The Hon Angus Taylor MP
Shadow Treasurer
Member for Hume
Senator the Hon Michaelia Cash
Shadow Attorney-General
Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations
Leader of the Opposition in the Senate
Senator for Western Australia
TRANSCRIPT
Press Conference – Kings Park, Western Australia
TOPICS: Anthony Albanese lies, WA economy, North West Shelf, WA live sheep trade, FWC gender pay decision
17 April 2025
E&OE
Senator Cash
Well, it’s great to have the Shadow Treasurer, Angus Taylor, back here in Perth. Angus, as you know is a great friend of our great state. He’s been coming here for over two decades now. But more than that, if and when he becomes the Treasurer of this country, Western Australians will have someone who believes in them. But more than that, he is prepared to make the policy decisions that are going to back us every step of the way. We’ve just had a breakfast this morning at which Angus addressed a large section of our business community, and very much the points that Angus made, highlight why we need Angus Taylor as our Treasurer. Woodside were there at the breakfast. Guess what? Within 30 days, a Dutton government will make a decision on the North West shelf project. It is an absolute disgrace that Anthony Albanese, playing into inner city Greens and Teal votes in Sydney and in Melbourne, has kicked the can down the road on that decision. We have made it clear a Dutton government will make a decision within 30 days. Angus, of course, he is the son of a sheep and cattle farmer. He just gets our farmers in Western Australia. He will stand with them. It is a disgrace that Mr. Albanese has stopped the live sheep export trade that has actually impacted the lives and the livelihoods of our farmers here in WA. Angus gets that. He was brought up on a sheep farm, and he will stand with our farmers every step of the way. But of course, just looking down St George’s Terrace at the moment, the decision that Western Australians make on May the 3rd, it is all about protecting the prosperity of our great state. We are a mining and resources state. We want to ensure that we have the policies in place that allow more projects to get off the ground, to employ more Western Australians, but more than that, to actually pay more taxes and royalties into our coffers, so that as a government, we can build more roads, we can build more schools, we can build more hospitals. And Angus clearly articulated to people today how he will be part of a government that cuts approval times in half to get those projects up and running. But of course, Angus himself is from Goulburn. He understands, just like Western Australians, that we drive, in some cases, huge distances on a daily basis. And that is why, when Angus is out and about talking to people, and he says to someone, I understand the pain you’re in because of Mr. Albanese, I understand that you need that immediate cost of living relief flowing to you, 25 cents off a liter, he can actually resonate with Western Australians. So Angus, again, it is fantastic to have you here today. You are someone that gets Western Australia. You’re someone who gets the issues that Mr. Albanese clearly doesn’t. But more than that, you are someone who understands that when you back in Western Australia, you back in the rest of the Australian economy.
Angus Taylor
Good on you, Michaelia, and it’s really wonderful to be here with you, a passionate advocate for Western Australia. And what a beautiful state it is. Just look, behind me today. Just absolutely magnificent, it’s great to be back here, but it’s also an incredibly energetic and productive state like Michaelia herself. And it’s wonderful to be here with Michaelia. Now, we’ve just seen the labour date come out in the last half hour or so, and the story there is very clear. The story is that Australians are working harder for less under a Labor government. They’re having to take on extra hours, extra jobs, they’re having to dig deep into their savings, and they’re having to cut back on essential and non essential spending right now, at a time as we approach the holidays, school holidays, at the moment here where every dollar counts for hard working Australian families. The truth of the matter is that this Labor Government has trashed two budgets. They’ve trashed the household budgets and they’ve trashed the government budget, and the job is to repair both. I made this point this morning, household budgets have been absolutely smashed under Labor. We’ve taken a bigger hit to our standard of living than ever before in history, bigger than any of our peer countries and Australian households are suffering. That’s why we’re providing them relief at the petrol bowser. We know people in those suburban areas where they travel long distances are being hit amongst the very hardest. Mortgage belt areas where people have had to find $50,000 in mortgage payments. We’re also providing that support in the next financial year for a tax offset, $1200 for tax relief, which will benefit 85% of Australian taxpayer payers. And this is important relief to Australians who are really struggling right now to get ahead. But the other budget, that they’ve absolutely trashed is the government budget. Deficits, as far as the eye can see. And that’s why we opposed over $100 billion of spending, not essential services like health we will protect that, but spending