Live from Gilmore. This is the Paul Murray pub Test. Get I. Everyone, welcome here to a very special moment where everyone who's just spontaneously was rom Attelly and we are here for the first part test of the threat three five federal election. Thank you very much. We are in the seat of Gilmour. Yes, we are right in the heart of the Titus electorate in the country. Three hour in seventy three votes was how it was all
decided this time last election. And in this room tonight we have viewers of the program people who have come along to ask questions of two of the main candidates. Andrew Constance who is here for the Liberal Party, and a local independent is going to be here as well. We will introduce both of them to you in greater detail in a moment or two's time. But first, just
a little observation of the day's news. Now. I want to talk about both the Prime Minister and the opposition leader today and we're yeah, the government is trying to take the federal election to try to change the subject from the subject that would see them lose the election. Obviously, Anthony Albernezi after eight and a half billion dollars of extra money when it comes to Medicare, was out and about pretending that Peter Dutton didn't make exactly the same promise yesterday.
Australians can't afford the Medicare bill that Peter Dutton will make them pay. I know that yesterday he had a bit of a change of heart, but no one believes a bloke who's been in office for such a long period of time and before the time that he became the Health Minister, Tony Abbott promised no cuts to health perfect.
Sense to me. Meantime, the Opposition leader, well, he was backing away at the bloke who made the same promise that he did yesterday.
The first term opposition hasn't won since nineteen thirty one. Now this is the worst government since nineteen thirty one, and Anthony Albertez is the worst Prime Minister since nineteen thirty one.
Out of his depth.
I think we should be very honest about that, and I think the Australian public has understood that.
Now, while the current debate and much of the meaning debate is to have a conversation about medicine, Medicare, hospitals, who's going to pay for it? It doesn't take a genius to work out what is the number one issue every pole, every time we've gone out of a microphone, over and over. What is it? Roll the tape?
The cost of living, living, cost of living, cost of living.
The cost of living's crazy, you know if you're a regular viewer of the program. If not, well, I care a lot about the idea that three years into any government, but particularly a government that remember, made a promise. This was the Prime Minister's promise from his Twitter feed. I did not make this up. This is not some far right wing AI conspiracy, but that's the promise that the Labor government would lower the cost of living. Does anyone have the sense that things have lowered in the past
three years? Yeah, I wouldn't have thought so. Okay. Also, three million people in Australia are this close to homelessness. A lot of different reasons, but it means the cost of basics. And we have shown you this is you know, we're the type of show that counts the grains of sand on the beach as opposed to people just walking by.
We've shown you the stories, we showed you the Senate inquiries, We've spoken to the people from Food Bank that it is three point four million Australians who don't know where their food is going to come from each and every week. So the joint has gone backwards. Oh, global factors, well these were all the same global factors three years ago,
but a promise was clearly not kept. So you can understand why the Prime Minister wants to change the subject, wants to change the subject to one that is traditionally stronger for center left governments, obviously for the Labor Party, and all the way down to holding up the props. And I'm sure there's no one on the internet who will start putting other things in his hand on the internet over the next little while. But you can see you that also every time we go and have a
look at the polling, this was a Morgan pole. Morgan pole was the strongest pole for the Labor Party at the moment. By the way, well it shows number one issue. Fifty seven percent of people say that it is about keeping the cost of living down right, This is out of one hundred at any one time. Improving health services second best issue, then it's down to crime, then it's down to climate change. So you can see why they're
trying to drag the conversation into a certain direction. Today Freshwater Pole, again the issues have look at the screens here about the issues of the order in which people
care about them. You can see cost of living by a country mile on this one, though healthcare not as high, but it seems to be the strongest of the areas for the government to try to change the conversation, to try to have a multi week debate between now and then that that's what they want the election to be about, because if you hold them account to the promise they made three years ago, they're going to get the ass that's the truth of what is most likely to happen.
