Federal election 2025: Michaelia Cash makes combative pitch for Peter Dutton, slamming Anthony Albanese

WA Liberal Senator Michaelia Cash didn’t pull punches in her opening broadside of the election campaign, accusing Anthony Albanese of leading the most anti-mining and anti-WA government “we have ever seen”. By the end of her 20-minute appearance, the leader of the Opposition in the Senate was in need of the glass of water handed to her by staff at Frasers Restaurant in Kings Park on Saturday. Speaking just outside the restaurant, under sweltering midday sun, Ms Cash tore into Mr Albanese and on no fewer than eight occasion said WA voters faced a “clear choice” on May 3 between a second Albanese Government and a starkly different one led by Peter Dutton. She said a Dutton Government would reduce inflation by “reining in excessive government spending”. Under questioning by The Sunday Times, she said this would partially be achieved by winding back the number of public servants, but said there would be no wholescale axing of government departments, as is occurring under the Trump administration in the United States. “Absolutely not. Peter has made it clear, and we have made this commitment to the Australian people: we will protect front line services. “But more than that, we want to see an efficient public service . . . It is quite frankly unacceptable that Mr Albanese has now added 41,000 public servants to our public service at a massive cost to the Australian people, and yet, when they go into a government department, and in particular the Department of Social Services, their processing times have now gone substantially backwards. “So our guarantee to the Australian people is this: a more efficient public service that puts you at the heart of it and delivers a better service to you.” Senator Cash also took aim at widespread projections of a minority government. “Mr Albanese will not be able to form a majority government at the next election. That is very clear. So what could end up happening is, in particular, Western Australia’s worst nightmare, and that is Mr Albanese governing and being told what to do by the Australian Greens and the Teals,” she said. “Those Teals who have voted with the Australian Greens on the majority of occasions, they hate Western Australia. They hate our mining industry ... We cannot risk the prosperity of our great state by putting Labor and the Greens anything other than at the bottom of those ballot papers.” Senator Cash insisted the Liberals weren’t spooked by Labor’s trouncing of her party in the recent State election. “Our candidates (have) been out door knocking for months and months and the feedback from them was absolutely clear — the knives were not out for Roger Cook. “In fact, Roger Cook has stood up to Mr. Albanese. In other words, he’s stood up for Western Australia against the decisions of Mr Albanese in the exact same way the Federal WA Liberal team have as well.” Senator Cash also predicted the scrapping of live sheep exports would backfire on Labor. “Yesterday, we saw hundreds of farmers in a convoy take to the streets to give Mr Albanese a very clear message. ‘you by your decision to ban live sheep exports have destroyed the lives and livelihoods of farmers in Western Australia’, and he has made that decision purely on an ideological basis. “(A Dutton Government) will reverse that disastrous decision.” Ms Cash said Mr Albanese was responsible for the “cost-of-living crisis”. “It is an inescapable fact that Australians are worse off,” she said. ‘Every Western Australian when they walk into a shopping center knows that instead of taking items off the grocery shelf, they are now putting items back on the grocery shelf, because under Mr Albanese, food is up over 13 per cent.” “It is impossible to get into a house. Rents are up. Energy costs are up . . . I would say to all Western Australians, the question you need to ask yourself is this, ‘am I better off today than what I was three years ago when Mr. Albanese was first elected?’ She said the Liberals’ promised fuel excise cut would provide much more more cost-of-living relief than Labor’s small tax cuts, announced in this week’s Budget. “We are a big state. We drive cars, and often you have one car per person in a family,” she said. “We drive huge distances . . . People think nothing of jumping in their car and driving down to Bunbury and back in one day. People commute into Perth every day from Mandurah. People commute into Perth every day from Yanchep. What do they need? They need tax relief at the bowser flowing immediately to them on the election of a Dutton government. “ Asked about whether Mr Dutton would release the full details, including costings, of Liberal policies including the gas reservation plan for the east coast, Senator Cash said they would be provided during the campaign.