Doorstop - Woden Service Centre

SENATOR THE HON KATY GALLAGHER, MINISTER FOR GOVERNMENT SERVICES: I've just come straight from Government House this morning, where I've been sworn in as the Minister for Government Services, a really important portfolio and I'm so thrilled to have it have responsibility for it. Government Services is one of those portfolios that touches probably every Australian one way or another, through Medicare or through Centrelink payments or through child support. So, it's a really important way that Australians interact with government. I know Services Australia are doing a huge amount of work to make sure they're more responsive and people get their payments on time and that they're able to access, you know, human enquiry if they want to. And I'm looking forward to being their minister and working with them to continue to improve services for all Australians.

JOURNALIST: I understand there were widespread outages that caused a lot of concern last week with Centrelink. Have these issues been fixed and will reporting protocols be paused for those who are struggling?

GALLAGHER: Look, I have no doubt that Services Australia will deal with this very sensitively for those people that have been impacted. I mean, for a large organisation with a large customer base, I think when you get moments of disruption, the focus is on how to make sure that those issues are addressed and that people are supported properly, and they would work individually with those customers. But I would say to those who have been affected, if you are concerned, reach out, and I have no doubt that Services Australia will be able to assist you.

JOURNALIST: What are you going to do differently as the Government Services Minister? Centrelink payments are currently below the poverty line. Are you planning to change that?

GALLAGHER: Well, we've done a lot in terms of increasing some of those payments, whether it be through JobSeeker or through Single Parenting Payment, through the provision of rent assistance. We always have to balance that up with other priorities on the Budget, but since coming to government, I think we've made a noticeable difference in terms of increasing those payments. The Prime Minister has said we look at that every budget, and we do and we'll continue to do that. Obviously, we want more people into work. We've had over a million jobs created under this government, and it's great to get people off payments as well and into those jobs. So, we're coming at this from a range of different ways. In terms of what I'll do differently, I take over from Bill Shorten. He was a very good minister. He worked hard, he argued and advocated strongly for this portfolio. So, I'll continue to do that. I'll work with Services Australia, particularly, to make sure we're constantly looking at ways to improve our services, our timeliness, our interactions with customers, and also how we manage the big transformation that's happening in terms of technology and digital services to make sure that people aren't left behind, but if they do want to access services in a digital way that they're able to do so really efficiently.

JOURNALIST: Bill Shorten has just taken over the reins at University of Canberra. Have you had conversations with him about the financial issues at the universities in Canberra?

GALLAGHER: Look, we've had a couple of conversations about him being a constituent of mine now, rather than a colleague. He takes on an important role at an important university in this town. I know he's got the skills and the commitment to address many of the issues that UC has been facing, and obviously he'll have good contacts in government to talk through these issues once he gets across them. But I think it's a great appointment for the University of Canberra. I mean, our university sector is so important, not just for training our young people but also as an economic driver in the city. We're a knowledge-based economy, and having good, strong universities is a really important part of that.

JOURNALIST: You've previously raised concerns about the Coalition's plan to cut public service jobs, but hundreds of university workers are facing the chopping block and also being slashed. Shouldn't the university sector get as much protection as the public service?

GALLAGHER: Well, we fund higher education through, you know, provision of university degrees and other courses, and you'll see, again, greater investment in that area. So, it's not do one or another. We have to do a whole range of things. Supporting the university sector, Jason Clare has been leading that work, we're putting extra money into that. We want to make sure that young people, particularly those that have found it difficult to get to university, do see that as a realistic opportunity. But at the same time, we've got to make sure that we're delivering public services efficiently as well. So, I think my job as Finance Minister and Minister of Government Services looks at that right across the board, and we balance up these decisions every year.

JOURNALIST: Do you plan on making any changes to the leadership group in Services Australia?

GALLAGHER: These aren't really matters that Ministers get involved in. I think David Hazelhurst has a strong team. I'm meeting them straight after this this morning, and we're going to go straight into a pretty in-depth briefing on all of the issues that David and his team are managing. But you know, I've not been a minister that's individually chosen leadership. I prefer to work with leaders that are in place. They know the business, and my job is to work with them.

JOURNALIST: Is there anything that you'll be bringing to the kind of social services agenda that might not have been here previously, or anything you'll be emphasising that Minister Shorten didn't?