And when we actually have a look at again some of the deeper data inside the polling that around today in that Freshwater Pole, in the Financial Review, check out the big screens or watch it at home, that when it comes to the economy, forty one percent of people back in the Libs of the moment, twenty five percent the ALP, a significant number of people undecided, but as
always in that split it in fifty to fifty. Clearly the Libs get over fifty percent when it comes to the issues in and around the cost of living, a little closer, but still it lives up thirty six to twenty six, close to forty percent of people still up and about. And even then if you start to split that, well, then you might even not even start getting towards fifty to fifty in some areas. But of course health same issues, same poles, the same poles that show fifty one, forty nine,
forty eight, fifty two. They show here that healthcare is an advantage, but not a massive one for the Labor Party. They are hoping if we can have a week long conversation about it, then we're all somehow distracted from the past three years and we start to go where we're going to go further to that point in the pole that I showed you last night when we were in Bateman's Bay, just up the road, and believe me, locations count,
locations count, locations matter. I when we're up the road in Bateman's Bay, there was that polling which showed a giant blowout for the Labor Parties vote and starting to head towards the local too. But it shows here when it comes to economic management again, forty one percent in favor of the coalition, just twenty four percent in favor of labor. You do the same when it comes to
keeping cost of living low. Significant number of people undecided still about a quarter, but the Liberals much closer to fifty percent than labor. When it comes to hospitals, I make the same point for the nine hundredth time, but it's important to drive it home. Why are we talking about hospitals because they matter? Sure, but why does the government want you to talk about hospitals Because they know
if plays better for them in an election. They want the Jedi mind trick to be This is not the cost of living crisis that we promised we would fix, and they expect you to own your mind. I'm not entirely sure that's going to be the case, because every time we see a pole it tells the same story. And these polls they exist everything from the turbul Times in the Guardian through to the Australian. They pop up
in the Financial Review. All the different TV stations have got their polls and they say the same thing over and over again. Now again, can poles be wrong? Yes? Are the bookies more likely to be right? Yes? But what do they say that there's going to be a change of government that's the bookies. As for the Albanize's performance and where he sits in these polls, fifty six percent of people remember when the rate cut was supposed
to change everything. Fifty six percent of people say that the Prime Minister's doing a poor or very poor job compared to Dunden, where he's forty percent at poor or very poor. Also, you need to see here too, a couple of other factors about what's going to play out here in Gilmore, what is going to play across the
rest of the country. And that is not just team Red and Team Blue here because while we compare the pair, as they would say in the Union, Superannuation adds that the polling number show that Labour's primary vote according to the resolve is that twenty five, the fresh Water is thirty one, the Libs thirty nine or forty one, the
Greens thirteen a piece. And then the biggest question of all other now other is in some poles, everything from Victorian socialists running in the Senate all the way through to Clyde Palmer and the trumpets right in between, genuine community ones, fake ones, faux Greens. All the rest of it is in there plus one nation and that's what's really interesting. Now I have a strong opinion you have
free will, and that's the joy of a democracy. But it is really important what you do with your preferences, because your preferences will decide who ends up forming government, what type of government will be formed. In fact, in some poles, fascinating to watch that the result of both one Nation and the Inde vote at the last election was five percent at the election coming up. And you don't seem to see this in the rest of the media,
but the latest resolved ball published in the Age newspaper. Okay, not a right wing think tak one nation and the independence level at nine percent. Now, put simply, if you're somebody who would like to seen blue victory, you need the vast majority of those one nation preferences to make their way back towards Liberal party. If you're somebody who would like to get a different result, well then obviously you want their votes to be lower or in terms
of those independent preferences where they go. That's why it's fascinating to be here. This is a place decided by three hundred and seventy three votes. We currently before an election is called, have got a couple of candidates that are going to be here, a couple of candidates that haven't turned up, but who knows whether it's a Melbourne cup field. Once formally the starter's gun is fired and
then everyone starts to rush. Follow what they say when it comes to preferences, because it gives you an indication about old intimately what they think is the lesser of two evils, or the thing that perhaps in some cases might be what they're actually trying to achieve. Now, I want to turn our attention to weather and weather, particularly outside of politics in Queensland. Now, as we know, Queensland got bashed around by the floods over the past couple
of weeks. We spoke to plenty of people in im We know the problems that they've had. When it comes to insurance, Well, there's a cyclone which is on its way. The cyclone is Cyclone Alfred and he's the latest from sky and is weather about another example of Australia getting bashed about because of weather.
What we're seeing as we head into our Tuesday is the system set to strengthen it to a major cyclone Cat three status, so strengthening as it continues to push to the south for the next twenty four hours and looking to increase wind as well as the shower activity across Parne with Queensland.
Now, the official name for this cyclone is Cyclone Alfred, but forgive me if I'm going to call it by its actual name, which is Cyclone Albow. You see, this was a story that came out last week that the last cyclone had a Z in front of it, which was Zelda or something. So you're supposed to then just start the alphabet again, and you know, the computer says no. Machine said that this was supposed to be Cyclone Anthony, but because they wanted to avoid confusion with the Prime Minister,
they changed the name. So when this gets serious, when this hits landfall, when this cause trouble, or call it by its real name till then it's Cyclone Alba that is currently making its way towards Queensland. And this, of course is our Nightly reminded that the Prime Minister is a wordsmith, right up there with the best Australia has ever produced.
Roses are red violets of blue. It's Valentine's Day and we loved Luke Cola.
