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
Radio 2CC Canberra – Stephen Cenatiempo Breakfast Show
TOPICS: Coalition split, Liberal values
21 May 2025
E&OE
Stephen Cenatiempo
The big news of the day is that the Nationals have decided not to enter into a Coalition agreement with the Liberals. People are saying it is historic. Yes, it is, because in more than 100 years of Coalitions, it’s only happened twice before, once about 40 years ago, and another time a little bit more than 50 years ago. So it’s historic. But I don’t think it’s the seismic shift that people are saying it is and the Canberra press gallery does like to catastrophise things a lot more than they need to be. But the fundamental thing that I maintain here is that the difference between the National Party and the Liberal Party at the moment, is that the Nationals know what they stand for and who they represent, and the Liberals have lost sight of that. To get their perspective on this, one of the more sensible members of the Coalition front bench, both before the election and now she’s the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate. Michaelia Cash. Michaelia, good morning.
Senator Cash
Good morning, Stephen, and good morning to your listeners.
Stephen Cenatiempo
Is this as big a deal as some of the press gallery are making it out to be?
Senator Cash
Well, obviously we are disappointed, and I am a firm believer that the Coalition is stronger when we are together, and at this point in time, uniting to hold Labor to account needs to be our number one priority. But the issue was not actually an argument over policy. It was an issue over process, and in particular, process in relation to discussions and consultations that the Liberal Party, as a Liberal party room, are going to have around policy and policy formation, in particular, Stephen following what was, let’s be honest here, a resounding election defeat. So just very briefly, David Littleproud had put to Sussan Ley that unless she agreed instantly to the same policy positions we took to the last election on nuclear, divestiture, the Regional Australia Future Fund and the mobile service guarantee as a precondition for the Coalition agreement, then the National Party would be out. Now Sussan is the leader of the Liberal Party. All she said was agreeing to these policy positions was problematic, not because they are wrong, given we may well land on a form or some form of them, but rather, she could not make a captain’s call on these policies prior to the election reviews, discussions, consultation and time.
Stephen Cenatiempo
David Littleproud puts it very differently. I spoke to him earlier this morning, and he says that Coalition policy or Coalition protocol, has always been, you maintain your policies as what they are until decided otherwise.
Senator Cash
Let’s be very clear what David had said, there’s a little bit of nuance with what David said. They wanted us to agree, as a precondition to a Coalition agreement, certain policies. All Sussan said was, this is not an argument over policy. It is an issue over process, and in particular process in relation to discussions and consultations and then policy formation following what was a resounding election defeat. But the other issue Stephen was this -David Littleproud also wanted National members of the Shadow Cabinet to be allowed to vote differently and against Liberal Party members.
Stephen Cenatiempo
Well, he says you didn’t even get to that discussion.
Senator Cash
Well, again, I’m telling you what Sussan Ley has advised us. This was an untenable request. I mean, what would the point of a Coalition actually be if this was allowed? So if David Littleproud can’t guarantee shadow ministerial cohesion, then we can’t agree to that. But ultimately, and I heard this from a previous person you were speaking to – we’re two weeks from the last election. We’re three years from the next election. We have had a resounding election defeat. So if there’s any lesson that we can take out of this election immediately, is that we now as Liberals, need to focus on our values. We need to go back to our values and beliefs. But more than that, we need to better educate Australians about those values, and then our policies will always flow from those.
Stephen Cenatiempo
I made that very point earlier this morning when I read out the 18 points on the ‘We Believe’ statement that the Liberal Party’s had when I first joined the party in 1988, it was there, and I’m sure it was there longer than that. I’m no longer a member of the party, because I don’t believe the party adheres to that anymore. But if you go back to those 18 statements, there’s not a single one in there that any reasonable Australian could disagree with, and these policies that the Nationals wanted to maintain are infinitely sensible. If, as a Liberal party, two weeks after a resounding loss, you still don’t know what you stand for, you’ve got bigger problems in the party room than are being advised.
