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
2SM Mornings with Chris Smith
TOPICS: Cyclone Alfred, election timing, hate preacher visa, public servants working from home
6 March 2025
E&OE
Chris Smith
I’m joined by the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Michaelia Cash. Welcome.
Senator Cash
Great to be with you. Hi to your listeners.
Chris Smith
Yeah, this cyclone veering down on Brisbane. It’s about to cause some heartache and some great deal of damage by the sound of it.
Senator Cash
Oh look, Chris, I mean, I’m sitting here in Western Australia watching it unfold. This risk is of this being a very serious event, you know. And as Peter Dutton, who, as you know, he lives in Brisbane, he has a property. He’s on his property, as we speak. We need to make sure that everybody is listening to the advice that people have prepared. You’ve got to listen to authorities, listen to the updates from authorities about the actions you need to take in terms of the preparation and keep yourself as safe as possible. And let’s just hope and pray.
Chris Smith
There are political ramifications from all of this, not necessarily the most or the largest priority. However, when does Anthony Albanese call the election. If the date was that he was going to do so this Sunday for April 12, the PM, can’t quite do that now Michaelia?
Senator Cash
Well, I have to say, I thought it was really disappointing this morning with Mr. Albanese’s press conference where he is still playing a cat and mouse game with the Australian people. You actually have tropical cyclone Alfred, an incredibly serious event about to impact, you know, parts of Queensland – we have made it very, very clear the election does not need to be called until the 17th of May. At this point in time, as Queensland approaches a natural disaster, the Prime Minister should not be playing a cat and mouse game – won’t rule in, won’t rule out calling an election. He should be governing and not campaigning, and that is our clear expectation. But not only that, Chris, as Peter Dutton made clear yesterday, the Prime Minister should go back to Parliament. We are scheduled to sit in a couple of weeks. There are a number of priority items that we can pass with legislation. We need to guarantee funding in relation to Medicare. We need to protect the salmon industry jobs. But more than that, let’s be honest here, we need to open the books with a Federal Budget. Labor at this point in time, want the Australian people to take them on trust despite an appalling record of broken promises. I think Australians deserve a level of transparency as to what’s actually in the books. So Mr. Albanese, let’s get on with governing, not campaigning. Go back to Parliament and do the job, quite frankly, we’re all paid to do.
Chris Smith
This is going to infuriate you. It was broken last night on Sky. The Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke he won’t stop this hate preachers coming here . I don’t get it, although it’s all based on votes in southwestern Sydney. Isn’t it?
Senator Cash
Well, Chris, I can tell you what – Tony Burke is not on Team Australia. I am actually sickened at the thought that a pro Hezbollah preacher who celebrates martyrs is set to arrive in Australia within days. And guess what, to actually speak at events in both Melbourne and Sydney. As far as I’m concerned, as far as James Patterson is concerned, and I can tell you right now, as far as Peter Dutton, as the future Prime Minister of Australia, is concerned, no one who praises a deceased terrorist, let alone and I hope your listeners know this, attends the funeral organized by a listed terror organisation – should be welcome in Australia. As you said, Tony Burke, I mean, I think you should be calling for his resignation. It’s bad enough what he recently has done to politicize the Australian citizenship process and having you know people from the Australian Electoral Commission at these ceremonies signing people up. But on this alone, any Minister who allows a person like this to enter our country, but B refuses to answer questions about why he is giving this person a visa to fly into our country if they don’t resign, quite frankly, the Australian people have the opportunity, over the next few weeks to give him a message and vote him out.
Chris Smith
The timing is appalling with the division in the community, between what’s happening with terror groups in the Middle East and locals here in Australia.