that is not necessary at a time like this. 28,000 kilometers of power lines, for instance, that is not necessary right now. We also need to protect our budget, put the rules back in place that were thrown out by Labor, and one of those is to protect our future generations by making sure the commodity windfalls that Western Australia is a major contributor to are protected and invested for the future by paying down debt, by investing in productive infrastructure that’s going to help Western Australia and all Australians. Now, the other pathway to try to pay for all of Labor’s spending, at least, is to tax Australians, and that is clearly what labor plans to do. We saw last night the Prime Minister lie about whether this government has done work on getting rid of negative gearing and a tax on the family home. We know Treasury has done that work because Jim Chalmers told us that, and this Prime Minister, despite the fact that the treasurer has told us that, lied to Australians last night. It was a little bit like the lie when he fell off the stage. The truth is every Australian can see quite plainly that this government has been working on these additional taxes, and we know if we end up with a Labor-Green-Teal government, they will come after Australians, because when they run out of their money, they’ll come after yours. We know they’re already coming after superannuation. They promised they wouldn’t do that, but we also know that they’ve been working on getting the family home and hitting negative gearing. This is, a Labor Government and the Prime Minister that simply can’t be trusted. This is the Labor government that doesn’t seem to have any respect for access to markets. They’re shutting down the sheep market here in Western Australia. I mean, how can they carry on about how they’re going to reopen up the beef market in the US, which is the biggest market that will be affected by these tariffs, as yet exactly the same time as they’re shutting down the sheep market here in Western Australia. I mean, this isn’t government. They’ve never believed in getting access to markets. Now, more broadly, on the economic outlook, it’s true – we’re facing uncertain and tumultuous times, and we know to make sure we improve those two budgets, the household budget and the government budget we need an economy to grow. This is so important, and that means investment, and it means approvals. And what Michaelia had just said about the importance of getting rid of red tape, getting approvals through, getting investment. I mean, this government – what its done on the North West Shelf is just extraordinary. It’s become a political, internal political football within the Labor Party. Well, this is an iconic project for Western Australia and for Australia and to the benefit of all Australians.
Journalist
Now, you mentioned saving money at the bowser and obviously your passionate about sheep trade. What would the Dutton government do to address this issue – the issue of employment.
Angus Taylor
You, grow the economy. I mean, this is clear, boost growth by backing business, backing investment. We know that works, because that’s worked in the past. It’s very clear, and this government is not interested in it. That’s why we’ll streamline the agencies that are making it harder to get investment done, the agencies that have to give approvals to get investment happening in this country. It’s got to happen faster. It’s all slowed down under this government because they wait for their union overlords to tell them what to do, and meanwhile, we’re got a CFMEU that’s making investment in the construction industry for instance, incredibly difficult. Every Australian is paying for that. Get investment moving. And there is no state that understands investment better than Western Australia.
Journalist
The Nationals candidate for Bullwinkel, Mia Davies has come out and publicly urged the Coalition to revisit its position on the production, the critical minerals production credits. She says that she’s going to stand up in the party room if elected and urge that position for change. What do you say to her if she does that?
Angus Taylor
Well, I say this, if we want investment happening in this country, if we want manufacturing to succeed in this country, you’ve got to get the basics right. You’ve got to make sure approvals are done in a timely way, and they’re not being done in a timely way. You’ve got to make sure that energy is affordable in this country, and that means, in the short term, getting more gas into the market. It also means having base load, zero emissions, nuclear generators, getting a balance right in our energy system. If you get the basics right, manufacturing can succeed, mining can succeed, industry, more generally, can succeed. That’s what we want to see. That’s what we stand for. Corporate welfare is not what we stand for, and it is absolutely essential that we get those basics right. And I know it’ll work. And I certainly know it’ll work here in Western Australia, where it has long been a formula that’s been successful.
Journalist
So has Mia got that position wrong?
Angus Taylor
I’m just saying what our position is, and I think it’s unambiguous. It’s very clear, and Peter Dutton has made that clear on many occasions and so on.
Journalist
Is it frustrating for someone on your own team to go out and publicly back a Labor policy like that?