Working brilliant, just brilliant like more Place, more in the Okay, or other things that happening around the world that, of course you need to know. Pope francis still in a critical condition. The fears about what seems to be the inevitable have also been underlined by the fact that cardinals have been called back to Rome. They would of course meet in a conclave to choose a new pope upon
the death of this one. We've got reporters crews there in and around the hospitals in Rome and we will follow all of it along with our colleague in colleagues in the UK. I also want to take a moment out from politics to say strength and love to my mate, my mate Ray Hadley, who you have seen on the telly, you've heard on the radio. Well, he may will have heard in the past couple of days about his beautiful granddaughter and his granddaughter receiving a significant health diagnosis in
and around cancer. That is terrible for anyone. When it's somebody that we know, we are able to share the journey with them. So strength and love to Ray, his daughter and his granddaughter. Here is what Ray told Daily Telegraph.
Just a couple I've asked my daughter and son Laura, if I can reveal this and they've given me permission.
January sixth, my three year old granddaughter Lola was.
Diagnosed with lakemia and that was like a bolt out of the blue.
My daughter and son in law.
They have three children, a six year old Lola and a little one year old Remy.
So their life is in absolute disarray.
Can we give a round of applause as a shop strength and love to Lola, Lauren Ray, all of us, to Willith family, You love your Verma. All right, who's up for a little bit of Donald Trump news? Who wants some Trump news tonight?
All right?
I thought it might be a slightly trumpy crowd. All right, let's get to this. So have you heard of a bloke called Dan bon Gino? All right, it's Dan bon Geno podcast, a former Fox host but also Secret Service. He has been nominated and this will send the heads cracking. He has said he's actually been nominated now to be the deputy head of the FBI. So if you know about their bloke, it's going to be quite a hammer. James Carvill. Now I grew up as somebody who loved
James Carvill. You know it's the economy, stupid absolute Svengali of the Clinton administration, which was thirty years ago. But this was the bloke who spoke with certainty that Kamala was going to win. In fact, he said there were three very key reasons, none of them turned out to be true. Then he turned around and said that she was a second seventh string quarterback, she was never up
to it, but she was guaranteed to win. Well, now he's decided to play a new game, which is that the Trump administration will apparently collapse in the next thirty days. So the guy who said she'd win then she was garbage now says it's all going to fall apart. Why roll the tape? This is what I believe.
I believe that this administration in less than thirty days, in the midst of a massive collapse, and particularly a collap apps.
In public opinion. But the best news for those of us a little too obsessed with American politics is this Lady Joy and Reid, hardcore lefty portal on crisis, has had plenty to say about MAGA its supporters anywhere around the world. Well, guess what, she's been sacked by MSNBC. Her show is about this a PI and you don't know who I'm talking about. This is who I'm talking.
Fine, kof of course is Adolf Hitler's fascist manifesto. And frankly, it doesn't matter if Trump didn't read it. Come on, as this man ever read anything. Similarities to what happened in Germany and what's happening now in America are just undeniable. One side stands for freedom, while the other meets the textbook definition of fascism, namely a far right dictatorial regime like Hitler's Germany or Franco's Spain or Mussolini's Italy.
She's gone and we are here to discuss all things Gilmore. Let's talk about this great part of Australia and its political future. Tom Connell, the man who knows all the numbers, knows all of the issues. He has a look at the Titus seat in the country and then the questions from its voters to two of its key candidates.
The seat of Gilmour on the New South Wales South Coast was a cliffhanger in twenty twenty two. It was won by Labour's Fiona Phillips after many days of counting by just zero point one seven percent or three hundred and seventy three votes. Andrew Constance. He's back, having another crack with the Liberal Party. The Greens are running again and the new candidate independent Kate Desinal. She's running with
financial backing from Climate two hundred. She's not seen as a realistic chance of winning, but she could affect the contest. That's if she takes primary vote away from Andrew Constance. He will likely need to poll above forty percent to be a chance of winning. Labour's worry will be well the Greens vote dip. They relied heavily on preferences from
the Greens last time around. This has been a hotly contested seat since twenty thirteen, the biggest margin in four elections since then, as you can see, just two point six percent, and it is seen as they must when the Liberal Party this time around if they are going to form government, because failing to break through in Labour's second most marginal seat in the country, well that would
mean very few gains. And remember they start a long way behind, twenty two seats behind labor So what individual factors could change this seat. It's a bit of a mixed bag on the mortgage front. Fewer people in the seat of Gilmore have a mortgage that's compared to the Australian average slightly more though we're in mortgage stress when this figure was taken, and crucially that was before all
thirteen interst rate rises. So in other words, this figure is going to be a lot higher than that incomes as well, and lower than the national average. This is an area with plenty of retirees, so if you think of those retirees and lower income earners and mortgage stress, cost of living here is biting and will be a huge part of the campaign.
All right, thank you very much, Tom Connall, and thank you for the awkward moment of suggesting Kate doesn't have a chance to win. Of course you've got a chance to win. It's going to be on the ballot paper. Kate, Desanna, who's here? And Andrew Constance is here. Please give him a round of applause. All right, Truss is the coin in my head? Andrew and Kate, I just want to ask you one question before we get into all of the locals with their questions, just simply who are you?
