Senator the Hon Michaelia Cash
Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs
Leader of the Opposition in the Senate
Senator for Western Australia
ABC Radio Perth Drive with Gary Adshead
Thursday, 27 November 2025
Topics: New environment laws, WA Premier Roger Cook, Chris Bowen, energy costs
E&OE
Gary Adshead
Let’s bring in Liberal Senator Michaelia Cash, who joins me on the line. Thanks very much for the time, Michaelia.
Senator Cash
Great to be with you.
Gary Adshead
All right. Now, you have described in your media statement that this is a dirty deal done with the Greens.
Senator Cash
Well, let’s put it this way Gary, if your goal was to scare off projects and spook investors, you design exactly the sort of laws that Labor and the Greens have, literally, about 10 minutes ago, just agreed to in the Australian Senate. I mean, this is a flat out betrayal of Western Australia when we are the State, Gary that built this nation’s prosperity, and in return, what has Labor done? They’ve signed up to environmental laws that make it harder to invest, harder to build projects and harder to create jobs in our great State. And despite all of Roger Cook’s bluster, and I give him credit, that was a great little speech he gave today, he himself has admitted these laws are a missed opportunity for industry. Well, then why, in God’s name, has he backed in Anthony Albanese’s Greens deal? I say to Roger, mate, you can’t have it both ways. Roger Cook Gary could have actually stood up this morning. He could have done a press conference. He could have drawn a line in the sand and said no to a deal that damages Western Australia.
Gary Adshead
What is it about that? Can I ask you, though, what specifically, if I look at what the Greens have said, Labor has agreed to in terms of getting this through. Have you got a particular line that you think is bad for industry and resources here?
Senator Cash
Well, in the first instance, the Greens are bragging, and when I say bragging, you’ve got to listen to their speeches in the Australian Senate – they’ve got no fast track for new coal and gas. That has an impact on energy prices. We need to get the price of energy down, and the Greens have now stitched that up. They’re actually crowing about a path to drag more land clearing and native forestry into Canberra’s orbit. In fact, Nick McKim in the Senate was pretty up front. This is the end of Australia’s native forestry industry. More than that, and I think for me, this is the most offensive – more power for environmental activists to tie projects up in the court. I mean, this deal has effectively, Gary outsourced environmental and project approval policy to Sarah Hanson-Young and the Australian Greens. I mean, the activist class might love this deal, but you go through what the major employers in Australia have said, the gas producers, the miners, the farmers, even WA’s own Resources Council, they are all raising red flags. They are saying: this isn’t streamlining, it’s a handbrake on jobs. Now they’re the people who actually employ Australians, not the activists. The activists Gary, they love a good bit of litigation.
Gary Adshead
But aren’t they supposed to be environment laws, not laws for industry? Isn’t that what we’re supposed to get to here?
Senator Cash
Let’s be very careful. The choice should never be about the environment versus the economy. What the choice needs to be is practical environmental stewardship with a strong economy. And yet, what we have literally been delivered by Mr. Albanese and the Australian Greens today is Green style ideology that quite frankly, delivers neither.
Gary Adshead
Let’s have a listen to the Prime Minister now. I think this is him in Parliament, and he was sharing what he says are the reactions of business
Mr Albanese (recording)
Graeme Samuel, the person who was commissioned by the Liberal and National Party government they chose to commission the report, they ignored it. But finally, it’s taken a government to put it in place. This is what he had to say today. The summation of my position now is one of relief and total elation, because at long last, after just over five years, the review recommendations are being implemented. In total, what we’ve got now is progress. The Association of Mining Exploration Companies said this: “AMEC has been working to support the best deal possible, and this is it went on to say the agreement finally unlocks progress on reforms industry has sought for as long as anyone can remember. The minerals industry will be a primary beneficiary of these changes.” The Australian Industry group: “EPBC reforms strike the right balance between development and the environment reforms before Parliament to fix our primary environmental laws, while not perfect, provide much needed clarity for essential development and necessary protection for our environment.” The Property Council of Australia: “This reform ends years of uncertainty and delivers the most significant overhaul of environmental laws in a generation.”
Gary Adshead
The Prime Minister getting the hear hear in Parliament. Liberal Senator Michaelia Cash and of course, I’ve got those media releases from the various organisations in front of me. I mean, they start off by saying that. They say it’s a big step forward. There are some issues in and around it. Is it because of this line that the Greens are putting out there that they have won back the ability for coal and gas projects to be fast tracked, that that will no longer happen? Is that what’s worrying you?
