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
Doorstop, West Perth
2 September 2024
TOPICS: GST, AUKUS jobs, inflation, cost of living, live sheep exports, WA mining
E&OE
Senator Cash
What we’ve seen in the last 24 hours in Western Australia, is a desperate Prime Minister who will do anything. He is distorting the truth. Why? Because he is trying to deceive Western Australians, because he knows the policies that his government has implemented are having a detrimental impact on Western Australians. It is a fact that under Mr. Albanese, Labor has walked away from WA. Let’s look at his first claim when he touched down. The GST claims by Prime Minister Albanese are, quite frankly, so outrageous they are laughable and make him look hysterical. Mr. Albanese clearly has forgotten the history of the WA Liberal Party and the former coalition government securing WA’s fair share of GST. I challenge Mr. Albanese to go back and look at media articles at the time, in particular from his own colleagues here in WA, who said it could never be done. Well, guess what? Mr. Albanese, the WA Federal Liberal team and the former Coalition Government, we did do it. We secured WA’s fair share of GST and Peter Dutton as leader of the Opposition, has made it clear nothing will change when we are in Government. So again, it is a desperate Prime Minister trying to distort the truth and deceive Western Australians, because he knows the policies his Government have implemented are having a detrimental impact on WA. I mean, you’ve read in the papers over the weekend. The cost of living crisis in Western Australia means some Western Australians now are having to choose between paying a bill and going to the doctor, seriously. I go to shopping centres all the time. You just need to stand out the front of a shopping centre and talk to people as they exit. They will tell you they are feeling the impact of inflation, and in particular food inflation, every time they go to the checkout. As one IGA owner said, the baskets are getting smaller, but guess what? The cost is getting bigger. And then, of course, there’s a perfect opportunity for Mr. Albanese, when he touched down in Western Australia to apologize to our sheep farmers and to apologize to all Western Australians, for his policy decision to close down the live sheep export industry, which is going to impact 1000s of jobs here and across Australia. But more than that, for the quip that he made at our farmers expense at a dinner in Canberra. This is a Prime Minister who is actually a prepared to close down an industry, but then he’s prepared to make WA farmers the butt of a joke. He comes back to Western Australia, lauding how many times he’s been here, and he doesn’t apologize to our farmers. I think that says a lot about our Prime Minister and his integrity. And of course, the one cabinet minister that we now have in Western Australia has now turned on the mining and resources industry. Why? Because they’re not out there every day backing the Labor Party’s policies. Well, guess what? They’ve been pretty clear since Labor got into government, the Labor Party’s policies are having a detrimental impact on our mining industry. And as Peter Dutton says, you attack WA’s mining industry, you attack Australia and Australians and the economy. A strong WA mining industry equals a strong economy. So as I said, in the last 24 hours, all you see is a desperate Prime Minister who will say anything to distort the truth in an effort to deceive Western Australians. Because under Mr. Albanese, quite frankly, Labor has walked away from WA.
Journalist
On the GST though didn’t Andrew Bragg add fuel to the fire by suggesting that GST be taken off WA as a stick to enforce housing targets?
Senator Cash
Let me be very, very clear, Andrew Bragg was wrong. That is not our policy. Under Peter Dutton, he has made it very, very clear, we got WA our fair share of GST. We legislated that, and that is not going to change.
Journalist
So did Andrew Bragg just make it up?
Senator Cash
Andrew Bragg got it wrong. That is not our policy.
Journalist
Pretty big stuff up, isn’t it?
Senator Cash
Again – Andrew Bragg got it wrong. That is not our policy.
Journalist
Has he been counseled at all?
Senator Cash
It has been made clear to Andrew Bragg that he got it wrong. That is not our policy.
Journalist
Has it ever been considered. Has anyone ever suggested it in the Liberal Party?
Senator Cash
I have not heard anyone suggest that. Let me tell you what they do talk about, though, and that is the Albanese government bringing in a record number of immigrants that we now know is putting incredible pressure on the housing market across Australia. Cost of living, without a doubt, the impact of the cost of living crisis on Western Australians and on Australians, that is the number one issue that people are feeling. Why? Because they feel it every day. They feel it as they walk into the shop. They feel it as they pay their bills. Insurance has gone up, you name it. It’s gone up under the Albanese government. But I tell you, the second issue they are raising across Australia, and in particular here in Western Australia, is the Albanese government’s immigration policy and the fact that Western Australians cannot get into the housing market, that is absolutely something that has been raised by Western Australians.