Not why are you're running? Not the stump speech, but just who are you? Andrew Well grew.
Up in the region, you know. I'm the eldest sibling of four. Was a school teacher.
Dad was a local solicitor in Canberra. Come from a farming family in the Minara.
And I've been a state member for almost twenty years in our region, representing communities from Alla Dallah, Maria and Batman Spay.
Okay, good stuff, Kate. Who are you? And how did I get your name wrong? Probably Kate Desanno.
There we go, ame and I am the community independent for the seat of Gilmour at the upcoming election. I'm a small business person. I own a network of co working spaces. I'm a mother of three teenage children.
I'm a trade wife.
I'm somebody who has worked long and hard supporting community organizations to be able to collaborate with each other, to be strong and to be able to endure the challenges of the last few years. And yeah, I'm really looking forward to being able to do politics a bit differently in the local area.
Good stuff random applies again the people that are here. How I should point out Fianna Phillips is the local MP. She is labor and chose not to be here. I know she's in the electorate other events tonight, but no, she is not in the room. She was given the opportunity to be here along with the Greens as well. There's no others I know declared candidates. So if anyone wants to write an angry letter, send it to somebody else, because we've done our best that we can to get
as many people here. All right, Veronica, I think is our first question, Veronica, what would you like to ask the two people who'd liked to be your next federal MP. I'd like to ask them, why do you think you deserve our vote? Okay, let's go first with you.
I really think that I deserve to be able to give the people of Gilmore a chance to be able to have local voices shape local solutions. I think that one of the biggest challenges that our broken party political system faces at the moment is that our politics has been captured by short term thinking, by sugar hits that the Australian people see through, and by the interests of
big business. And for the people that I speak to, they really have a yearning for long term thinking again, for people whose convictions and their moral compass guide the decisions that they make and people who are available and here to be able to listen to the people of gilmore So, Ronica.
For that reason, I would love to be able to have a chance.
Andrew.
Thanks Veronica.
I couldn't be more proud than to be standing in this club of all places after what happened to us five years ago, all of us. What I saw then was a community spirit, a passion, an empathy and strength in our people and in our region. And I care about that, and I will fight for that. And I know right now our nation and our region is in the wrong place, and we've got to get it back on track. I will fight to ensure that we do
address cost of living. I'll fight to ensure we do get the road upgrades, and I'll fight to get rid of the worst prime minister and worst government this country has ever had.
Thank you, Veronica, Thank you Andrew, Thank you Kate. Well. The joy of being on this type of Telly is I've got to take a break. We'll be back in a moment or two. Time. Plenty more questions all night here on Paul Murray Life. Thanks for watching. Welcome back here to the pub test, the first one we're doing in twenty twenty five. It's in the scene of Gilmour. Fiona Phillips is the existing Labor MP showny won the last election by three hundred and seventy three votes WI
She is not in the room tonight. The two people who are, though, is Kate Dezano, who is the community independent and representing the Liberal Party is Andrew Constance. The purpose of these things is, yes, I am very opinionated, but I have no say in what people get to ask. And I want to give the opportunity for local candidates to appear on national television. I want them to be able to have the type of exposure that they would
get once they became, say a federal MP. And god forbid, we know what they're like before we elect them, rather than working out what happens after. So that's the whole point and purpose of what we're doing right now. But Rosalind, you have a question for our candidates, what would you like to ask?
I would like to ask you both, if you are fortunate enough to be elected, what will you do for us?
Read the cost of living?
Andrew, I'll start with you.
Thanks for Roslyn.
Over the last couple of years, every single person in Australia has become nine percent poorer, but in regional areas it's worse.
It's far worse. And I've been door knocking businesses.
I've had people break down in tears, and I've drawknocked homes and I've seen people just with their household budgets in absolute despair. We know you have to manage the economy to fix cost of living. We also know crazy expenditure out of Canberra means that the Reserve Bank of Australia will continue to put the pressure on mortgage holders in order to deal with inflation. We can't waste any more money as a country and have everybody under enormous pressure.
I mean, it's been absolutely shocking. So you do need to manage the national finance as well. You do need to ensure that those finite resources go into valuable things like creating jobs with public infrastructure in our region, which is why I want to see stimulus with things like the Prince's Highway and local roads to get how local economy going again. And as part of this, we can't be heading out thirteen billion dollars to billionaires in the
green hydrogen space or the critical mineral space. We can't be wasting four hundred and fifty million dollars dividing our country around issues like the Voice and think that this is a good place for our country to be. We need to manage the finances, manage the money and then start to get our household budgets and our small business budgets back on track.
Okay, cost of living, how do you handle it?
