Senator the Hon Michaelia Cash
Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs
Leader of the Opposition in the Senate
Senator for Western Australia
TRANSCRIPT
2GB Radio Sydney – Mornings with Mark Levy with Luke Grant
8 October 2025
Topics: ISIS brides, anti-Israel protests, antisemitism, Liberal party
E&OE
Luke Grant
One of the Senators doing the drilling yesterday on the ISIS brides was Senator Michaelia Cash, the Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister, I’m delighted to say that Michaelia Cash is on the line. Are you well?
Senator Cash
I’m well, but I have to say Penny Wong spent estimates yesterday, dodging questions, taking everything on notice, including, Luke, the simplest of questions. That’s not accountability, that’s a cover up. And the clear question now that all Australians should be asking is, what is Mr. Albanese hiding? He said no, ISIS brides, we’re coming back to Australia before Christmas. Guess what? They’re now here. He has misled the Australian people. And quite frankly, if there’s nothing to hide, why won’t the Prime Minister just tell Australians the truth?
Luke Grant
Exactly right, as I said earlier, Senator, they just, look dodgy. And what gets me, and this is the irritating thing about watching estimates, and very often watching question time – the question you put could not be simpler. You were after the total number, and then you had some bureaucrats say, oh, we can’t go into individual cases. You weren’t even asking that question. Why can’t you just say, hey, please bring this this witness to order and answer the question.
Senator Cash
Because this is now a cover up, nothing more and nothing less. Mr. Albanese has misled the Australian public. His ministers are refusing to answer very basic questions, and unfortunately, you now have officials who are taking things on notice and hiding behind process. The government is trying to pretend this is business as usual, but it is not. These women have quietly flown into Victoria under the cover of darkness, and the government pretends it’s none of our business. I mean, Australians are being treated like they can’t handle the truth. But this isn’t a trivial matter. It’s about who is coming back into our country, what risks they pose, and how the government plans to keep our community safe. And instead of being up front, Albanese’s response has been silence, secrecy, and worse than that – spin. That’s not leadership, that’s concealment.
Luke Grant
That’s exactly what it is. I remember on the weekend when I was here playing his question time response to Sussan Ley’s question about those reports in the Australian newspaper. I mean his denial there looked, well, I’ll say it again, dodgy. How do you get to cross the border into Lebanon? And then I’m assuming that you cross the border, and I might be wrong here, but I assume you cross the border with limited means. You’ve got to somehow have a visa. You’ve got to get a passport somehow, and you’ve got to get a fare somehow, and various other things. To think that the government didn’t at some point assist, and I’m happy to correct the record if I’m wrong, but to think they didn’t assist and someone didn’t say to the various departments, hey, guess what? Guess what we’ve got in their hands now.
Senator Cash
Exactly. You don’t just smuggle yourself out of Syria via Lebanon and land in Victoria with brand new passports by accident. In particular, given the children were born overseas and could not come back into Australia without the Australian Government issuing the passports. So the Albanese government’s claims it didn’t assist these women. But quite frankly, the facts speak for themselves. These women somehow managed to flee a war zone, transit through Lebanon and arrive in Australia with freshly issued passports, all while the Prime Minister now and Senator Wong insist Canberra played no role. Luke that is utterly implausible. Issuing passports is direct assistance, no matter how the Albanese government tried to spin it. The government wants Australians to believe in coincidences when what we’re seeing is complicity.
Luke Grant
Yeah, spot on. So yesterday, I think it was the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. And you get, I think you get a crack, do you not at Home Affairs? I’m sure they’ll say, if they haven’t already, or, you know, you’re asking the wrong officials, when do we get to the truth is?
Senator Cash
Well, that’s a very good question, and that’s a question that should be posed by every media outlet to Mr. Albanese. What are you hiding? Australians are entitled to know the most basic facts about these women. Let us not forget, these were Australian women who chose to abandon the great country of Australia and join one of the most barbaric terrorist organisations in history. This was ISIS, an organisation responsible for the murder, rape and torture of innocent men, women and children. And now they’re back in Australia, and Mr. Albanese says to the Australian people, there is nothing to see here. Well, guess what Mr. Albanese, Australians aren’t stupid, and they are entitled to know the most basic of facts, and they deserve straight answers.
