Afternoon Briefing with Patricia Karvelas - 4 March 2026

Melissa McIntosh MP
Shadow Minister for Families and Social Services
Shadow Minister for the NDIS
Shadow Minister for Women
Federal Member for Lindsay

4 March 2026

Transcript

Afternoon Briefing with Patricia Karvelas

Topics: Behaviour of MAFS contestants; funding boost for DV; Liberal Party election review; Economy Day

E&EO …

Patricia Karvelas

Shadow Social Services Minister Melissa McIntosh is my guest, is Tanya Plibersek right? Welcome.

Melissa McIntosh

Thank you. I think Tanya is going to be quite pleased with me that I'm agreeing with her when I'm first into the portfolio. I think this show, what's gone from being a dating show and a bit of fun, has been showing some concerning behaviour quite recently. Women having cat fights over dinner tables and now the airing of this and I don't think in Australia today any woman would appreciate nor put up with that sort of behaviour.

Patricia Karvelas

Yeah, it's interesting, isn't it, because she's called on them to take responsibility, which I think is reasonable. You can't ban this sort of stuff, you'd think, but what responsibility do they have to not allow the modelling of this sort of stuff?

Melissa McIntosh

Well, they're driven by ratings, aren't they? So as long as people still watch this stuff, and I don't watch the program I'm only going off the little bit I've seen, I don't think I will watch the program, but people do. But when we’re trying to, as Tanya said there, encourage a society that takes women more seriously and coercive control is a big issue and domestic violence is a big issue, having this aired is pretty distasteful.

Patricia Karvelas

Yeah, distasteful is, that's right. Look, there's another announcement, it's very linked in many ways. The government has announced a funding boost for its frontline domestic and sexual violence workforce. Do you welcome that spending?

Melissa McIntosh

Of course, we always welcome more support for domestic violence services. I want to look more into the detail of this, whether it is an extension of the existing program and if it will put more resources on the ground. We had people here in Parliament today from services across Australia that do look after frontline workers and they're calling out for more funding separate to this, and they're saying that their funding's being cut and we know that 50% of the time when a woman does get the courage or the opportunity to make that phone call, 50% of the time they don't get through. So, there is still a lot of work to be done. I know services in my community in Penrith; we unfortunately have some of the highest rates of domestic violence in the state of New South Wales, almost had their funding cut and they were right down to the wire, the staff had packed up their bags and were leaving, and at the last minute got their funding reinstated. So, there is more work to be done. I'll look at the details, but we do welcome more support for domestic violence services.

Patricia Karvelas

Under your previous leader and your only female leader, Sussan Ley, she did actually put a bit of a focus on issues around domestic violence. She talked about it, she talked about her own experience, broadly, without putting much detail in it, but in terms of knowing what it's like to experience that kind of control as well. Is that still a focus under the new leadership?

Melissa McIntosh

Yeah, of course. It shouldn't be a gendered thing. I was sitting next to one of my male colleagues, if we're going to talk about gender, and I don't think it is related to that, a Nationals colleague, and he said that it's one of the biggest issues in his electorate and it's really concerning and he wants to do more. So, I think it's not a male thing, it's not a female thing, but it's certainly something that all sides of government should be looking at and taking seriously and doing everything we can, because the numbers aren't getting better. So, you know, we all get really sad and upset when we hear of another death, but it's still happening. So, what do we do to make a difference? That's why I welcome this funding, but I'll look at programs that we can perhaps invest in, I’m always for frontline services on the ground where it matters most.

Patricia Karvelas

On the Liberal Party review, should it have just been released?

Melissa McIntosh

I had a look at that after it was leaked to the media yesterday and I have to say I just scanned through. There was nothing surprising there. We know that we had a terrible campaign and we are in opposition, that's just where we are. It was a decision made by the Federal Executive that it wasn't released. It has been released. I know that Angus is taking steps for us to ensure that those recommendations become action items and we do take it seriously and we do make change. We have to. We can't ignore the results of the last election and expect that we'll be winning the next one.

Patricia Karvelas

Just finally a lot of criticism that you haven't focused enough on the economy this week. Today was dubbed Economy Day, there were economic questions, but has that been a mistake?

Melissa McIntosh

There's nothing wrong with Economy Day. I don't think so, I truly believe that the most important item for a government is to protect its citizens first and foremost. The economy absolutely is the top, but safety of Australians is first and that was an important issue to start the week. National accounts were out today, so it made sense to pivot to the economy and despite what Labor is saying, talking themselves up saying Australians have never had it any better than they do now, we know that people are struggling out there and consumption in those results today has gone backwards. That means people aren't spending as much, they don't have as much.

Patricia Karvelas

The economy is growing though.

Melissa McIntosh

Well, tell this to Australians on the street when they can barely afford to put food on the table. So that's the reality.

Patricia Karvelas

Yeah, I think that lots of people are struggling, there's no doubt about it. Melissa McIntosh, thank you.

Melissa McIntosh

Thank you.