ends up in violence against women but that's where all violence against women begins, so all of us need to reflect on that. John has done so." Alexander's high profile opponent in the by-election, Kristina Keneally, appeared with then opposition leader Bill Shorten in Eastwood to respond to the incident. Shorten said that "The comments are crass, they're wrong, they're stupid, and the apology is 22 years too late". At a press conference, Mr Shorten denied allegations that Labor had deliberately sourced the video in an attempt to bait Alexander during the campaign. Despite this setback, Alexander was safely re-elected, despite suffering a 4.84% two party preferred swing against him to Keneally and Labor. This reduced the Liberal Party's hold in Bennelong from 9.72% to 4.88%, making the seat marginal and at its most vulnerable position for the Coalition since John Howard's reliance on preference votes in 2004 to hold the seat by 4.33%. In the lead up to the 2019 election, Alexander was scrutinised for his comments in response to Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama. Bainimarama had asked the Australian Government to "please stop burning coal, you know the water level's just coming up and it's threatening our communities", to which Alexander responded "move to higher ground". Speaking at a community function in his electorate, Alexander elaborated: "It’s very much like your house is on fire, your children are in the house – should you call the fire brigade and get the children out of the house?" This statement was considered inflammatory by his Labor opponent, Brian Owler, who stated that "he [Alexander] says if the house is on fire to get out. Well, we don’t have a second house - or planet - to run to. It would be better if we didn’t start the fire in the first place." Bainimarama replied to Alexander in a formal statement to Fiji press members, imploring that "Fiji is lucky we even have the higher ground to allow for relocation at all. I’m keen to hear what Alexander believes the people of Kiribati should do in the face of rising seas, where the highest point in their country sits at just 1.8 metres above sea level." Alexander later appeared on ABC Radio, clarifying the nature of his remarks by saying that adaptation was "a priority [...] we must also act to prevent further damage to our planet". Despite the controversy, Alexander