliminary peace deal has been signed between the US and Iran, will the Federal Government extend the fuel excise cut beyond June? It comes as cost of living continues to bite and a rising surge in the polls for One Nation. Katy Gallagher is the Minister for Finance, Minister for Government Services, the Public Service and Women, and joins me in our Parliament House studio this morning. Minister, welcome back.

MINISTER FOR FINANCE, KATY GALLAGHER: Thanks for having me on.

SARA: Is the Federal Government likely to extend these excise cuts? And does the preliminary deal between the US and Iran change the Government's thinking at all?

GALLAGHER: So, we welcome the ceasefire and the agreement that's been reached over in the Middle East. I mean, we've been calling for that for months, for an end to the conflict and we hope to see that hold. And we know the impacts of the war on the Middle East have hit home here and have really put households under pressure, which led to our decision around halving the fuel excise for a period of time. It was always meant to be temporary and fuel prices have certainly, you know, they're a bit below where they were before the war in the Middle East started, actually, helped by the fuel excise, but also the price of oil. This is something we keep under consideration. It was meant to be a temporary relief during this conflict. I think there'll be a tail to this conflict in terms of, you know, the impact on prices and households remains to be seen. So this is something, I think the PM said yesterday, we keep under consideration and, you know, if we make a decision that changes that, that will be relayed to people in good time.

SARA: If global oil prices, they've come down somewhat after the signing of this deal, if they stay down, does that mean, does that take away the argument for extending the excise in your view?

GALLAGHER: Let's see what happens from the agreement that's been reached in the Middle East. We saw the price of oil fall quite a bit yesterday, but it has been moving around a bit over the last couple of months. So, this is something we keep under active consideration. We want to help people with those, you know, these kind of sharp, you know, hits to household budgets. And that's why we took the decision to have it in place for three months. That comes to an end on the 30th of June. We're monitoring events in the Middle East and what's happening with the price of petrol. And if there, you know, if there's anything to add to this, I'm sure we'll do so in good time.

SARA: With cost of living pressures and we're seeing something of a political backlash, with One Nation rising as well, could there be a way to use the fuel excise as a general cost of living measure, given it's already in place, to leave it sit for a while?

GALLAGHER: Look, every decision this Government takes is really, how do we help households with the cost of living? I mean, it's centre of the decisions we're taking in the budget more broadly. It's behind the decisions we've taken in health, in housing, in tax reform, in the tax cuts that will come in on the 1st of July and the ones that will follow after that. So, we're coming at the cost of living issue from every angle that we possibly can. We've done it with the fuel excise cut to deal with a particular price shock. We'll monitor that, as we've said, but I don't think you should see that as the only thing that the Government is doing to try and help households through this period of time. We get that. That's really led to all of the decisions we've taken in the budget, which is the Medicare Urgent Care Clinics, the bulk billing, the extra effort going into housing, the tax cuts, the Working Australian Tax Offset, all of that has been in recognition of the fact that households are under pressure and, you know, how do we best come at that whilst dealing with the budget pressures we're under and the inflation challenge that exists in our economy as well?

SARA: We're now seeing something of a clear trend with the increase in support for One Nation in opinion polls. It's not an election. These are opinion polls. What's your read on that? Is that about cost of living or is there something else bubbling away there? How do you see it?

GALLAGHER: Well, I think a couple of things. One, we're seeing a bit of a reorganisation on the conservative side of politics, so the kind of three parties that have been right of centre, the Liberal Party, the National Party and One Nation. So, there's definitely some restructuring that's going on on that side.

SARA: Labor's taking a hit too.

GALLAGHER: Well, you know, I'll leave others to commentate on the opinion polls, but we're certainly seeing that and we've seen that post-election on the right side of politics. The other issue, and it's one that the Government's responding to, in particular through this budget, but all the decisions we take is, I think there is a lot of uncertainty and worry about events that are happening across the world, the impact that that has here. Cost of living is the number one issue with anyone you talk to right now. And the Government just has to remain focused on that and that's what we intend to do. Opinion polls will come and go. They do. Our job is to make sure we're making the right decisions for the right time and that it's focused on the needs of the Australian people. And when there's controversy about that and we know we've had a lot of feedback around the budget, you know, our job is to front up and explain why we've taken those decisions.

SARA: You're listening to Radio National Breakfast. My guest is Senator Katy Gallagher. In your portfolio as Minister for Women, the AFP have begun inquiries into allegations by Australian activists who claim they were sexually assaulted by Israeli forces as part of this flotilla which tried to reach Gaza. Has Israel indicated it will cooperate with this inquiry?

GALLAGHER: This has been led primarily through Foreign Minister Wong. She met with a group of individuals who were on that flotilla yesterday after concerns had been raised directly through estimates. I think it's appropriate that we allow that investigation to be undertaken by appropriate authorities. And, you know, Minister Wong has been very clear that she would like this investigated. And we are going to do everything we can to support that. But I think any other questions about that should be left to the AFP.

SARA: One of your other hats as Finance Minister and for the public service as well, the accounting firm KPMG has agreed to stop bidding for any new Federal Government work until the Government's review is complete. That's expected by the end of September. Why not also ban the extension of current government contracts with KPMG? Is the Government considering that?

GALLAGHER: So, what we've done, and we are very concerned about the allegations that have been raised around the conduct of KPMG. The Department of Finance has been engaging with them directly and asking them for information. We've determined that it is a significant event under our procurement rules. There'll be a review into their engagement with Commonwealth contracts and in the meantime they're stopping bidding for work that doesn't extend existing current contracts with KPMG for, you know, reasons that are under contract essentially. And I should say that we haven't got any evidence before us that some of the conduct that's being dealt with or explained through the media has related to Commonwealth contracts. But we are being very proactive about this. We expect suppliers who earn the privilege of working for the public to have the highest ethical standards. And we're concerned about issues and allegations that have been raised and are responding in a very strong way.

SARA: Yesterday, ABC News was reporting on an issue known as black cladding procurement for companies which on paper have strong Indigenous interests that there may not be. It may be a different situation in reality. What action is Government planning to take on this?

GALLAGHER: Yes, so again, we've got some quite strong rules around that in our Indigenous procurement framework. I work with the Indigenous Affairs Minister, Malarndirri McCarthy, on this and where I have concerns raised with me, and I have had in relation to black cladding, they are investigated by the Department of Finance. But it is an issue and we need to make sure that our rules, the guidance that Finance provides, to the extent that it can, prohibits that.

SARA: Just finally, as Manager for Government Business in the Senate, are you confident you can pass the tax changes and the NDIS reforms in the next sitting fortnight?

GALLAGHER: Well, I don't get into predicting what happens in the Senate. It's such a difficult chamber. We're working on getting those bills through. That's what the Government's position is. Obviously, we have to reach agreement with other senators about how that happens. It's a minority chamber.

SARA: Is it shifting in the Government's favour at all? Has it moved?

GALLAGHER: Look, we're in active discussions, as you would expect, with parties in the Senate. We want both of those bills through. We think there's strong arguments to have both of those bills dealt with. There are different views across the Senate to work out how we reach agreement on that and we're absolutely determined to do so.

SARA: Would you say discussions are going well?

GALLAGHER: Well, they're ongoing, Sara. I don't know that there's much more I can say. We're in pretty close contact with all parties represented in the Senate on how to get our legislation through.

SARA: Katy Gallagher, thank you for joining me this morning.

GALLAGHER: Thanks for having me.

SARA: Senator Gallagher is the Minister for Finance, Minister for Government Services, Public Service and also the Minister for Women, joining me in our Parliament House studio this morning.