Senator Cash
And that’s where I think you and I are going to have a different interpretation of what has occurred. This was not about changing our policy. As I said, this wasn’t an argument over policy, but it was an issue over process. And Sussan is the leader of the Liberal Party, and on behalf of the Liberal Party and the Liberal party room, all she said to David was agreeing to these policies as a pre-condition for the Coalition agreement – we can’t do. Not because the policies are wrong. We may well land on a form of some of them. But what she said was, and I respect her for saying this, and I know the members of the Liberal party room respected her for saying this – Sussan could not make a captain’s call on these prior to election reviews, discussions, consultation. So our timeline on coming up with answers to these questions cannot be and should not be dictated to by the National Party. The Liberal party room has primacy on our policy.
Stephen Cenatiempo
Let’s talk about the rebuild then. Because I actually think this split is actually a good thing, because it gives both parties a bit of breathing space.
Senator Cash
A bit of breathing space to reassert policies in light, as I said, of a huge election loss.
Stephen Cenatiempo
But I actually I was going to say, I think the fundamental problem you’ve got, and I said this in my editorial this morning, and I said it on Sky News, is the Liberal Party is listening to the wrong people. Now, you had a review after the 2022 election that was largely ignored, which told you what a lot of the problems were. And there are too many statements from, and I consider you one of the more infinitely sensible people in the party room, so I’m not pointing the finger at you, but some of your colleagues have been making statements in the media playing right into Labor’s hands. I mean, you can’t be listening to, firstly, Labor because they want you to lose, by definition, the commentariat who are ill-informed these days and a bunch of voters who are never going to vote for you as long as their backsides point to the ground. You need to be talking to the voters that have abandoned you because they feel like you’ve abandoned that they feel like you’ve abandoned them.
Senator Cash
And I think that in relation to what we all need to be focused on, first and foremost is always holding Labor to account, and in particular a government that, let’s be real now, they have the numbers, as you and I know, in both the House and the Senate, working with the Australian Greens, that is a dangerous combination, and in particular when you talk about one of the first policies they want to put through, which is their superannuation tax, but in particular, the tax on unrealised gains. So for me, holding Labor to account needs to be our number one priority. But to your point, I think one of the things that we need to really have a good look at is how we better educate Australians about those values, because, Stephen, you’re actually right. Our values have not changed, but the policies that we now have need to be better understood by the Australian people. And I think Australians will better understand our policies if they are much more aware of our values and beliefs. You know, our beliefs are based in freedom, the rights and freedoms of all people. I mean this, as you say, has been the case since the Liberal Party was founded, and it is just as relevant as it always was. Certainly freedom of thought, worship, speech, association, my belief in smaller government and minimising interference in people’s daily lives, maximising individuals and private sector initiatives. I mean, these are now fundamentally at odds with the government that’s been elected that believes in big government, big unions and big business. I believe in individual freedom and free enterprise. I want to be again, a champion of small business, of farmers, the party of lower taxes. I mean, Australians are about to be burdened with higher taxes and more regulation, which is going to strangle their ability to get ahead. So for me, we’re going to better educate Australians about what we stand.
Stephen Cenatiempo
Michaelia, far be it for me to be a Monday morning quarter backer. But if more of you were out there before the election saying exactly this, you probably wouldn’t have lost as badly as you did.
Senator Cash
And again, I’m not going to start making excuses for an election loss. You are absolutely right, and that is why we do need to go back to basics. We need to return to focusing on our values, our values and beliefs, which have been the basic foundation of the Liberal Party since it was actually first formed. But we need to now ensure that in 2025 and looking forward, those values and beliefs are understood by the Australian people, because when they understand your basic foundations, they will then have a better understanding of the policies that you formulate and yes, you are right, we need to get a lot better at doing that.
Stephen Cenatiempo
Good on you, Michaelia, appreciate your time this morning.
Recent Comments