Angus Taylor
Let’s be clear, what this state needs and what this country needs is those basic economic policies that make investment happen on a timely basis. We haven’t seen that from Labor. We know it works because it’s worked historically. You know I saw that massive wave of investment starting in the mid 2000s here in WA. I was working over here, huge increase in the production of iron ore through that time period. I saw how that benefited this state. I saw it work. And I tell you, it wasn’t because the government was giving those companies subsidies. It was because the basics were right. Both federal and state governments were getting timely approvals through, the energy policies were right. I pay credit to the gas reservation policies that have worked very well in this state, and I know it works because I saw it. I was part of it. I’m very proud to and privileged to have been part of it during those years.
Journalist
How much damage has it done to the Coalition campaign having Peter Dutton again admit he made a mistake?
Angus Taylor
Well, I tell you who should admit they make made a mistake. It’s Anthony Albanese. I mean, this bloke couldn’t even admit that he fell off the stage, and now he won’t admit that his Treasurer was doing work, and the government was doing work on negative gearing and taxing the family home. He needs to front up to the Australian people on that. I’ll give you another one, he needs to front up and apologize for, it’s their promise of a $275 reduction in electricity bilsl. Well, I know in my part of the world, my constituents, they’re paying $1,300 more than was promised. That’s the underlying price of electricity. This is a prime minister that thinks he can say black is white and everyone will believe him. Well, he’s a liar. He lied.
Journalist
Has Peter Dutton’s comments on Russia and Indonesia hurt the campaign?
Angus Taylor
You know what’s refreshing, is Peter Dutton will always be honest with the Australian people, and Anthony Albanese will not be. He has lied to the Australian people in front of their eyes. I mean, this guy seriously cannot be trusted. This is a government that can’t be trusted. It’s the Labor Party that can’t be trusted. We can do it better. We need to get the country back on track..
Journalist
Do you agree with Mr Dutton that he did make mistakes with those comments?
Angus Taylor
Mr Dutton’s been absolutely honest with the Australian people, and that’s what I think Australians want. I’ll tell you who hasn’t been honest – Anthony Albanese and he and Jim Chalmers need to get this story straight. But I know what the facts are, because Jim Chalmers has told Australians the Treasury was working on advice on abolishing negative gearing and taxing the family homes. And this prime minister has been absolutely terrible.
Journalist
Do you still have confidence in your party leader? This is a second time….
Angus Taylor
100% – because he is the right person to lead this nation. He is the right person to get this economy back on track. He is the right person to accelerate approvals and the critical investments that are going to deliver prosperity for the current and future generations.
Journalist
Just one more on the production credit. Sorry, that policy was brain child of the CME. The AMEC say that, above all other policies on the table this election, including your commitments to the mining industry that will boost investment in the industry more than anything else. So have the industry got it wrong?
Angus Taylor
All I can say is my observation of massive investments in this country, in Western Australia. I was here when the biggest investments in history were being made. And I want to see them continue into the future. And that was through getting the basics right. It was getting the basics right. It was approvals being done in a timely way. It was a Federal government that didn’t want to get in the way. Look, we had to fight, we had to fight against the mining tax that was going to cripple the mining industry in this state, and the industry stood up, and I was part of that. I came into Parliament on the on the back of getting rid of that, that bad mining tax in Western Australia, fought hard, but it was getting the basics right that worked, and it’s getting the basics right that will work in the future.
Journalist
Why was the industry wrong though?
Angus Taylor
I’m just telling you what’s right, because it’s what I’ve seen and I’ve been part of it.
Journalist
You’ve called out Labor for its politicization of the North West Shelf approval process. Are you not politicizing that process yourself by making an election commitment to pass it within 30 days?
Angus Taylor
I tell you when you’re not approving a critical project for Western Australia and the nation, it is my job to call it out. And we will call it out now, getting the balance right between making sure that projects are getting things right, environmental issues and other issues that you’ve got to go through an approval process in detail, but you can do that in a timely way. This government is holding back on it because they have an ideological fight going on within their party and with the Greens. They want to be in Coalition with the Greens. They want to be in Coalition with the Greens. So approving a project like North West shelf doesn’t help them. So they’re having a big internal fight over it. We need to get over that. We need to get the approvals done in a timely way, and we need to get investment moving. We get investment moving in this country by letting the private sector do what it does best. And I tell you, there’s no state where it’s been done better than this state of Western Australia. And as I say, I’m very proud and privileged to have played a very small role in that.