GALLAGHER: I mean, obviously we're two different people, so we'll have two different styles in how we approach our work. But he was a strong and effective leader. I saw that as Minister for Finance, when he came in to ERC and argued for resources for Services Australia. So, I think Services Australia have done well with Bill Shorten as their minister. You know, I'll bring probably a different style than Bill, but it's the same commitment to make sure that we have this customer at the centre of everything we do. I mean, it's every single Australian, whether it be through Medicare or through Centrelink payments or through their interaction with child support services, has contact with this agency. We know it's getting more and more important. We, you know, are looking at how to improve the ways that we engage with customers, making sure that they are at the centre. And I'll be focused on that.

JOURNALIST: There's a lot of obvious synergies between your role as APS Minister and in your now role as Government Services Minister. But there's also kind of a bit of tension between running Services Australia, a very resource-intensive portfolio, and being the Finance Minister as well. How are you going to balance and manage that tension?

GALLAGHER: Yeah, so Services Australia is almost a quarter of the APS employment base. So, it's a large - when you look at large, singular kind of agencies, Services Australia would be right up there. I mean, tension in public policy and public administration is good. I think it's overwhelmingly a positive thing. But I guess the approach I've bought as Minister for Finance is not that I just say no to everything, but that we work out what is reasonable. I accept that providing government services costs money. It is resource intensive. So, what is reasonable? And I'll come at it from that point of view. I want to make sure the agency is properly resourced to do the job it does. Not more than that, not less than that, and where we land on that - you've seen some of it with the employment of 3,000 extra staff funded, I think in the MYEFO before last - is an acknowledgement that we need to make sure we've got people on the phones, people behind desks, doing the work. And this sort of furphy that you can just sack 20 per cent of the workforce and continue to do that is just ridiculous. So, you know, I'll bring that approach, but healthy tension in those portfolios is actually a good thing.

JOURNALIST: The Opposition is pushing for the PM convene a National Cabinet meeting on antisemitism. Do you support this push?

GALLAGHER: Look, the National Cabinet meets regularly. I mean, the PM - the issue about this is the PM engages with premiers and chief ministers pretty regularly. I would say on an almost daily basis. He has been discussing matters on antisemitism with the Victorian and New South Wales premiers for some time. So, I would say we need less talk and more action in responding to the outrageous events that we've been seeing, the abhorrent antisemitic attacks that we've been seeing, particularly in Melbourne and Sydney.

JOURNALIST: On needing to respond to these attacks, do you think our anti-terror laws need strengthening?

GALLAGHER: Well, we've done a range of things in this Parliament. And this is what I would say back to Mr Dutton, is that they had nine years to do a whole range of law reform and they chose not to do it. Since coming to government, we have responded. We have made the Nazi salute a criminal offense. We have criminalised doxing, which Mr Dutton actually voted against. We've done a whole range of things, including extra resources to respond to some of these outrageous and awful antisemitic attacks that we've been seeing in those cities. So, we need to keep doing that. We've obviously got the AFP involved. We've seen the first arrests happen. This is really about action now. We need to make sure that everyone is unified in speaking against antisemitism in this country and any racism at all in this country. That's the political leader's job, and then we have law enforcement agencies responding on the ground as it should be.

JOURNALIST: What do you make of the criticism that the PM has abrogated his responsibility to stamp out antisemitism?

GALLAGHER: Well, I just totally disagree, and it's just Mr Dutton playing politics with an issue that he should be standing alongside the Prime Minister on. This is where we need political leadership and political leaders to work together. Mr Dutton has never lost an opportunity to try and make politics out of this terrible occurrence that we've been seeing in Sydney and Melbourne in particular. So, I know, because I work very closely with the PM, exactly how hard and how focused he is on this. He is engaging with premiers, law enforcement agencies, community leaders, people living in the areas where we've seen these attacks. He's doing all of that on a daily basis. And that's what real political leadership is. Pointing the finger and blaming and trying to stir up social disunity is not political leadership.

JOURNALIST: Will the government give the Classification Board the new powers it's seeking around censorship of old books, movies and TV shows that may be considered offensive in 2025?

GALLAGHER: Look, I understand the Classification Board comes to these decisions independent of government, but I have no doubt that Minister Rowland will be looking at this issue very carefully. I've seen some of the kind of responses to some of the media reports today. I know Minister Rowland takes all of these matters really seriously. She'll be looking at it very carefully. But the Classification Board is an independent body of government.

JOURNALIST: Do you think we should scrub things from the past that are offensive? Or should we look at them in a light that they are from 50 or 60 years ago and maybe put a warning on them instead?