Certainly the number one thing that every time I have a conversation with community members, doesn't matter whether we're talking about young people or whether we're talking about elder Australians, the stresses on family budget. So the thing that is absolutely top of mind and seeing the kind of stress and distress in hard working people who are just trying to keep roofs over their head, feed the kids and be able to, you know, to imagine a better and brighter future.
It's pretty tough. So I definitely hear that and I absolutely empathize.
The biggest bucket out of cost of living pressures is certainly housing. And that's the conversation that I think is a country we really need to be having. As a parent of three teenagers, I really want them to be able to aspire, to be able to live a life that is equal.
Or better than their parents and grandparents.
And this is the very first generation that are really looking down the barrel of struggling with that. When we look at the pressures on housing. Yes, we need mortgagees to come down, we need inflation to be under control, and we need for that incredible experience that we have had over the last political cycle of all of those interest rate cycles to be able to be tempered and
to start come down. But we really need to be looking at housing supply and housing affordability to be able to actually tackle the number one pressure that most families are facing. And the honest conversation is that two thirds of our population, either the people who are mortgage holders or who've paid off their home, they don't want to see housing increase to the point where they are worried about the value of their principal investment that they have
worked so hard to be able to afford. And so we really need to be having much more creative conversations about how we increase housing supply without risking the value of people's principal assets. And I just don't hear those conversations happening from either side of politics. Who are really talking about very small fixes for what is a really fundamental problem. It's taken a couple of cycles. So I
think we need to be looking at affordable housing. I think we need to be looking in more innovative things around modular homes, around granny flats, around tiny homes, around build to rent, around land lease schemes.
There are so many ways.
In which we can increase supply without having this risk to the broader economy.
And I just don't hear that conversation happening in politics at the moment. That's where I'd be spending a lot of my time and energies early on.
All right, thank you, rosalind A host prerogative. As a follow up, if it came down to a scenario minority government and as an independent, you'd be in a position to help things happen or to knock things off. Where are you on say things like negative gearing, all of the taxation stuff that certainly people like the Greens overtly would like to would like to see removed. How would you vote on that in a federal partment.
I think that for both of our major parties to have taken off the table tax reform, for a couple of cycles now is absolute madness. So as a community independent you have got the opportunity to look at every bill on its merit, to listen to the people of Gilmour and to be able to reflect their interests and concerns. So when you are looking at issues around the impact of neguty gearing on the housing as a small business person, I have to tell you there is no other tax system that allows.
You to run at a loss and be rewarded for it.
I've got absolutely no problem with mum and dad investors and the role that they play in our housing, but that needs to be limited to one or two homes. It doesn't need to be on your fifth year, sixth or your seventh. Just ask all the politicians who are sitting on very tidy yeah, on very tidy property portfolios. We need to start unraveling some of that and bring back the fairness and the incentive into our housing system for young people.
Okay, as I said, there'll be the occasional moment role jumping, but it's not about me. It's about people like Johanna, who'd like to ask you a question of everyone here. The key people running are the labor in peace not here, or get to that in a second. But what's your question?
Do you support wind farms in our oceans and will your opinion reflect in your preferences?
Good question, all right, we'll start with you, Andrew.
I'm dead set against balance fantasy off our coastline this and I'm also sick of climate activists who have scant regard for people's household bills with these types of renewable programs. We've just had a question on the cost of living. I mean, power bills in our region have gone up by more than a thousand dollars. We were promised two hundred and seventy five dollars reduction. What's causing it? Ridiculous proposals. Now, the energy mix should be renewables, gas, emissions free, twenty
four to seven base load nuclear. But we should not be putting in our ocean structures which bober around with chains off them on concrete at the bottom of the ocean floor the height of Center Point Tower. I might add two hundred of them. And no one's even invented a floating substation yet. But this is supposed to be in by twenty thirty. I mean, give us a break. It'll destroy and harm our environment, but it will also continue to put enormous pressure on household bills.
Okay, I definitely don't want to take anything off the table. When we are looking about having to transition our enemy energy system to a net zero by twenty fifty, which is shared by both things. We need to be looking at policies and at proposals which survive the feasibility tests. So they are economic, they are environmental feasibility, and they are community return, and they are that they.
Deliver community return.
At the moment, offshore wind there is no proposal on the table.
There is nothing that is stacked up.
If we look similarly at proposals for nuclear energy, we are talking.
About fifteen twenty years down the timeline.
We are talking about billions of dollars of public money. Again, it does not stack up from the feasibility point of view. And so as a community independent we look at things that are evidence based. We think, look at things that have got community license, we think, look at things that are actually feasible, and so far offshore wind hasn't.
Meant feasibility in this region. But it's certainly not something that I would be arrogant enough to take off the table, You've.