Journalist
On the greens and the Teals, you said inside this, obviously the party is looking to win a majority of the election. In the case that it doesn’t, are you willing to negotiate with the Teals?
Angus Taylor
Our goal is simple, to win a majority. You know why? Because that’s so important for the future of Western Australia and the future of this country. We need a government that can get our economy moving again, that can boost growth by backing small business, by backing investment, can beat inflation by cutting waste, by slashing red tape, that can fix the energy sector, by fixing the housing sector to make housing affordable again, and by getting our budget back on track so we can protect the nation, put us in a position where we have a budget that can support future shocks, which will inevitably come across. All of those things can only be achieved under a majority Liberal National Government under Peter Dutton.
Journalist
Senator Cash, I just got one from our Canberra Bureau. Sorry, just on the Fair Work Commission warning, if the Commonwealth doesn’t fund its childcare pay rises up to 30% parents are going to have to pay more for childcare. Will a Coalition government fund those child pay increases in full?
Senator Cash
We’ve been very clear in relation to the decision, it is a lengthy decision. It is a complex decision, and we need, just like the Labor Party are doing, to review the decision in detail. I’d also note it doesn’t just flow on to childcare, though. This is a decision that actually recognizes the work that these women do in a number of industries that are traditionally low paid, hence the complexity. But also that being a provisional decision, we actually need to consult with people to see what changes, if any, the Fair Work Commission, may well make.
Journalist
Just on those kind of broad implications. Obviously, it’s like 250,000 nurses also potentially caught up in this. Are you concerned about the pressure on employers to pay for all these gender equity pay rises.
Senator Cash
What we want to see is wages rise sustainably. And one of the huge issues we have under this government at the moment is that with the number of barriers that they are putting in place, businesses are finding it harder. We have just ticked over 30,000 business insolvencies in this country, businesses are closing down. A business that closes employs no one. So as Angus has said, we need to ensure that we get both the government budget right and the household budget right. We go back to basics, and we provide an economic environment in which businesses themselves are able to prosper, growth and create more jobs, but higher paying, sustainable jobs for Australians.
Journalist
So, you don’t consider the broader implications here, but is that a risk that these costs are going to be passed on to parents?
Senator Cash
One of the things you don’t ever want to see is costs being passed on to parents. But the reality is, under the Albanese government, despite all of the promises that they made in relation to childcare, costs have risen by 22%. Go and talk to people in rural and regional Australia. They are struggling now to even find places in terms of childcare. So again, don’t look at what Labor look say, look at what they do. Their reality is, despite all of their promises, costs have actually gone up.
Journalist
Senator, can I just quickly ask you about the production credits as well, I’ve been told that there was actually some support from WA Liberals for that policy. Did anyone stand up in the party room and support it at any point since that policy and anyone?
Senator Cash
Let me be very, very clear what we support here in the WA liberals – we support the decisions of Peter Dutton and Angus Taylor in particular, in relation to getting the basics right.
Journalist
So there’s no support in the WA Liberals?
Senator Cash
We support the policy of getting the fundamentals right.
Journalist
But there’s no support for the production.
Senator Cash
No, we believe in getting the fundamentals right. If you don’t get the fundamentals right, you don’t get investment in the sector. I’ve heard from people for three years now, in terms of the red tape and the green tape, that means companies have already made decisions to not proceed with projects, not just in Western Australia, but in Australia. That means those projects don’t get off the ground. That means those taxes and those royalties, they don’t go into the economy and the jobs that may have been created by these projects, they will never see the light of day. In all of my conversations with people, they are begging us, get the fundamentals right. Get rid of the red tape. Get rid of the green tape. If you get the fundamentals right, then they are able to invest in Australia. But what we are currently seeing under Labor, despite their big talk about what they are doing or not doing, they haven’t just not got the fundamentals right, they’ve actually got them wrong. They’ve wrapped people in red tape, they’ve wrapped people in green tape, Projects are no longer going ahead in Australia or Western Australia, that is an unacceptable position, and that is what we back, Peter and Angus getting the fundamentals right so more people decide to invest in our great country, so more people are able to grow businesses that pay taxes that then enable as Angus,said, to get not just the government budget right, but the household budget right. And there is a huge, a huge job of budget repair ahead of us. But if we don’t get those fundamentals right, you’re not going to get the business investment. No business investment, no jobs. It is actually as simple as that.
ENDS
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