Sky News Credlin
Topics: WA Heritage Laws, Voice, Sofronoff Inquiry
7 August 2023
E&OE.
Credlin
But first to Canberra where there’s been another big sitting day today, joining me for the latest Liberal Senator from WA, Deputy Leader of course of the Opposition in the Senate, Michaelia Cash. Michaelia, welcome. I want to start with these Heritage Laws announced over the weekend, the WA Government will now repeal them. We’ve covered them here. I’m sure as a local, you know how hardly fought they have been by WA farmers in particular. Now, a lot of people are saying that this was going to sort things out for the Voice camp in the West. Take away the angst on these Heritage Laws and people will fall into line and now go back to supporting the yes vote. I have a different view, I think this just amplifies how dangerous the Voice in the Constitution is. Because at least when the government says – look we got these laws wrong, it can repeal them. Once change is in the Constitution, it’s not readily repealed.
Senator Cash
You’re absolutely right Peta, and the decision by the Cook government to scrap what are universally considered bad laws, highlights why Australians should say ‘no’ at the referendum. You can scrap a bad law but you can’t change the constitution once you’ve altered it. And Peta, let’s just look at what these laws were in Western Australia. They were an attack on the private property rights of Western Australians. If you had a block bigger than 1100 square meters and a lot of Western Australians do, you had to seek permission to undertake basic activities such as digging a hole, planting a tree, clearing your land. And guess what you also had to pay to seek that permission. So Peta, I think it highlights why Australians should say no to the voice. You can scrap a bad law but you can’t alter the Constitution once you’ve changed it.
Credlin
Alright, let’s go to the Voice because the Uluru Statement in particular, the Prime Minister has represented to Australians for many, many months now, it’s a simple one pager. You know, he says read it, you’ll see it’s a gracious invitation. Well, in fact that one pager is just an extract. You can see it on the screen, that is the extract. There’s actually a weighty 26 page document. There’s reparations, compensation based on a percentage of Australia’s GDP. It talks about treaties with the Australian Government. He denied that last week. Well, that’s not true. It’s in the document. It’s out because of an FOI, why have Australians not been given this full document from the get go? Why is it been held secret?
Senator Cash
Because this government is anything but transparent. They talk a lot about transparency, but in so many of their actions you are right Peta, they deal in secrecy. The Prime Minister on over 34 occasions has said the Albanese Labor Government will implement Voice, Treaty, Truth and that is the Uluru statement from the Heart in full. And yet at the Garma Festival on the weekend, guess what he can’t even mention now the words Makarrata or treaty. And on how many occasions has he said it’s a very simple document, fits on around I don’t know, one A4 page. Well guess what, Peta? That’s the Uluru statement from the heart, it doesn’t fit on one A4 page, and it should be compulsory reading for all Australians because it clearly sets out the intention of the Albanese government. Let’s face it, Mr. Albanese likes to wear the t-shirt; Voice, Treaty, Truth likes to tweet the tweet; Voice, Treaty, Truth. But when it comes to telling the Australian people what the Albanese Labor government’s real agenda is, he runs away from them every single time.
Credlin
What do you make the Victorian public servants being told that whether they’re going to vote yes or no, whatever their private view on the Voice, they’re likely to be asked to work on the yes campaign. They’ve got little capacity to ask to be taken off working on the yes campaign. What do you make of it Senator?
Senator Cash
Well in the first instance, I think Victorians and indeed all Australians, they want their government focusing on putting resources towards tackling the cost of living crisis that they are facing. Peta, whenever I’m out there talking to Australians, I can tell you what they’re raising with me, the fact that life has become so expensive, they don’t know what to do on a daily basis. But Peta, in relation to the article that you referred to, what I found incredibly disturbing, is the senior bureaucrat and I have no doubt they do not want to be named for fear of what might happen to them, who said, if you have a different opinion – in other words, if you don’t agree with the Victorian Government and you want to vote no, you may have your ticket clipped. Well, I don’t even know what that means but I can only assume it means that you could be I don’t know, detrimental action taken against you, not promoted? So I have really grave concerns for Victorian public servants who dare to actually articulate their own personal opinion because I would hate to see action taken against them.
Credlin
Michaelia, you’re a Former Attorney-General of Australia. Look closely at what’s happened in the ACT, we’ve seen resignation of course by the ACT Chief Prosecutor over the weekend, we now have that report out in full. The government there hope that keep it secret for another month. Well, Walter Sofronoff leaked his own report to the media, he had a very different view about transparency than the Barr government. Has this whole handling of the Bruce Lehrmann case highlighted integrity concerns with you and our justice system?
Senator Cash
Oh, absolutely. And in particular, if you cannot have confidence in your justice system, seriously Peta what can you have confidence in? Any person believes that if you’re going to have a trial and in particular a criminal trial, the prosecutor must behave in a matter in which they discharge the most basic of their obligations. Now Mr. Sofronoff appointed by the ACT government because he is an outstanding barrister, has made incredibly serious findings of misconduct in relation to Mr. Drumgold. These findings strike at the heart of confidence in the ACT justice system. So I am very, very pleased that the ACT government have had to make this report public sooner than they would have liked to. I am pleased that they have automatically accepted all 10 recommendations. But I have to say Peta, I think the ACT government have a very, very long way to go before they can begin restoring confidence in the ACT justice system. Because it’s not just people here in the ACT (Canberrans), Australians have been watching this and they have been absolutely horrified by what Mr. Sofronoff has found. And again I say, if you don’t have confidence in your justice system, quite frankly what do you have as a society?
Credlin
Well, given what Soffronoff’s been able to flush out? We know it’s all there in his report. Do you think we’ll ever get to the bottom of why Brittany Higgins was given many millions of dollars as a compensation payment by the Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus and the Albanese government?
Senator Cash
I think that yet again, transparency, transparency, transparency, or in this case, a lack of with the Albanese government, Mr. Dreyfus and Mr. Albanese have very, very serious questions to answer in relation to how they settled a claim, a) so quickly but b) in particular, without the relevant ministers being asked to provide a response. In fact, worse than that, as you know, because I was one of the relevant Ministers being told that we couldn’t actually give evidence, or our legal funding may be revoked. So again, this is a government Peta, every single day – on this hand, they talk about transparency but when you actually look at the actions they take, they will go down in history as one of the most secretive governments this country has ever seen.
Credlin
I’d have to agree with you and I come to the program tonight out of Victoria.
Recent Comments