Got to look at what works or can I just say and add to this, Bowen's one hundred percent renewables plan cost two hundred and sixty billion dollars more than the proposal to have nuclear energy in the mix, and that is produced by Frontier Economics that were commissioned to do it were the.
Same people who did two seventy five before the last elections.
Yeah, but the point out of this is that you know, ultimately, if you compare an energy mix with gas with renewables in nuclear verse one hundred percent renewables, which is intermittent and doesn't potentially work, people what affordable, secure and clean energy.
The second part of Joanna's question was about preferences and about whether a position on wind farms coming here in the next three years or the process starting in the next three years, whether that would effect who goes where. Andrew again, I'll start with you, and I'll get Kate's response to that question, because it's what was asked well traditionally.
Groins labor last, absolutely and after what we've seen through local government in particular in our region through the Greens and making sure I mean I lost the last election, I beat the labor incumbent by six eight hundred on primary, and I lost on preferences largely because of the Greens, by three hundred and seventy three votes.
That's not fair for our community.
Okay, all right, Kate, about how you make decisions about who goes were? Is wind Farms part of that? No?
No, I'm a community independent and I'm part of a grassroots movement across the country of people who are looking for an opportunity to do politics differently. I'm yellow, I'm not Green, and I've never had any affiliation with any of the political parties because I don't see myself in any of them when we're talking.
Ok okay, all right, I appreciate a couple of times, and I understand we're in a forum, and I understand I like rough and tumble. But part of the promise I make to people is that they're going to respond to the questions that are asked, not the ones that are yelled. So now I understand. So I will gladly follow up about the specificity on the issue of preferences. Have you made your decision about who goes where on an eventual ticket? You know that labors in you know
that Green's in, you know that liberals are in. We don't know who else comes in. But have you decided which way your preferences go?
Preferences are decided by people when they are standing in the ballot box and they're making a decision about their own vote.
There is no candidate that can.
Tell you won't av The how to vote information and education for people allows them to be able to see what a flow of preferences to the left or a flow of preferences to the right is.
I don't give two options. I think that the idea of.
Community independence in regional areas, allowing the people to decide where their preferences go, is very, very appealing to me. I'm not a professional politician, and the universe of preference and flows is pretty new to me. But I have to tell you, I'm really taken by the approach that many of the community independence take, which is to allow people to decide where their preferences go. When you are standing in the ballot box, it is your decision about
where your preference goes. It certainly is nothing that a piece of advertising from a political candidate can overrule once you are standing in the ballot box.
Okay, thank you guys. Give me a round of applause. I'm enjoying this chat thus far. Plenty of questions about local issues like hospitals good also national stuff more on a sec here as part of the Paul Murray live pub test here on Sky News. Thanks for watching. We're a club Malaula. This is a beautiful part of Australia, just a little further south down than Bateman's Bay. And I continue what I'm going to say it again, Raiment's across the road when it comes to Chinese just whatever, sizzling,
order two of it for me. They have spectacular stuff, but as does this club. And move very please to be coming from here tonight. The man who is three times taller than I am right now has got a question for our two candidates, of course, Kate Dezano, who's the community Independent Andrew Constance is with the Liberal Party. Paul, what is your question for the candidates? Thank you, Paul, and welcome to our beautiful town. Man, God love you.
If you are elected, would you display our Australian flag proudly in your office or shelf front o Kate, I'll start with you.
Absolutely, Oh, this country is absolutely one of the most extraordinary places that you could possibly be privileged enough to be born, grow up, raise a family in There is absolutely nothing but pride about the fact that.
I'm in Australian Andrew in my campaign office in now right now, Australian flags flag.
We have one national flag. We have one national flag, and I'm.
Very proud that my leader has indicated that he will only stand in front of the Australian flag as.
A fil Okay, all right now, just thank you very much, I again, host privilege. I have a question I'm going to ask, and it's about the person who's not here. What are your thoughts on the fact that the current MP. Now maybe not like me, it's fine, but these are people that are going to be voting, and there are thousands of people that will be watching. We're on free to wear in this part of Australia. She's made the choice not to be here. I think she misses an opportunity.
But Kate, what do you think of the MP not being willing to debate on television? No one else is going to turn up us to debate you guys about who should be representing the seat.
Look, I think coming tonight and having the opportunity to be able to connect with people, and it connects with people over all sorts of different lines within our community is like an opportunity and apprivilege. She would be mad not to say yes to it. Democracy is an incredible thing. It allows people like me to be able to stand up, have a go. And I really think that the contest
of ideas is what makes the whole system vibrant. And I think it would have been fantastic if all of the choices for the set of Gilmore were represented.
Here this evening, Andrew, I think might have a slightly sharper response.
The elections about the community.
You've got to front up to tell the community your plans, my plans about cost of living, the highway, making sure that batness by Emergency Department stays open and and quite frankly, I don't care what Fiona Phillips does.
