In this episode, we speak with Senator Katy Gallagher. The busy politician is close to both Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers, and manages an almighty workload.

With four big portfolios in finance, women, the public service and government services, she’s also firmly in the crosshairs of the opposition, which has promised to slash jobs, and cut back on diversity hires and working from home.

Gallagher talks to us today about all of the above, but also her own life and times – including her unusual family upbringing, and the immense tragedy she suffered with the loss of her fiancé, Brett Seaman, when she was 26 and pregnant with their first child.

Gallagher is the subject of our cover story this week – “From that worst place, I found a way out” – and hosting this conversation is the writer of that in-depth profile, freelance correspondent Deborah Snow.

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