Senator the Hon Michaelia Cash
Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs
Leader of the Opposition in the Senate
Senator for Western Australia
TRANSCRIPT
Radio 4BC Drive with Gary Hardgrave
17 September 2025
Topics: Failed PNG security pact, Albanese/Trump meeting
E&OE
Gary Hardgrave
I’m joined by the Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs Michaelia Cash. I know she’s a favourite of this program. She’s the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate. Senator, you are a bit popular when you come on here. So what do you think about the negotiations with this defence treaty with PNG I thought we would have gotten signed? I can’t believe we haven’t.
Senator Cash
Well, let’s be clear, Anthony Albanese promised a landmark defence treaty with our near neighbour, Papua New Guinea, and instead, Australians have been left with a watered-down communique. I mean, that’s not a success Gary. That is a serious foreign policy failure. This was meant to be a signature moment for Mr. Albanese, but instead, it’s become another embarrassment for Australia on the world stage. I mean, what’s worse is, for months, the Prime Minister and his ministers assured Australians that a landmark security treaty with PNG would be signed this week. This was meant to be his signature moment, and instead, all we’ve got are just more excuses. I think, though the bigger issue is this: in just one week under this Prime Minister, two security agreements, first with Vanuatu and now with Papua New Guinea have stumbled. Now this has become a pattern of failure from a government that loves a bit of spin. They’re long on the spin, but let’s be honest, they are short on delivery.
Gary Hardgrave
I think it’s right that the Prime Minister of Australia is in Papua New Guinea for the 50th. Papua New Guinea has been relatively a very stable place, and we can see it from the very northern parts of Queensland. I mean, they’re our friend, but this is embarrassing. Even our football team couldn’t even coax them to sign the document. It’s amazing.
Senator Cash
Well, it actually is, and this is where he needs to explain to Australians exactly what has happened. I mean, only last week, PNG’s Prime Minister and the defence minister, they themselves were expecting this treaty to be finalized. The fact that parts of PNG’s cabinet did not even turn up, it does raise serious questions about what did go wrong. You know, we certainly respect, as we must PNG’s sovereignty. But when the Australian Government, but in particular, Gary, at the highest level, the Prime Minister of Australia, sets public deadlines. I mean, he’s been all over the media this week, building up expectations. I mean, I actually thought myself this is going to be signed, and I will welcome, on behalf of the Coalition, the signing of this treaty, and then it fails to deliver. I mean, this just undermines Australia’s standing, but it also damages trust in our reliability as a partner. As I said, I want to see this treaty succeed. The Coalition wants to see this treaty succeed. But Mr. Albanese, again, all hype, raising expectations, and then when you see him on the TV being interviewed about it, he just laughs. He just laughs. This is a serious regional security embarrassment, and the most Mr. Albanese can bring himself to do is just laugh. He actually needs to explain why he assured Australians this treaty would be signed when it clearly wasn’t locked in.
Gary Hardgrave
The thing that worries me is that we’re now hearing they’ve sent the PNG defence minister off to Beijing, just to walk them through and to let them know there’s no hostility. There’s nothing ugly going on here. I get that, and I respect PNG’s right to say they want to be an enemy of no one and a friend of everyone. I get that. But why can’t they say but Australia created us. Australia supports us. We put a lot of foreign, our foreign aid, into PNG, and I think it’s correct. I think we don’t want a failed state within kilometres of our coast. So I think it’s right we back PNG. Why can’t they just simply do it? And to say, well, you know, we used to be part of Australia, so why wouldn’t we want to be?
Senator Cash
It’s a really good question, and this is what Mr. Albanese needs to answer, because, I mean Prime Minister James Marape, I mean he himself, has made it clear Australia is PNG’s security partner of choice. Now I would hope that, following the hype that Mr. Albanese has indulged in, that those words would now be matched with action. Because you’re right, it is in our national interest that PNG looks to Australia first and not to others for its security. I think a number of commentators, I mean, including yourself, have said that there are now reasonable questions about whether outside influences have played a role in the collapse of this treaty, and Australians deserve to know how the Albanese government is dealing with that pressure, in particular, as I said, this is now the second Pacific agreement to unravel on Mr. Albanese watch, following the failed Vanuatu deal. This is our reality. Our region is dangerous and it is competitive, and it is certainly now a contest for influence. Every failure leaves a vacuum that others are only too willing to fill, and so as I said, Mr. Albanese promised a landmark defence treaty with Papua New Guinea. Instead, we watched it all unfold before our very eyes, we have been left with a watered-down communique that is not success. It is a serious foreign policy failure. And Mr. Albanese needs to explain to the Australian people, not laugh at them, not laugh about this situation. He needs to explain why he assured Australians this treaty would be signed when, clearly it wasn’t locked in.
