The March 8 Edition

There’s nothing like random death to take away the false confidence of “This will never happen to me.” For federal Finance Minister Katy Gallagher, it hit when she was 26 years old and three months pregnant. Holidaying near Merimbula on the NSW south coast, her fiancé, Brett Seaman, was killed while out riding his bike. He was just 33. As Deborah Snow writes in today’s cover story, colleagues see her as tough and empathetic, a rare combination in politics that some might attribute to her life experience. She’s also known as a pivotal player in the Albanese government, more central than many outside Canberra realise. As Snow discovers, though, Gallagher has also made enemies, one of whom sees her as the polar opposite of empathetic. – Editor, Katrina Strickland