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
Sky News with Danica De Giorgio
TOPICS: ceasefire deal, antisemitism, cost of living, labour force figures
17 January 2024
E&OE
Danica De Giorgio
Let’s start with this ceasefire deal. What’s your reaction, and should we be naive in thinking that this ceasefire will stop the antisemitism that we are seeing playing out across the country?
Senator Cash
It’s a really good question. First, in relation to the ceasefire, we obviously welcome the ceasefire. We welcome the hostage deal, and I think the words that you had just used, the world looks on now with cautious optimism. I have to say, I think that Donald Trump’s words, there will be hell to pay if a deal is not done prior to the inauguration, would have actually focused the minds of the negotiators. I think domestically – wouldn’t it have been great if our Prime Minister had shown the same spine as President-elect Trump when it comes to dealing with the rise of antisemitism in this country that now goes back to October the seventh in 2023. But let’s face it, it is weak leadership on behalf of our Prime Minister. It is a Prime Minister who has put shoring up votes in certain seats in Western Sydney against the values of good policy and what we should be standing for as Australians. So I think that we have a long way to go, Danica, a long way to go in terms of cleaning up the rise of antisemitism in this country. And we know that, because look at what happened overnight in Dover Heights, and look at our weak Prime Minister’s insipid few words on ABC radio. What a weak leader.
Danica De Giorgio
Well it’s the same old repeated lines. This is the problem, Michaelia, every time – “we condemn it, we condemn it, we don’t tolerate antisemitism.” We’ve gone beyond the point of tolerance, now. We shouldn’t have tolerated it from the very beginning, but this is further than a crisis now. It’s an absolute scourge. And the other problem is, what is the point of Labor having this antisemitism envoy to not take her advice? Jillian Segel wants tougher penalties – jail time for these perpetrators and national cabinet to be convened, none of which Albo is doing, nor willing to entertain at this point. Has the appointment of her been simply to appease members of the Jewish community?
Senator Cash
Absolutely. And let us be very, very clear, you’re going to hear a lot coming out of Mr. Albanese’s mouth between now and the election, because he now knows he’s got to clean up the mess he’s made in the Jewish community. But what I’d say to the Australian people is this, don’t judge Mr. Albanese on what he’s going to tell you between now and the election, judge this man by his actions. And his actions show he has betrayed Australia. He has betrayed Australians. He has betrayed our values. And quite frankly, Danica, God help Australia if there is a second term Albanese government, governing in minority with the Australian Greens. If people think it’s bad now, you just wait for a minority government. This is a weak leader who will not stand up to people who are effectively terrorists in this country. What happened in Dover Heights overnight is an act of domestic terrorism. Danica, I don’t know about you. I don’t know the country we live in anymore. I love this country dearly, but I don’t know the country I live in under Anthony Albanese. Enough is enough, quite frankly, the sooner we can move this guy on and install Peter Dutton, who has shown Australians he is a true leader. He believes in Australia, he believes in Australians, and let’s get this country back on track.
Danica De Giorgio
Absolutely, this is not the country we want. We should be worried about the direction that we are heading to, because our values are decaying right in front of our eyes across the country. Now, I want to ask you about this new framework announced by the Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke for political and radical violence, fighting terror and extremism. I played this earlier on, and I want to show it to our viewers again. This is what he said about antisemitism and cracking down on it.
Tony Burke
I have no hesitation in cancelling visas, where people are making clear that they have values that have no place in Australia.
Danica De Giorgio
Michaelia, only five visas have been cancelled since October 7, 2023. How can we take this government seriously or trust them enough that they actually put the safety of Australians first?
Senator Cash
Well, again, Danica, they’re not. And I would say again to the Australian people, you’re going to hear a lot from this government between now and the next election, they are going to try and pull the wool over Australians’ eyes. And that’s why, in the lead up to the next election, they need to be judged on their record, as opposed to the weasel words that they will say between now and the next election. This is business as usual, this strategy. Governments get these strategies, they update them, they release them. The scourge that’s currently facing Australia is domestic terrorism and antisemitism. Danica, you know, if you Google antisemitism in this document, it’s mentioned once, and it’s mentioned alongside Islamophobia. So quite frankly, I think that speaks volumes.
Danica De Giorgio
But this is typical. This is, again, this is Labor trying to appease certain members of the community, walking both sides of the street. We’ve seen this from the beginning. Before we let you go, Michaelia Cash, I just want to ask you about Australia’s unemployment rate. It’s lifted by 0.1% reducing now the likelihood of an interest rate cut. What does this mean, do you think for the upcoming election? I mean, obviously cost of living, this is all very much in focus. What do you think this means?
Senator Cash
Cost of living is indeed the issue at the next election. There’s no two ways about that, and Australians need to ask themselves, am I better off today than I was when Mr. Albanese was first elected, bearing in mind that Mr. Albanese said Australians would do so well under his government. What’s interesting about the Labour Force figures is this: the ABS Labour account, the most comprehensive analysis of the labour market, shows that under the Albanese government, the number of people now working multiple jobs is the highest since 1994 when records first commenced. Almost 1 million Australians are now working multiple jobs, and as I said, that’s an increase of 15% since Mr. Albanese came to office. There’s your answer. People are having to work more hours and more jobs because under this government, they actually can’t afford to live. And again, you’re going to hear a lot from Mr. Albanese between now and the next election. You’re going to hear how great life is under Labor. But Danica, Australians need to judge Mr. Albanese by his actions, and every time you go into a supermarket, you know, life’s not easy under Anthony Albanese
Danica De Giorgio
Spot on. Absolutely. Shadow Attorney-General Michaelia Cash, good to speak with you. Thanks very much for joining me on the show this evening.
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