RECLAIMING OUR FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES

Speech by Senator Michaelia Cash

WA Liberal Party State Conference

Reclaiming Our Fundamental Principles: The Comeback Starts Now

Good morning, WA Liberals!

My heartfelt thanks to everyone for giving up your weekend to be here.

It’s your dedication, your time and your belief in our cause that keeps us strong - even when we are at a low ebb.

Can I acknowledge Basil Zempilas, Leader of the Western Australian Liberal Party, and my federal colleagues: my Shadow Cabinet colleague Andrew Hastie, Rick Wilson, Ben Small, Melissa Price, and Senators Brockman, Smith and O’Sullivan.

Fellow Liberals, we are here for one reason – to stand proud and fight for what we believe in – our Liberal values.

And our fight in 2025 is no longer just about the next federal election - it’s turned into a fight for the soul of our nation against a Labor Government that’s walking away from our Australian values and tearing at the fabric of our country.

The way we win this fight is simple: by backing in loudly the values that built Australia to be the great country that it is.

And those values are our values.

We are Liberals. We stand for freedom, unity, personal responsibility, reward for effort, and limited government.

We welcome immigrants who come here legally, work hard, assimilate, and embrace Australian values.

And more importantly than ever - we reject the Left’s political correctness that tells Australians to be ashamed of who we are.

We stand for these values because we know they deliver prosperity, social cohesion and success.

We are proud of our history. Proud of the values we fought for. Proud of the great nation we have built together—and we will defend it with everything we have.  And my god – we need to.

Fellow Liberals - The 2025 federal election was a heavy loss.

Until February this year, momentum was building in our favour.

Australians were questioning the direction of the Albanese Government - just as they did during the Voice referendum, when we took a clear stand, made our case relentlessly, and trusted the Australian people to reject Labor’s divisive agenda. And they did.

In fact, WA led that charge.

Then came President Trump’s tariffs – which turned into a domestic political liability for us – despite us being against them.

We had a less than ideal campaign, and Labor launched a ruthless and relentless social media campaign against us; we did not counter this effectively and of course, the public service work from home policy which Labor turned into an effective scare campaign.

Worse - we now also know that the Coalition’s daily seat-by-seat polling was highly flawed, and it drove strategy for the duration of the campaign that didn’t match reality on the ground.

For example, days out from polling, we were told we were ahead 55 - 45 in some key seats. On election day, we lost them 45 – 55.

The Party is investigating as it must.

Like anything in life though - perspective matters - and perspective in this case gives us opportunity we now must capitalise on.

Before 2022, the Coalition governed for nine years. Labor, by contrast, had been in power just three years when they secured the 2025 victoryon scale similar to Howard in 1996.

The difference between 1996 and 2025 - is the primary vote.

In 1996 we secured almost 50% of the primary vote while Labor had 38.75%.

In 2025 both major parties had a three in front of their primary. The other third went to Greens, independents and minor parties.

In other words – in 2025, voters are shopping around. The field is fragmented and fiercely competitive.

So our job is to: cut through, show competence, and bring them back to us.

Back in what we know - because of The Voice - works: conviction, clarity, connection.

At our last State Council, we passed 3 motions reaffirming some of our key values.

Importantly, these motions were not fringe ideas. They came from the mainstream of our membership who want to see the Liberal Party remain grounded in its values.

I have been overwhelmed by the strong support from Party members across WA and beyond who share the view that our principles and values matter.

The first motion  - One Australia—One Flag sits at the heart of who we are.

It reflected our Liberal values of unity, not division - in a single Australian identity that transcends race, religion and heritage.

Our Australian flag is the symbol of that unity - our democracy, our freedoms, our shared history, and the sacrifices of generations who built and defended this nation.And in that regard I acknowledge Andrew Hastie, who served our great country as a member of the SAS and stood ready to pay the ultimate sacrifice to preserve our freedoms.

As Andrew has said, the Australian national flag is the sole standard under which Australians have fought, and the only flag that rests upon their coffins when they fall.

We are the Liberal Party.

We believe in pride in who we are. One Australia. One flag.

If you choose to make Australia your home and embrace our values - you are part of our great nation - and we are united under a single flag.

And given what we have seen in Australia of late - banners of terror being proudly displayed at the pro HAMAS rallies across Australia including the yellow flag of Hezbollah, the hate symbols of Hamas, posters of Ayatollah Khamenei brandishing a rifle, and the flag of the Iranian regime. Now more than ever, it is vital that we stand together under one flag—our flag—united as Australians. 

Saying no to tokenistic Acknowledgement of Country ceremonies is consistent with our values. Why? Because we believe in action over symbolism, unity over division, results over rhetoric.

Of course we honour the heritage of Indigenous Australians.