Journalist
What was your reaction when you heard Andrew Bragg say that then, because after years of staying on message about the GST, it was almost undone in six seconds.
Senator Cash
I didn’t have a reaction because I knew it was wrong, and I knew it wasn’t our policy. Remember, I sat around the Cabinet table. I was one of the Western Australian – WA, federal Liberal members who fought tooth and nail for WA to get our fair share of GST. It is legislated. Peter Dutton is not undoing the legislation. Peter Dutton – we had a unanimous Cabinet decision on this. It is not changing under Peter Dutton.
Journalist
Jim Chalmers says that higher interest rates are smashing the economy. Should voters blame the RBA or the government?
Senator Cash
Well, it’s very interesting, because what are the RBA doing? The RBA reacts to Federal Government policy. They are reacting to the policies that Jim Chalmers and Anthony Albanese have put in place. You know, Michelle Bullock has made it very, very clear. She said it to the government, inflation is now homegrown inflation. What does that mean? It means that the additional $315 billion that the Albanese government has spent since it was elected is contributing to higher inflation. Mr. Chalmers needs to look in the mirror. Attack inflation. Don’t attack the Reserve Bank Governor. The Reserve Bank Governor is independent. They make independent decisions, but based on the policy situation they find Australia in. So again, Mr. Chalmers and Albanese, stop attacking the independent Reserve Bank Governor and start attacking inflation. I mean, Mr. Albanese made so many promises to the Australian people prior to the election, and one of them was, if he was elected as Prime Minister, he would tackle inflation. Well, time and time again, he might be tackling inflation, but guess what? Inflation is winning, and that is confirmed by the position of the Reserve Bank Governor. A) when she says inflation is homegrown inflation, but B), with her position on interest rates. Look in the mirror Jim Chalmers and start tackling inflation on behalf of Australians.
Journalist
Nature positive laws, will they be bad for our mining industry?
Senator Cash
Absolutely. You’ve got to be kidding me. What more can you do as a Federal Government, quite frankly, to destroy the resources industry in Western Australia. There has now been an admission by the government that the impact on WA was going to be detrimental. Now, Jonno Duniam, he has been trying to work with Tanya Plibersek, and we will continue to do that. But I have to say, what trust can you have in the Albanese government and Tanya Plibersek when she actually overruled a decision on the gold mine in the eastern states. Now, that is a gold mine that had passed all of the relevant approvals. That is a gold mine that had support of the indigenous community. And Tanya Plibersek can’t tell Australians why she’s kiboshed, the decision that has a direct impact on prosperity, on growth, on the creation of jobs for Australians. So I have to say, you wouldn’t trust this government as far as you could throw them. Given Labor has walked away from WA but more than that, Mr. Albanese, every time he comes here, he says, I’ve touched down now for the 23rd time. So what? So on one occasion in the future, can Mr. Albanese touch down and actually make a policy announcement that is in the best interest of our state? Because everything to date will have a detrimental impact on Western Australia. If you have a detrimental impact on Western Australia, guess what? You have a detrimental impact on the economy.
Journalist
200 jobs for subs, a positive policy announcement for WA?
Senator Cash
A legacy of the Coalition’s announcement on AUKUS. That is a legacy of the former coalition government, and we have always looked at AUKUS in a bipartisan manner. So yes, I welcome the announcement. However, it’s 200 jobs. Even Mr. Albanese himself admits we actually need tens of thousands. And if you look at the attack by Anthony Albanese and his skills minister on the training system throughout Australia, there is now 85,300 less apprentices in training. So AUKUS obviously a legacy of the coalition government. We continue with AUKUS in a bipartisan manner. However, the 200-job announcement is a drop in the ocean. When you look at or even Mr. Albanese’s own analysis. The thousands and thousands and thousands we’re actually going to need. Thank you all very much.
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