It's up to her.
But clearly Head Office were involved, That's all I would say.
All right, So you you mentioned the emergency Department, you mentioned the issues that are there at the moment, and there's state government decisions that have been made over a series of governments, including the one of which you were part of to close that facility. I have been stopped in the street by people that are desperately passionate, part of organized groups, but also not part of organized groups,
who have spoken about this decision. It's good for you to stand tonight and say I'll fight, but weren't you in a cabinet that made the exact opposite decision.
Now as part of a cabinet which decided on a level for regional hospital with an intensive care unit. And to be honest with you, we got it wrong. Health planning got it wrong six years ago, and I was sorry about that. And then we went into COVID and we did clinical service planning, and the consultation with Batman's Bay absolutely was lousy. But there is a way forward
where you can have the best of both worlds. You can have the level for hospital and keep that small emergency department open without the rest of the hospital, not as proposed by the lady who's not here, who wants to just replace it with a bog billing clinic, but actually have it there to save lives. I can tell you from a personal experience, but that hospital saves lives, and that ed given all the growth we've seen in Batan's Bay the last six years has changed the goalpost.
So governments get it wrong, and I was part of the government. We've got a lot more right than it got wrong. But ultimately now there's an opportunity to keep the ed there with a small flow over a set and beds. And the other thing that did happen is it labor reduced under the clinical service plan for the new regional hospital, the emergency department beds from seventeen down to twelve, which has shifted the goalposts into why Batan's Bayed should remain.
Your response, you know how passionate some people are there. I balling you as we speak. Your thoughts about that emergency department? Would you fight for it or would you allow the service to close?
I think any community in a regional area needs to know that they have accessible to them the sort of standards of healthcare and the sort of availability in their
time of need that people within the cities have. I think the lack of health equity when we're dealing with regional areas and growing populations is a symptom of the fact that our infrastructure just does not keep up with changes in population and changes in needs and The reason for that is really short term thinking from generations of governments who are really addicted to three our fixes and to short term sugar hits on things. It really is unacceptable for people not to be able to access an
emergency room in their time of need. As a parent, even in now a hospital, when my children have had to go there for emergencies, you have to as soon as there's something wrong with your kid. You have to go to Sydney for surgery. You have to go to Canberra for surgery. These are absolutely life and death moments, and I think all of us live with the kind of simmering anxiety of things going wrong and having the sort of health services that.
We need be unavailable in our time of need.
And it's not just emergencies. It's about a lack of radiography. It's about the fact that you can't have your baby in the local area. Imagine being waiting to give birth and thinking that you need to either be.
Hanging out for weeks at a time.
Hours away from your jobs and your family and your support units.
So on a number of different fronts. The endless bucketing of money.
Into GPS only works if you've got the workforce in the region. It only works if that workforce in the region you can have the housing that they need to be able to locate it where the population is. So on so many layers. We have got buck passing between layers of government, and we've got really short term thinking. We need our infrastructure to keep up with our population changes.
So forgive you. But is it yes or no about that particular form?
Absolutely, absolutely, yes.
Very clear, yes, okay, thank you. All right, Patricia, You've got a question also for these lovely people. What do you want to ask?
Thank you?
What is your view on the membership to the WHO and participation with the Paris Climate.
Accord so WORLDHATH Organization, Paris Climate Accord all in connection with the UN. Kate, I'll start with you first.
I'm absolutely in favor of a world system where governments work together to solve systemic problems that affect populations across our various continents. So if you are talking about an isolationist of future where we try and go it alone on all of the big picture issues that affect us as a as a society internationally, then I I'm sorry.
It's not me.
I really think we need to be able to collaborate. The issues and the threats that we're facing are global and we need to be able to collaborate globally.
Andrew Well, first of all, I think if COVID taught us anything, we need to protect our own sovereignty. And as part of that, I mean the fact that we were importing medications and vaccines and masks from China and everything else that goes with it. We've got to be able to stand on our own two feet.
In that sense.
Secondly, so secondly, I mean it's part of that. Yes, I mean in terms of our international obligations, they're one thing, but don't sell us out as you do it. Twenty thirty five Paris Agreement target off the table by the Liberal Party, and with good reason because the idea of Matt Keane setting that target and advising Chris Bowen seriously then.
Well he's probably watching.
But look, bottom line is we can't afford to run the country to the absolutely into the drain.
We've got enormous.
Challenges with our costs and that's why it's very important that we start to look after Australia first and foremost.
Thank you for the question against privileged year. The issue of climate change, the environment targets. Kate, do you think that there are other community independents that have said that the target for twenty thirty five needs to be closer to seventy percent rather than say the forty three percent. Now, do you stand by a goal of twenty thirty five? Are you okay with twenty thirty and then to twenty fifty? What's your thoughts on twenty thirty five and what that number should be.