GALLAGHER: Yeah, look, I think when these issues arise, and they do arise from time to time, it's hard to always have a fixed view about what happened 50 years ago and what's more appropriate now. So, you know, from my own point of view, our history is important as well, but these are matters really that fall within the responsibility of Minister Rowland, and I know she will be looking at these matters carefully.

JOURNALIST: Just one final one - Squadron Energy is looking at importing gas through Port Kembla from next year. How have we got to the situation with such a gas-rich country that we might be importing gas, and what's the government doing to bring more supply online?

GALLAGHER: Yes, so we've been doing a stack of work in this area. Obviously, we've put in place those caps to make sure that - and the community of the industry response where they have to ensure that we do have enough local gas supply for local needs. I mean, these are matters that have developed over decades. They haven't developed in the last year. And I know Minister Bowen, Minister King as the resources minister, and Minister Husic have been working on ensuring that we've got enough gas supply for our nation's needs as we work on this energy transition, including moving to more renewable energy. So, this is something that's been on our plate, really, since day one when we came to government, and it will continue that, but we absolutely will make sure that there is enough gas for our national needs.

JOURNALIST: We've seen a lot of fairly substantial APS reform over the last couple of years. Obviously, we've got an election coming up. Is another tranche of APS reform going to make up a substantial, or any real part of your election campaign?

GALLAGHER: Well, it will. And I could point you to the speech I gave at the end of last year, sort of looking forward. We are continuing to look at ways to strengthen the independence of the APS and its leadership, and also ensure that the leadership are accountable for the work they do across the public service. So, there will be more in that space. But I would say the most serious issue affecting the APS right now is about fighting off these 20 per cent of the APS being sacked, 36,000 public servants being sacked across the APS. That is actually the real issue that needs to be focused on, because without those 36,000 jobs, services like this being provided to people will not be able to be done. And that's the reality.

JOURNALIST: I mean, acknowledging that that's been part of kind of the ongoing response to both the Robodebt Royal Commission and the two, sort of, government reviews, the capability review and the, sort of, general APS review that you've been responding to. Are you planning on commissioning another review to maybe look at what's next? What needs to be done to bring us beyond sort of, you know, accepting that people within the public service are saying, now we're at the point where we can kind of get some stuff done. What's next?

GALLAGHER: Yeah, well, I think the work of the Public Service never finishes, right? So, we've got our four key areas: being a model employer, integrity, having the customer as the focus of everything we do, and around leadership as well. And we'll continue to look at any reforms in that context. But again, I mean for me, in the next 12 months, my job is to protect the public service, to protect it from threats of cuts of 20 per cent. Because that won't just hurt people in my local town of Canberra, it'll affect people right around the country. And if people are concerned about accessing government services now, I can say it'll be a lot harder if you're losing 20 per cent of your workforce, because two-thirds of them live outside the ACT. They're in service delivery, frontline, you know, like the workers that we're here in front of now. And that matters to me, because if you reduce the public service, all of those things - being a model employer, having the customer at the centre of everything we do, integrity - all of that fails. It will all fall. And so yes, I'm looking forward about what can happen next, but I've also got to focus on the real battle that's going to happen over the next 12 months, and that's actually about the future of the APS and the role it plays.

JOURNALIST: So, it's going to be more about kind of bedding down the things that you've already done. Is that a correct sort of read on what you're saying?

GALLAGHER: Well, I would say that I'm working very closely with the APSC, with the Commissioner for the Public Service, on what the formal next tranche of reforms will be. And as we do that, my focus is on making sure we save the APS. And I'm not trying to be dramatic about it. You know, I don't want us to go back to where we were three years ago. We had an under-resourced, under-invested public service that was timid and scared of standing up to ministers. And we saw the result of that was Robodebt. That was the worst example, but there were plenty others, and I don't want - after all the work that people have put in over these last three years - to see that just washed away. Because that's the promise that Peter Dutton has made, is that he wants to go back to those days. He wants a timid, under-resourced, under-capability - or, you know, a lack of capability to do the work that Australians need it to do.

JOURNALIST: And going back to the Canberra side of the APS. What will Canberra look like if we cut one third of the public service. What will Canberra look like with that one third cut?

GALLAGHER: It would be devastating for our local community here. We saw it when John Howard did that, our local economy went into recession. It will affect every small business in Canberra, it would affect every university and other employer. You know, this is our big employer in town, and it's not just about protecting that. I mean, it's the big employer in town because we're the seat of government, and that's our proud part of our being the nation's capital. But if you, if you sack 20 per cent of the workforce in the APS here, it would have a devastating impact on our local economy. Thank you.