MEDIA RELEASE – ALBANESE GOVERNMENT AND GREENS SHUT DOWN SCRUTINY ON IMPACTS OF THE IRAN WAR

Senator the Hon Michaelia Cash
Shadow Attorney-General
Leader of the Opposition in the Senate
Senator for Western Australia

2 APRIL 2026

ALBANESE GOVERNMENT AND GREENS SHUT DOWN SCRUTINY ON IMPACTS OF THE IRAN WAR

The Albanese Labor Government joined with the Greens to vote down a Coalition motion attempting to establish a Senate Select Committee to examine the impacts of the conflict in Iran on Australia.

The Coalition condemns the vote as a brazen rejection of accountability and transparency by the Albanese Government and the Greens.

The motion, moved yesterday by Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Senator the Hon Michaelia Cash, would have established the Select Committee on the Impact of the Conflict in Iran, tasked with examining the Australian Government’s response to the conflict and any related matters, with a final report due by 12 November 2026.

“The Australian people deserve to know how this government is responding to a conflict with profound implications for our national security, our economy, and Australian families. This Government is allergic to scrutiny. They actively hide from it,’’ Senator Cash said.

Senator Cash said the Albanese Government’s decision to kill the inquiry stood in stark contrast to the robust parliamentary oversight that was a hallmark of the Coalition government’s response to COVID-19.

“When the Coalition was in government during COVID, we welcomed scrutiny. We established the mechanisms for the Senate to examine our response, ask hard questions, and hold us to account. That is what responsible government looks like. The Albanese Government is doing the exact opposite by shutting the Senate out and leaving Australians in the dark,’’ she said

The proposed committee would have been made up of seven senators drawn from across the parliament, three from the Coalition, two from Labor, one from the Greens, and one from among minority parties or independent senators. It would have had the power to take evidence, call witnesses, move around the country, and report publicly providing full transparency to the Australian people on a matter of critical national importance.

“What is the Albanese Government afraid of? What is it hiding about its handling of the Iran conflict? By voting this down alongside the Greens, they have made clear they have no interest in transparency, no interest in accountability, and no interest in giving Australians the answers they deserve,’’ Senator Cash said.

ENDS