Senator Cash
Oh look, I think these reforms also just to go to Graeme Samuel’s comments, they also ignore the clear recommendations of the Samuel review, which called for clear rules, reduced duplication and faster, more certain approvals. I mean, the MCA have been very clear. I mean, they represent some of the biggest employers in Australia, employers who employ thousands of Western Australians. They have said, in relation to the streamlining. It doesn’t do that. The bill keeps a slow, double track system in place. It’s going to make it harder to get projects off the ground, harder to deliver investments, and harder to secure jobs. One of the issues I have as a Western Australian, Gary is if the deal and it does mean slower, risky approvals for the projects that keep WA strong – that means our gas, our iron ore, our critical minerals, you know, our major infrastructure. I mean, these are now projects that are all in the firing line of new delays. Everybody admits vague tests – what does a vague test equal? A vague test equals litigation, activist lawfare, which is why the activist class have come out and just said, this is fantastic. But when I look at those major areas, they are the projects that pay the FIFO wages. They keep the local small businesses going. They underpin our great state’s credit rating, the royalties and the company tax that fund our hospitals, Gary, our schools, our roads and our police – they’re all now being pushed into the approvals slow lane. And look, this is happening at the worst time possible, with inflation, interest rates and unemployment rising. I mean, in a weak economy, what this government should have done it, which is why we were trying to work with the government in good faith is work with them to cut red tape, cut green tape, to get investment moving. Instead, what have we ended up with today? We’ve added new hurdles that will slow projects and threaten jobs and security. But ultimately, what does that mean for ordinary Australians? Let’s talk in their language. Well, it means fewer jobs, slower projects, and higher costs, and that’s just not good enough.
Gary Adshead
And you’re right that the Premier of Western Australia has said that these laws are good, but could have been better. And I think you referred to his speech, his speech saying that he has industrial, quote, industrial FOMO- fear of missing out. It’s kind of he wants to go 100 miles an hour in terms of industrial and resource projects in this state. But clearly he feels that this might slow down things.
Senator Cash
So there you go. And that’s the telling line. For all his bluff and bluster in standing up and saying, I’ll back these deals in he’s admitted, and that’s the key – the laws are a missed opportunity for industry. You know, you’ve got this Prime Minister signing flashy, critical mineral deals overseas, but even the Premier’s admitted he’s making it harder to get these projects approved in WA. So all we’ve seen today, and let’s be honest, Roger Cook backed this in he’s backed it in – WA, workers have been sacrificed so Anthony Albanese can keep the Greens happy in Melbourne and Sydney. And quite frankly, that is not good enough. This premier should have stood up. He should have stood up, quite frankly, with the resources minister, who is from Western Australia, Madeleine King, and they should have said no to the deal that damages WA. They should have said to Mr. Albanese, deal with the Coalition. The Coalition have been dealing with you in a constructive manner every step of the way, we’ve offered Gary sensible amendments. We offered a practical pathway to deliver genuine streamlining and improved environmental outcomes. We were actually Gary in good faith negotiations as late as 10:30pm last night with the minister and Labor just said, no. Why? Because they had already decided to jump into bed with the Australian Greens. We did not even get a formal response from the government. And in fact, the first time we properly knew of the deal with the Greens was when the Prime Minister fronted a press conference this morning. Now Gary, that’s not good faith. That is just a political stitch up, nothing more and nothing less. And WA pays the price.
Gary Adshead
A last question for you, because I don’t know whether it’s a coincidence, on the day that these laws are going through that of course, Chris Bowen announced that we won’t make our 2035 climate target
Senator Cash
I mean Chris Bowen, the worst Minister in Australia who is directly responsible for the disastrous energy policy that this country has is a complete, total and utter joke. We need a circuit breaker on energy. The Coalition has now put forward a circuit breaker on energy. Australians have been let down, I’d say, by this Government. But let’s be clear, they have been let down by a Minister who is obsessed with an ideological approach to energy, but at the same time he is compromising Australians. What they deserve is affordable energy, Gary and responsible emissions reduction, which is what we will offer them. But honestly, Chris Bowen and his net zero fantasy – seriously, he has got to get out of fantasy land and get into the real world and dump net zero. It is destroying our great country.
Gary Adshead
Michaelia Cash, thank you very much for joining us.
Senator Cash
Great to be with you. Thanks for having me on.
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