TRANSCRIPT
Perth Live with Oliver Peterson on 6PR
Topics: WA Embassy Idea, WA Labor failure to stand up for WA
15 August 2023
E&OE.
Oliver Peterson
Michaelia Cash, good afternoon.
Senator Cash
Good afternoon, Ollie. Great to be with you.
Oliver Peterson
Do we need an embassy in Canberra fighting on behalf of Western Australia?
Senator Cash
Well I have to say, I think the other day on your show was Roger Cook himself who said I’ll always do what the Prime Minister wants me to do because he’s the boss. But quite frankly, I think that says it all when it comes to Roger Cook and standing up for Western Australia. I say shame on you – the people of Western Australia are Premier Cook’s boss, the people of Western Australia as a Senator are my boss. We need people with the loud voice here in Western Australia. Not an admission and a white flag that – I’ll do what the Prime Minister wants me to do because he’s my boss. Not good enough Roger Cook.
Oliver Peterson
Is this a reflection on the Federal Labor MP’s and there’s a lot of them now obviously in Canberra, there’s not many of you left Michaelia Cash on the blue side of things at the moment. Well they’re not good enough? They’re not fighting on behalf of WA?
Senator Cash
I think that’s exactly what this is an admission of. I think his plans for a WA embassy in Canberra is just a stark admission that the Albanese Labor government in the first instance, doesn’t care about Western Australia. And if Mr. Albanese understood and listened to Western Australia, this type of call from Roger Cook wouldn’t be needed. But what is worse is, it also shows how ineffective the WA Federal Labor Team is. I mean the reality is now this Oli, we only have one Cabinet Minister from Western Australia. And that Cabinet Minister is obviously not being heard at the highest level of government. But not only that – Patrick Gorman, the Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister – I mean, he should be very embarrassed that his state Labor colleague felt that this was necessary. I mean under the former Coalition government, WA had an unprecedented number of Cabinet Ministers. And the one thing you could say about the WA team is, we stood up for WA and that is why we fought that long battle and won to get WA its fair share of GST.
Oliver Peterson
The Premier said this morning on those comments that you made there about being embarrassed that this is just negative Canberra psychobabble?
Senator Cash
Absolutely not. And I would say to Mr. Cook – if he wants to play a Team WA game, I am all up for that because there are several issues that all Western Australians should be standing up for and telling Mr. Albanese to back down. The first one is in relation to the Albanese Labor Government’s own changes to their Cultural Heritage Act. If Mr. Cook wants to stand alongside of me and tell Mr. Albanese and Tanya Plibersek – hands off Western Australia, hands off our private property owners right, hands off our WA farmers… hey, I will stand next to him. But somehow, given his comments on your show, I’ll do anything the Prime Minister wants me to do because he’s the boss. Somehow I don’t think Premier Cook will be standing alongside me and the WA Liberal team standing up for Western Australia.
Oliver Peterson
Do you think we get a good deal out of the Federal Government? I mean, you were in government just a short time ago. Does Western Australia do okay out of whatever Federal Government’s in place whether it is a Coalition government or now a Labor Government. Is WA hurting Canberra Senator?
Senator Cash
The answer is it completely depends on how loud your voices are. And I was very proud of the Former Coalition Government and the WA Liberal team because I can tell you, our voices were well and truly heard in Canberra. How many people said over how many years, WA will never get its fair share of GST. We banded together as a team and we were very, very happy to take on our colleagues at a Federal level. The Prime Minister, he listened and look where we are today. But there’s also a number of other very, very serious policy decisions that we need to stand up for when it comes to Western Australia. We’ve got to stand up for our gas industry. The actions out of Canberra under Mr. Albanese are seriously harming our gas industry in Western Australia. When you harm the gas industry, you harm WA jobs, you harm WA families. You know, WA… not WA Labor, Federal Labor’s attacks on our labor hire industry. This is relied on by so many mining companies to supply workers for their projects. That’s again, that’s an attack on WA jobs, it’s an attack on WA families. And of course, when it comes to cutting red and green tape to assist our mining and resources industry, Albanese government – suspiciously silent. So I think it depends on how loud your voice is. And clearly under the current WA Federal Labor team with Premier Cook’s announcement today, it’s a stark admission – they do not do what they should be doing for us in Canberra and their voices are just not being heard.
Oliver Peterson
Senator, thanks for your time.
Senator Cash
Great to be with you Oli.
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