Three years ago Treasurer Scott Morrison made a promise to Nambucca Heads resident Andrew McGowan and his buddy Chelsea Dog at a suburban rugby match in Sydney's Sutherland Shire following their 500km walk from Kempsey to Parliament House.
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The pair were walking to raise awareness about victims of clergy child abuse - the then treasurer said Chelsea would get a kiss from him if the pair ever made it to Canberra.
On Valentine's Day, Prime Minister Morrison kept that promise.
A survivor himself, Andrew McGowan's mission is to raise the profile not only of the flaws in the redress scheme but also the vital role of service dogs to help people like himself manage their daily lives.
In 2016 he and Chelsea Dog were well received by politicians in Sydney. From there he was invited to the footy by the Southern Districts team, which is where he met Mr Morrison and received the promise.
Last year Andrew was on his way south for the National Apology to Victims and Survivors of Institutional Child Sexual Abuse when illness stopped him.
Now he has finally made it to Canberra and met with now Prime Minister Morrison, who, with the Medivac debate raging, welcomed Chelsea Dog onto his couch and his lap and accepted her appreciative slurp.
"I bet she's the only dog to sit on the prime ministerial couch," Andrew said.
"The Prime Minister is a man of his word. He asked me if he could give me a hug and I really felt his compassion … I realised the words he spoke in his apology were genuine."
Andrew was in the capital to lobby politicians about the need for national laws governing service dogs.
"Chelsea Dog came into my life in 2015 ... I was suicidal and my counsellor advised me to get a dog. She was going mad on a quarter acre block and I was hidden away in a pub in Macksville, hiding from the demons that the Royal Commission released.
"Having her meant I had to get out of bed, I had to care for her and that helped lift me out of my darkness."
He said she now goes everywhere with him but is met by hurdles when he crosses borders, let alone within NSW.
"The rules are different in Victoria and ACT … and here in NSW there are four different government departments to deal with plus the regulations of local councils.
"It's crazy - this needs to be streamlined. Service dogs are the lifeline for many people - those suffering from disabilities, veterans with PTSD, companions in nursing homes, there should not be these extra barriers."
Andrew would also like to see more transparency and compassion in the National Redress Scheme that has been rolled out since the Apology.
"So far only 51 out of 2700 applications have been settled - that is a joke."
While in Canberra Andrew met with Senator Derryn Hinch, Greens senator Rachel Siewert, as well as Liberal senator for Queensland, Amanda Stoker.
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