But respect is measured by us in real outcomes: closing the gaps in health, education, jobs and safety - not in rituals that make politicians and big corporates feel good while nothing changes.

And don’t think Labor cares about real outcomes for our most vulnerable - on Thursday just gone in the Senate Labor and the Greens voted to scrap the Indigenous Affairs estimates day to be held later this year, so there is now no ability for us to properly scrutinise and hold them to account for their dismal failures. 

We will seek to rectify this next week - but that means either Labor or the Greens changing their mind.

For Liberals, real respect means opportunity and self-reliance that changes lives for the better - and accountability.

The third motion - Saying no to Labor’s legislated net-zero pathway is not saying no to cleaner technologies or a healthier environment.

It is about Liberal values - choice, economic strength, practical solutions - and refusing to dump unfair costs on Australian families.

In 2022 the Liberal and National Parties opposed Mr Albanese’s Net Zero 2050 legislation.  We said we would not destroy the economy and bankrupt families in the process of decarbonising.

We raised concerns about the economic impacts and the higher costs for households, regions, and industries.

These concerns and higher costs are now indisputable.

Labor demands we sacrifice jobs, competitiveness and energy security without a clear, affordable path.

They say renewables are cheapest, yet we keep selling coal to power China’s factories to make the solar panels and wind turbines we then buy back.

As Liberals, we put Australians at the centre of the energy debate: reliable, affordable power for households; secure jobs for workers; and policies that strengthen - not weaken - the industries that keep our country running.

In the past 12 months, more than $30 billion of Australian renewable projects were shelved—because the numbers don’t stack up. Internationally, around $35 billion in climate-abatement projects hit the same wall.

Yet Labor still refuses to level with Australians about the real household cost of its 2050 net-zero pathway.

So we ask the honest question: Net zero - at what cost?

Fellow Liberals, let me finish on this.

Australian values - our values - matter today more than ever. 

Anthony Albanese is tearing them apart.

August 13, 2025 will be remembered as a dark day in our political history.

It was the day the Prime Minister walked away from the great Australian principle of rewarding peace and not terror.

It was the day he announced Australia would recognise a Palestinian state without conditions, without guarantees, without any genuine peace process and whilst the terrorists are still in charge and hostages still held in the tunnels.

Within 24 hours, Hamas - the terrorists behind October 7, who are funded by the Islamic Republic of Iran, who slaughtered families, burned children in their beds in front of the parents, and dragged hostages into the tunnels - praised the Prime Minister of Australia - Anthony Albanese.

For decades, there was bi-partisan agreement that recognition of a Palestinian state would come only when terrorism is renounced, Gaza is disarmed, Israel’s right to exist is guaranteed, and Palestinians can elect leaders who serve peace, not terror.

My principle is simple: Hamas are terrorists. You don’t reward terrorists.

Mr Albanese has trashed that principle.

When we look at Israel, we see more than a distant country.

We see a democracy - a nation that shares our belief in the rule of law, free debate - the right to live free from fear.

Israel is a friend and an ally.

Israel is a democracy. Hamas is not. They are terrorists.

Hamas rules by fear and violence, crushes dissent, hides behind its own civilians and is devoted to its goal of Israel’s destruction – worse still it rejects Western values outright.

To equate Israel and Hamas is to confuse democracy with terror and turn your back on the values we live by.

This takes me in closing to the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Fellow Liberals - State sponsored terror has now come to Australia and the Albanese government has serious questions to answer. 

For two years the Prime Minister dragged his feet on listing the IRGC - while our closest partners treated it as a terrorist organisation.

Albanese hid behind process and consultation. Every month of dithering broadcast weakness to Tehran, to Iran’s proxies Hamas and Hezbollah, and to anyone testing Australia’s resolve.

That delay hurt real people – we are lucky no Australians were killed - it undermined community safety - especially for Jewish Australians - and signalled that Canberra was weak and could be gamed. And now we know it was. And our intelligence agencies continue to investigate what other attacks Iran has been behind in Australia. 

What is clear however is that the Albanese Government had to have known Iran was under investigation for orchestrating antisemitic attacks on Australian soil, well before Mr Albanese announced Australia would recognise Palestinian statehood.

Recognising a Palestinian state rewarded Iran for its campaign of terror against Jews both here and abroad.

As Australians we need to understand antisemitism targets Jews first- but the terrorists driving it don’t stop there.

Their stated goal is to break the West and wipe out our freedoms. Whatever your faith, if you live in a free society, you are in their sights.

So this is our moment. We are Liberals.

We will defend Australia and the values that made us who we are—even when Labor and its media allies try to wear us down.

As with the Voice, Australians want us to stand tall, fight for what’s right and protect the principles that keep our country safe and strong.

We’ve done it before. We’ll do it again. The comeback starts now.