Senator the Hon Michaelia Cash
Shadow Attorney-General
Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations
Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate
Senator for Western Australia
TRANSCRIPT
E&OE
6PR with Oliver Peterson at the Perth Royal Show
Wednesday 27 September
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Woodside, Fremantle Football Club, employers, employees, wages, inflation, industrial relations, Voice, Daniel Andrews, Jacinta Allan
Oliver Peterson
Joining me here in the 6PR Jayco Caravanland mobile studio is Senator Michaelia Cash, the Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, the Shadow Attorney-General. Senator, how good is it to be at the Show today?
Senator Cash
Oh, can I tell you Oly, it takes me back to the late 70s and the 80s, which was when I was a child, and I used to come to the Show. Today is a quintessentially hot Perth day, which is just perfect for the Royal Show. It’s great to see so many families out and about and just enjoying themselves.
Oliver Peterson
We’re getting a lot of calls about Woodside extending its partnership with the Fremantle Football Club for the next couple of years. Do you think that’s a good move?
Senator Cash
I think it’s absolutely fantastic. In saying that, I do need to declare that I barrack for the West Coast Eagles. It’s a great Western Australian company. It’s great when corporates come out and actually put their money to use, and supporting a WA football team is absolutely fantastic. They are a big corporate – they employ thousands of Western Australians. Good on the Freo Dockers for taking the money.
Oliver Peterson
Today, we’ve got inflation figures out, 5.2%. We’re up 0.3%. I think that’s probably a shock to people, but some say they’re not so surprised about it. Were you?
Senator Cash
The biggest issue I have with the Albanese Labor Government is that they have no plan to tackle inflation. Oly, I was with a whole lot of small businesspeople yesterday at a function, and the one thing they are screaming out for from this government is a plan: A, to tackle inflation; B, to tackle the cost of living crisis; but also C, to put in place some policies that aren’t going to destroy them. We talked about the impact of the next round of industrial relations legislation, which is an attack on labour hire, an attack on the gig economy, but more than that, it is an attack on casuals. When will this Labor government start putting the people of Australia first and stop attacking the job creators of this country? Employers need employees, and employees need employers. Let’s make that relationship work.
Oliver Peterson
Do you think that the government will be able to get these IR laws through the parliament?
Senator Cash
They got the first tranche through, and ultimately, what the people of Australia need to understand is that the Albanese Labor Government have the numbers in the lower house, and the Australian people voted them in. Within reason they also have the numbers in the Senate. The Greens will always vote for Labor, and in particular on IR. They’re not a great fan of employers in this country – shame on them. But then they just need three more votes, and those votes would normally be Senator David Pocock from the ACT and Senator Lidia Thorpe from Victoria. Unfortunately, I believe that the laws will go through. I think that is a great shame, particularly because all employers have got up and said, “please, you are actually going to kill productivity” but worse than that, there will be job losses.
Oliver Peterson
Reportedly the campaign has been steered by the lobby groups who don’t want this to change, more than what was on the mining tax. It doesn’t seem to be as big a song and a dance at the moment, probably because Australia is preoccupied talking about the Voice to Parliament.
Senator Cash
That’s absolutely right. This government, the Albanese Government, 16 months in office now. The only two things they’ve delivered is this: the union agenda – they’re just ticking off item after item; and the other thing they’ve delivered is a distraction – 16 months on the Voice. I have been at the Royal Show and my team has been at the Royal Show, and people are coming up and saying, “we are bleeding because of the cost of living crisis, when is this prime minister going to put us first as opposed to his union mates and the Voice?”. All Albanese achieves on October 14, regardless of the outcome, is dividing this nation in half, and I say shame on any prime minister who sees that as a legacy. The Liberal Party of Western Australia has been here since Saturday and we have been overwhelmed with people just coming up and saying, “we are voting no”. They all want better outcomes for Indigenous people, but they don’t support Albanese’s Voice, and they definitely do not support dividing the country on the basis of race. Mr. Albanese, on the other hand, what a disgrace.
Oliver Peterson
So, the polls are all indicating in everything you read that the support for the Yes campaign continues to fall. Do you think it should be pulled?
Senator Cash
I called for that months ago. Peter Dutton called for that months ago. I know a number of our Shadow Cabinet ministers have called for that. Mr. Albanese never had to have it this way. If he had produced a constitutional convention to bring everybody together and talk about what we want to achieve, there would have been bipartisan support. Mr. Albanese likes to play politics, and he likes to play politics with the Indigenous people. This is not just about recognition. This is about constitutional recognition through a Voice dividing this country on the basis of race, and quite frankly, embedding in our Constitution a failed system. How about, in the first instance, we have an audit, as Peter Dutton and Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price have called for, into the $30 billion a year that we, as taxpayers, put into the Aboriginal industry?
Oliver Peterson
Erin on the text line says, “Michaelia Cash employees need employers, but what they really need is a living wage and that’s something the LNP is not in favour of”.
Senator Cash
I couldn’t agree with you more. They need a living wage. Under the former coalition government, Erin, real wages increased. Despite Mr. Albanese going to the election and saying, “I’ll give you a wage rise”, but under this Labor Government, real wages – and that’s obviously your take home money versus inflation – have gone backwards. Mr. Albanese, yet another broken promise and no plan to tackle it.
Oliver Peterson
The resignation yesterday of Daniel Andrews, and like Mark McGowan, does this surprise you in this modern era of politics that leaders get to a point where they suddenly wake up one morning and go, “I’m done!”?
Senator Cash
I think what was so disappointing about Daniel Andrews was that Melbourne was the most locked-down city globally during COVID. That was a great shame. What happened to small businesses under Daniel Andrews, they were basically decimated. My understanding was he actually said he would do a full term. So if he wasn’t going to do a full term, why stand again? You just have a look at the reception the resignation received, and it wasn’t a good one. And in particular, small businesses coming out and saying thank goodness. Their only problem is that the new premier, Jacinta Allan, so is as bad as, if not worse. So I really do feel for Victorians. I really, really do.
Oliver Peterson
Michaelia Cash, appreciate you dropping by the 6PR Jayco Caravanland mobile studio today. Enjoy the show.
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