Michaelia Cash: New year, same problems?

If there is one word that best describes the Albanese Labor Government as it begins 2024, that word would be chaos.

The most disturbing thing is that the chaos of this weak Government is not confined to a single issue, it is widespread across a host of their responsibilities in governing our great nation.

Labor’s chaotic handling of the economy is imposing harsh new costs on Australian households, families and businesses.

The cost-of-living crisis is the number one concern of the majority of battling Australians, and they quite rightly feel that the Albanese Government is not addressing those concerns.

We should never forget that this was a Government that was elected on the promise of cutting your power bills by $275. Australians know only too well that broken promise will never be fulfilled by Mr Albanese. They have felt the pain as power bills have soared.

The cost-of-living crisis meant Australians faced a tough Christmas and things will not getting any easier as we enter 2024. The pain being felt by Australians is because Labor’s focus is on all the wrong priorities.

The Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook confirmed this Government is about big spending, big taxing, and a big Australia.

Instead of reducing spending, Labor has spent an additional $209 billion. This is extra spending equivalent to more than $22,000 per household.

Along with increasing migration, this will only put more pressure on prices and the cost of housing. This does nothing to help Australians with the cost of living.

Since Labor came to office, interest paid on mortgages has almost tripled, prices have gone up by more than 9 per cent, taxes have gone up by over 27 per cent and real disposable income per capita has gone backwards by 8.6 per cent.

Australians feel the truth in their hip pockets. Under Labor, they are going backwards and they are going backwards fast.

Labor has no plan for the economy, no plan for inflation, and no plan to ease the cost of living for Australian families.

But as I said the chaos of Labor does not stop with the cost-of-living crisis. National security issues on a number of fronts are dogging this weak Government.

In the final weeks of last year, five convicted terrorists, including Abdul Nacer Benbrika, a man found guilty of leading a terror cell that was plotting violent attacks on Australians on Australian soil, were released into the community.

In the case of Mohamed Al Maouie, a terrorist who spent eight years in jail for his part in a plot to kill police officers and wage what he called “gorilla” warfare in the Blue Mountains, the Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus did not apply for any sort of control order.

It is inexplicable why he didn’t apply for either a continuing detention order or extended supervision order.

There is now a clear pattern of behaviour from this Government. In final weeks of last year, we learnt that the Government bungled a series of separate terrorist cases.

How many more convicted terrorists will be released into the Australian community? Australians will legitimately be asking themselves whether this Government can be trusted to handle the risk of terrorism and violent extremism.

The release of these terrorists follows Labor’s immigration detention chaos which is nothing less than a national scandal.

But the chaos is not confined to domestic security matters. Labor’s foreign policy is also in chaos.

The Prime Minister should be ashamed by the endorsements his Government is receiving. From Chinese propaganda and an online video purportedly by Hamas terrorists, the welcoming of Australian foreign policy decisions is both disturbing and embarrassing.

It becomes more apparent by the day that the Prime Minister is clueless as to why strong leadership matters.

We should be strong in demonstrating our resolve for the elimination of Hamas, the removal of the threat posed by Houthi rebels and in the condemnation of antisemitism without qualification.

Both Israel and our Jewish communities in Australia need the highest levels of support right now and the actions of the Albanese Government to date are far from reassuring.

The Prime Minister’s refusal to provide military assistance in the Red Sea to our closest ally, the United States took a special blend of weakness and incompetence.

The fact that decision was welcomed by Hamas, a listed terrorist organisation, says it all.

The inaction of the Albanese Government makes Australia a less reliable partner at a time when our alliances are increasingly important.

This is just another case of a Prime Minister who makes the wrong calls when it comes to the economy and is weak on national security.

Another bad call by the Prime Minister was backing the United Nations resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

This is a very serious situation, and Australians expect their Government to show consistency and strength. They don’t want a Government walking away from our allies, not least our vital AUKUS partners.

Despite initially stating its support for Israel’s right to self defence, the Albanese Labor Government keeps changing Australia’s stance and undermining Israel’s position.

The weakening of Australia’s position demonstrates a weakness in the Albanese Government, failing to stand firm in support of Hamas’s removal at the very time Israel needs that support most.

The Albanese Government has been missing in action since dividing the country with their divisive failed Voice referendum.

The Voice was the issue that kept this Government distracted from much more important matters that concern all Australians — the economy, cost-of-living crisis and our national security.

The Albanese Government shows no signs of being able to competently deal with these issues. Stand by for more Labor chaos in 2024.