SENATOR THE HON KATY GALLAGHER
MINISTER FINANCE
MINISTER FOR WOMEN
MINISTER FOR THE PUBLIC SERVICE
MINISTER FOR GOVERNMENT SERVICES
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC RN BREAKFAST
TUESDAY, 22 APRIL 2025
SUBJECTS: Pope Francis; Federal Election; Gambling Advertising Reform.
SALLY SARA, HOST: Well, the leaders of both the major political parties here in Australia released messages of condolence overnight in the wake of the death of Pope Francis. Joining me now is Katy Gallagher, Labor campaign spokesperson and, of course, the Minister for Women and the Public Service. Katy Gallagher, welcome back to Breakfast.
KATY GALLAGHER, MINISTER FOR FINANCE, WOMEN, THE PUBLIC SERVICE AND GOVERNMENT SERVICES, LABOR CAMPAIGN SPOKESPERSON: Thanks for having me on.
SARA: How do you reflect on the Pope's death?
GALLAGHER: Yeah, look, like everybody I guess, last night just hearing the news of the Pope's passing I was actually in a bit of a shock. I think we'd all been following his period of being unwell, but he'd been released from hospital, so I think, yeah, I responded like everybody else probably did. And I know that for millions of Australians of Catholic faith, it would have been a very, very sad time. And I know the PM made some remarks to the nation last night, and then went to the cathedral in in Melbourne, and he's at Mass this morning, you know, showing respect and reflecting on the incredible leadership for 12 years of the head of the Catholic Church.
SARA: When it comes to the election itself, we're in a different phase now that early voting will begin today. Also, we've had the death of the of the Pope. One in five Australians are of Catholic faith, and we've got Anzac Day coming up as well. How will Labor be negotiating this final two weeks, given that there are other significant events taking place?
GALLAGHER: Yeah, sure. Well, I think you know, for example, today, the PM has changed his arrangements because of the Pope's passing to show respect and to acknowledge his leadership. And so he, as I said, he's at Mass now and has cancelled a couple of his events. And I think, so you'll see a different day today than would be normally on the campaign. But the campaign has to adjust to whatever happens. And you know, we were aware that there was Easter and obviously Anzac Day during this campaign. So campaigns need to work with the time frame they've got. You know, for us, it just means continuing to work hard to, to talk about what we want to do and our message and draw the contrast between Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton.
SARA: There's also an expectation that more than five million Australian voters will vote early. Does that mean that we have now had all of the major election policy announcements from Labor?
GALLAGHER: Well we were very keen to make sure that we were being upfront with the Australian people about what our plans were, what our focus was, which is why you saw that reasonably early announcement on our big investment in Medicare as essentially the centrepiece of our campaign, but also the tax cuts for every taxpayer, that those were important to get out and for people to have time to, you know – we accept that people aren't hanging on every word that politicians say on a day to day basis, and that you do need time to talk about what your plans are. So certainly, you know, we have got a lot of our major policies out. Obviously, there's 11 days to go, so we'll have further things to say throughout those 11 days. But we also accept that people are taking up the opportunity to vote early. And you know, campaigns need to adjust to that. I think again, you know, we want to be upfront and transparent, and I guess we'd be calling on the Opposition to do the same.
SARA: The polls are showing Labor is ahead, but what did the defeat at the 2019 election, what was the biggest lesson from that loss for the Labor Party?
GALLAGHER: Look, I think you've heard us say it a number of times. You take nothing for granted. You never get ahead of yourselves in a campaign. You know that in Australia, campaigns are close. They always are close, and in a number of seats, they are always close, and they come down to the wire. And we understand that our job is to continue to talk to the Australian people about what we'd like to do, our focus on Medicare and cutting taxes and cutting medicines and helping with cost of living and investing in a renewable energy future, and then contrasting that with what the alternative is. Which is, you know, nuclear reactors and cuts to services to pay for it. And that is our job, and we understand that we need to keep right up to the final booth closes in WA at, you know, six o'clock on Election Day.
SARA: Labor has been criticising the Coalition's costings, but Labor is yet to release the full costings of its policies. With so many people voting early, why hasn't Labor released its costing so that voters who are voting early have full time to take those costings on board and analyse them.
GALLAGHER: So, a lot of our costings are contained in the Budget. So that was published on the 25th of March. And then there was Pre-Election Fiscal Outlook, which also updated the Budget to incorporate announcements that we had made between the Budget and the Pre-Election Fiscal Outlook being released. So we have a lot of transparency on our investments and our costings and our offer. For the remaining commitments that we've announced since PEFO, we will update those in the usual way as we do, and be very clear about that. But you know, I think, and as we are releasing policies – and this is another difference between us and the Coalition – we are releasing those policies with a costing attached to them, saying how much this would cost, and we'll reconcile that, as you would expect. But it is in stark contrast to Mr Dutton and the Opposition, who aren't releasing costings and who are remaining silent about how they're going to pay for their seven nuclear reactors around the country. And also, they've told us they will cut services, they're just not prepared to tell us where those cuts are coming from until after Election Day.
SARA: On the issue of gambling reform, the late Labor MP Peta Murphy had a remarkable achievement in securing unanimous support for her recommendations on gambling. Why has this issue not been fully executed by Labor? Why has it been placed on hold?
GALLAGHER: Well, in the first term, you have seen significant reforms in gambling and so, and we've talked about it before I think, on BetStop, on the use of credit cards for betting purposes, and for having a much stronger advertising response at the end of ads around gambling, which actually say, you know, ‘you gamble, you lose.’ So those have been significant achievements during this term. And as the PM said yesterday, we've done a lot, more to do, but we need a second term.
SARA: Why do you need a second term? Why couldn't this be achieved in the first term, given that it was so important, there's unanimous support, and there was strong feeling from your late colleague Peta Murphy?
GALLAGHER: Yeah, and obviously, all of us miss Peta Murphy and the contribution she made to our caucus. But I think she would also acknowledge, you know, and did, of the steps that we were taking in the first term. But a second term, you know, the comment I'm making there is we need a second term to implement a whole range of things. A whole range of policies like strengthening Medicare, like making medicines cheaper, all of the building blocks that we've started in the first term that we need to, you know, the foundations that we need to build upon in a second term.
SARA: But if there was unanimous support, what, why the hold up?
GALLAGHER: Well, I don't know where you're saying there's unanimous support–
SARA: Well, for these recommendations that were put forward. So, you had both, you had had the other parties on side, there was the opportunity to get going and get it done, and that that hasn't happened.
GALLAGHER: Well we have, as I said, we have done a lot. There is more work to do. And the PM said yesterday that, you know, we will work through those and into a second term, but I don't think we should dismiss – like, no other government has done what we have done in the first term in tightening up around gambling reform. BetStop, not allowed to use your credit card when you're betting, and also making sure that in all of the gambling advertising that there is a very strong public health, essentially public health message at the end of those ads to remind people of the risk that comes with gambling.
SARA: Has that been enough to take away the widespread harm of gambling in the community? We know the losses, we know the mental health toll, we know the toll on families. Have you solved that?
GALLAGHER: Well, I mean, there's always more you can do in a whole range of areas that cause, you know, where harm is caused across the economy. I don't think that work ever finishes. But as, again, as the PM said yesterday, we have made significant adjustments and improvements, more to do.
SARA: Katy Gallagher, thank you very much for your time this morning.
GALLAGHER: Thanks Sally.
ENDS