All I know is that there needs to be a twenty thirty number and a twenty thirty five number if you are genuine about getting to net zero by twenty fifty. So all I can see at the moment is another generation of backflips, delay and confusion.
And for the third of this electorate that.
Have already put solar panels on their roofs, for the small businesses that are already locally installing maintaining solar infrastructure on people's houses, and for the community organizations that are saving bills with community solar and with local batteries.
I think that we really need to be faired income.
With people about the fact that if you are thinking that you're going to get to twenty fifty, you need to make a start on that and you need to be serious about it. Another backflip on energy policy is not what this country needs. We have already in this region got to nearly fifty percent renewaballs. So this is underway, this energy transition. The benefits to people's back pockets are
on the way. And the last thing that the third of this electorate that have got solar panels on their roof want to hear from the government is that the investment that they made in their home, their future.
And their kids.
But doesn't but also isn't part of this that there is Okay, the Libs have made it very clear, no number on twenty thirty five apart from what's been passed forty three percent going into twenty thirty Is there a range? I mean, I know you're going to say there's a collection of information you're going to I know all the ways around the number. But is there a number because
many other community independence have said seventy five percent? Do you believe that it should be closer to forty three percent or seventy five percent?
I absolutely believe it should be closer to seventy five percent.
Well, that's the question's That's what I wanted to ask. All right, let's keep going now. I think we've got we've got We've got Jason here. Jason's on this side. Kday, mate, what's your question? Very good, Thank Paul. I'm not going to hand the mic over. What do you want to ask?
Okay, what's the government's solution to assist the low and middle class people of Australia, specifically the high groscy prices of coals and rulers.
Okay, Andrew start with you. If you were there, You're not just there as an independent, you would be part of a government. So what would the Liberal Party's policy be on these matters?
Well, first of all, I think the behavior and Coals all words couldn't have been more I think treachery to Australian people over the last few years. We only have to go down the road to see how our dairy farmers are being treated over many, many years. So we've got to look at the way in which the cost inputs are driving up the prices at the supermarkets, and.
That comes to energy.
We've all been playing in regional News South Wales and Regional Australia high fuel prices in the city for a very long time, which is why the cost of living crisis is more profound here. So there has to be a way in which we look very closely at the cose of practice of the supermarkets, but more so what they're doing to the farmers who are producing our goods and the pressure of that they're under. So energy comes
back to the mix. We've just had a very interesting answer in relation to what Climate two hundred view.
The view is.
The reality is that if we don't have affordable, secure energy from our fuel supplies to the electricity and our homes and businesses.
Then prices will go up.
I've walked into an example of the ice creamery in Ala Dallah, the butcher in East Nahara, and in some cases those small businesses are not passing on their energy price hikes to their customers because they want to look after our community, because they're part of it, and that's what small business is doing. So national government needs to
step in be a lot more aggressive. I think the A Triple C has been a toothless tiger for a long time in relation to some of this stuff, and we need to strengthen.
We're in the last two minutes of the show, respect to Fred and Danny with their questions. But Kate, your last response to this question about how you would help people in low and middle incomes.
I think duopolies, wherever they exist in politics or in supermarkets, are really bad for competition and they're really bad for everyday consumers. So anything that is going to increase choice, competition and to help families to be able to force the basics has got my support.
All Right, thank you very much. We're in our final minute here, and as you started about telling us a little bit about yourself, I'll give you each I'm going to say fifteen seconds because mentally you'll turn that into thirty. All right, your bumper sticker pitch about why people should learn more and think about voting for you. Andrew you first, well, our country is in the wrong spot.
We've got to shift to You got to change the local member, to change the government and then change the country. And Peter Darton does have a twelve point plan that's designed to protect us all look after all Australians. My focus will be dilmore in a way that I've always delivered for this community. Everybody knows me, they know what I'm capable of, and they know that we need a voice from here in Canberra, not Labour's voice here in Gilmore.
All right, how do people get in touch with you? Every contents? Dot Com? Going, I NW what want? Website? Facebook? How do we get in touch with you?
Facebook? Instagram?
Do I mar in the street? Case? All right? Again your pitch and how do we get in touch with you?
People are yearning to be able to do politics differently.
Across the country.
There is a movement of grassroots community independence who are shaking up the status quo and offering people a chance to do things differently as a community independent in the seat of Gilmore. I have got the energy, I've got the real life experience and I really want to get back to a place where our kids have got a hope for a future and that people can afford the basics of life.
Again, good stuff. How do we get in touch with you?
Kateigilmore dot com?
Dot are you there?
We go?
Thank you very much? Give me a rant of applause. I do appreciate it. Thank you to everyone watching this. Plenty more pod tests to come when he names an election, We're coming your way. See you tomorrow.