Gary Hardgrave
Well, it’s a serious issue, and I think your points are well made. Michaelia Cash, can we talk about the Donald Trump meeting. Finally, we’re going to get one, a face-to-face meeting between our Prime Minister and the US President. Apparently, they’re still negotiating exactly how that 15 minutes – I don’t know how long it’ll take, but it’s taken forever to get this face-to-face meeting. Meanwhile, an ABC journo blunders in and completely buggers up the kind of tone associated with this very, very, very fragile relationship, because it is fragile. I can’t believe how fragile things are between Canberra and Washington, and the whole thing has now become the course to celebre for Labor ministers. Let’s talk about that. Let’s back the ABC and say great things about the ABC. Talk about change the subject.
Senator Cash
Well, you’re absolutely right. What we should all be focused on is what really matters for Australians, the state of our alliance with the United States. What’s really been hurting Australians is Mr. Albanese’s deliberate decision to put the Australian-American alliance on the back burner. I mean, Australia’s relationship with the US has been our nation’s highest foreign policy priority for more than 80 years, it’s never mattered who was in the Lodge or who was in the White House, Liberal or Labor, Republican or Democrat, our leaders have always put that relationship first, and the Prime Minister has broken that tradition. I mean, he has treated the United States, our greatest ally, as an afterthought, and that is a huge mistake, Gary. This is the reality. It’s now been 315 days since President Trump was elected, and there has been no meeting between our prime minister and the United States President. Now, as you said, there may be a meeting next week. Now that is a good thing. It is a good thing. But even if the meeting does proceed, it’s clear to all that the Australian-American relationship has not been a priority for Albanese. I mean this meeting now it is critical. It is absolutely critical that Mr. Albanese takes this opportunity to ensure that He strengthens the US Australia Alliance, and he ensures that we actually have the benefits for the prosperity and security of Australians and our region. I mean, he talks about priorities. Albanese – God he’s good at doing a lot of talking. He talks about priorities. Well, guess what? This meeting is a test of the Prime Minister’s priorities, and certainly, I’d say a test of the Prime Minister’s priorities, Gary, is where they spend their time and where they invest their political capital. And on both counts, Mr. Albanese has treated the US alliance as a second tier relationship, and given the times that we are currently in, that is simply not good enough for Australians.
Gary Hardgrave
The ABC journalist asked the President about things that tens of thousands of US journalists have dealt with a year ago, so out of date. And then the President says, hang on, you’re kind of fouling things up. I’m trying to meet with your bloke. I’m going to raise you. This is with your Prime Minister. Because what are you doing to me? I mean, Donald Trump, he’s got an ego. He’s not happy about this. I don’t get it. I just think it was a big mistake. And people, whenever we travel Michaelia Cash, representing our country, whether we’re in the private sector or the public space, or indeed, as politicians, we represent our country properly. Not be a bad guest in somebody else’s country.
Senator Cash
Well, I think you’re also right. Though this has now become an excuse for journalists to talk about. How about we talk about what actually matters, the issues that Australia should be focused on, and what we should be demanding explanations on from Mr. Albanese, the state of our alliance with the United States. I mean, we have always said that our partnership with the United States is a coalition, but particularly the AUKUS agreement, it is the bedrock of our region’s security, and this is where our focus needs to be. It underpins our ability, as you know, to deter aggression in the Indo Pacific, but it also ensures that Australia has the capability to defend ourselves in the decades ahead. I mean, Mr. Albanese in putting this relationship on the back burner. And in fact, as I think Greg Sheridan said, turning away from the United States, I mean that undermines the alliance, and when that undermines the alliance, you undermine our security. So Australians deserve a Prime Minister who can raise these issues directly with the President of the United States and elicit clear responses when he raises questions. And I think that, for me, is where our focus needs to be. Four Corners and the ABC – they can explain their line of questioning to President Trump and the angle they’re pursuing there. That’s a matter for them. For me, let’s make sure that this critical meeting with President Trump does not yet become another foreign affairs engagement where Mr. Albanese comes back to Australia empty handed.
Gary Hardgrave
Good comment. Thanks for talking to us. Michaelia Cash Senator of Australia, but more importantly, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate and Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs.
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