Senator Cash
What’s worse is this is a man who attended the funeral of a terror leader, Hassan Nasrallah. He is a notorious terrorist, and this particular person has called him one of the world’s greatest freedom fighters. I mean you’ve got to stop because you couldn’t script this if you tried, other than it’s a Labor government, a left-wing Labor government – they’ve placed their cards on the table time and time again. I’m actually glad this has happened just before an election, because I hope it crystallises in the Australian people’s mind. You cannot afford three more years of Anthony Albanese. If they are prepared to do this in the lead up to an election, God knows what they’ll do if they get a second term governing with the Australian Greens.
Chris Smith
And there are Labor contacts of mine who are dead set shaking their head at this decision. It’s just gross. Now, have you seen on social media? I know you’re very busy. You probably haven’t been through all that social media, but Chris Bowen, who they’re obviously trying to hide in a cage prior to the election. He’s out spruiking a new surfboard that has been made from wind turbines. He’s got to be joking.
Senator Cash
Look, I did have a look at it actually. I mean, Chris actually says, you know, let’s all get together and deliver cheaper, cleaner and consistent energy. Well, Chris, perhaps that’s actually what you should be focusing on, because under you, Chris, Australian households and businesses are now paying – it is a fact – amongst the highest energy prices in the world. I mean, you just need to have a look at some of the comments under the article. I mean, Chris Bowen, you are a wind turbine. I like the other one, though. Well, they didn’t last very long if you’re already recycling them, how much is the Australian taxpayer paying? But Chris Bowen spends more time on social media than he does with his you know, one deliverable, which is the affordable and reliable energy for Australia and Australians. They broke their promise to reduce electricity bills by $275. Australians are now paying up to $1,000 more than promised. We are now paying some of the highest energy prices in the world. And what does Chris Bowen do? He likes to concentrate on his social media. Again, can you afford, can Australia honestly afford another three years of Labor?
Chris Smith
Now, one last issue, and the one that I began my program today talking about – this incredible Australian Financial Review series of stories of working from home. They report today that one in five staff at some Federal government agencies work from home full time. And get this 50% of the staff at the national regulator for privacy and freedom of information never attend the office. Half of them never attend the office. And then you’ve got the Department of Climate Change, the highest vote of staff never working in the office, at 16%. Pack of bludgers?
Senator Cash
Well, we’ve made it very, very clear it is an expectation of a Dutton government that the Australian Public Service will move towards returning to work five days a week from the office. That is going to be our very clear expectation. The problem with the Australian Labor Party is they have not got that expectation, and have, in fact, facilitated public servants working from home, as you say, up to five days a week. But Chris, you know, I was in Melbourne a little while ago. You walk around the streets of Melbourne and you talk to the small business people, and in particular the cafes, the lunch bars, the coffee shops, and people forget the real life impact of public servants not being in the office. Where does the traffic come for these small businesses – if I want a coffee, let’s face it, I expect them to be open, 6am in the morning, 6pm at night. And yet, if they’re not getting the traffic, if they’re not getting people spending the money, what happens to them? Chris, well, we know what happens to them, they have to close.
Chris Smith
So 40% of them are not in the Melbourne CBD. It’s the worst city among all capitals.
Senator Cash
And it is so sad, because this is not about saying to public servants you can’t work from home. This is not about saying you can’t have flexibility. Of course not. But the problem is what we have this government, the Albanese government, have made it a right and an expectation that at all times you can work from home. What we have said is we want a commonsense approach. You need to reinstall a culture that focuses on the dignity of serving the public, because that’s what I am, Chris. I am a public servant. This is a service that relies on the public to fund it, and it is a service that respects that funding by ensuring that they are as productive as possible, and preferably moving towards returning to work five days a week in the office. Now, Labor, as you know, have been out there, you know, screaming about what we say, but as I said, you will still have flexible working arrangements. Of course you will. But our clear expectation is that as public servants who have the dignity the dignity of being part of a service that relies on the public to fund it, we need to ensure that they are as productive as possible.
Chris Smith
You are an honorary member of the castle of common sense. Thank you for your time.
Senator Cash
I love it. Great to be with you.
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