Luke Grant
Let me ask you about the protest that is being decided by the court in Sydney. No one has a problem with protesting but within some bounds. I mean, we can’t have hate speech, but why do we need to have the Sydney Opera House and before the Harbor Bridge as the backdrop, and particularly during this week? I’m sure you’ve got strong feelings on this.
Senator Cash
Well, I do. Two years ago, the world witnessed the most barbaric attack by a terrorist organisation. Hamas slaughtered innocent men, women and children simply because they were Jewish. And we saw the footage coming out of what they called a protest last night. That wasn’t a protest, Luke, that is the celebration and the glorification of terror, of terrorists. But worse than that, it is a grotesque display of antisemitism. Quite frankly, I can’t be quiet anymore. This type of behaviour should never be allowed in the great country of Australia. You know, we should never normalise antisemitism. But what is more, is that we should never allow people to glorify terror or terrorists. That is un-Australian.
Luke Grant
It’s disgusting the way we now treat the Jewish population, certainly not majority of us. But to think they’ve got to live in the circumstances, very often, the parents of modern Jewish Australians came here, fleeing Europe. They were welcome here. They formed a life here. They enjoyed the freedoms here. They enjoyed the safety here. But in the blink of an eye, within two years, that’s been that’s been stolen from them, frankly, the government seems to sit back too much. They’ve got to come out and be forceful, a lot more than they have been, surely, so the Jewish Australians feel safe.
Senator Cash
Well, the other thing with the government is they are really great on words – issuing words. What they’re not so good on, though, as you know, is putting those words into actions. What’s happened to the Segal report? The government’s own envoy, Luke on antisemitism, issued a report to the government with a series of recommendations some time ago now. And guess what? The government has done nothing in relation to that report. So with this government’s weasel words, don’t judge them by what they’re saying. Judge them by their actions. And by their actions, quite frankly, they should be condemned.
Luke Grant
I don’t mind the fact that that my politics is far more conservative than progressive. So I would see the Coalition as the obvious destination for my vote, but I need you to be in the game, and when you’re doing whatever the hell is happening now you’re out of the game, almost at 20%, not far off at first preference vote. Looks like you might be two or three terms away from forming government. I think Australians want some hope, particularly conservative Australians right now. Can you give us hope?
Senator Cash
Absolutely and in particular, just look at the contrast in relation to the topic that we’ve just been talking about. The Albanese government is being secretive with the Australian people. We are demanding transparency. But you’re right, Luke, Australians don’t want to hear politicians talking about themselves. They want to know that every single day we’re getting up and working on their behalf. Talking about how to get prices down, how to keep the lights on, how to make Australians lives easier. And that’s where my focus is, and it is where I would hope the entire Liberal Party’s focus is. We’ve got to be focused on today’s challenges, rebuilding confidence, holding the Labor Party to account, and standing up for hard working Australians. They deserve nothing best less.
Luke Grant
I can see from my listeners. They want you in the mix. They want Andrew Hastiein the mix, and they want Jacinta Nampijinpa Price in the mix. Well, they got 33% of what they want. It’s a mess, and you can’t have talented people like those who I mentioned, not there front and centre, might be slightly more to the right than those who run the faction. You rip your hair out Michaelia.
Senator Cash
Well, I have to say, what are the issues that Andrew is raising? They’re actually consistent with the issues that we’re all raising. The Albanese government has brought in too many people to Australia. This is not about the people they brought in. This is about the number they have brought in. We should be talking about this, because they, by bringing these people in and not ensuring that the relevant infrastructure is built – that has a direct impact on Mum and Dad and young kids in Australia trying to get into their homes. Their disastrous energy policy, net zero at any cost. Well, guess what? Australians are paying the cost. They’re the issues that Andrew Hastie is raising. They’re the issues that I’m raising. They’re the issues that Sussan’s raising. And again, we need to be out there loud and proud, rebuild confidence, hold Labor to account and stand up for hard working Australians. They deserve nothing less.
Luke Grant
Go get ‘em.
Senator Cash
I will, I promise you.
Luke Grant
Good on you. Take care.
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