‘Don’t know up from down’: Bridget McKenzie says Labor doesn’t know ‘ally from foe’

James well so we're going back to Parliament uh where is um and we've seen some really interesting things happen in over the last several weeks here um number one I think is uh this fight between the RBA and the government on inflation on interest rates and this Narrative of government spending what sort of narrative can we expect as the government returns to Parliament this week uh about the way their irresponsible spending is driving up inflation we've just seen a another gift to another sector in the child care sector with a I think a 10% um wage 15% wage gift with no productivity increase at some point when is the government going to acknowledge that it's making the problem worse well I don't think you're going to see that at all from this government James uh if you believe in double speak AKA 1984 style this government's got it in Spades they ignore the laws of physics which haven't changed just because they got into Parliament and the laws of Economics which have underpinned uh the way the market has worked uh for centuries and and that continues so what I think we're dangerously seeing is the RBA versus the treasury versus Jim Charmers and the RBA won't be I don't believe won't be influenced by the labor party or the treasurers pleading or begging or false economics the reality is Michelle bullet couldn't have been clearer state and federal labor government's spending has made the economy hot and that means inflation's going to stay higher than it needs to be for longer and it's Australians who are paying the cost and no matter how often albo and Jim say that's not the case doesn't change the facts uh and I think you're seeing it on the in the suburbs uh right around our country that people are struggling with their mortgages and the RBA will not be bringing those interest rates down until it can have some confidence that the government will get its spending under control now brid you can look forward to the greens uh urging the albanesi government this week to uh put targeted sanctions against Israel condemn the Netanyahu uh government all sorts of other measures that they want uh the albanesi government to meet how is that going to go because we know labor are compromised on this issue uh they have been all over the shop they've shown little moral Clarity how are they going to cope with this new green assault on this issue well I think they're going to have their usual flaccid response I mean these guys don't know up from down they don't know Ally from foe uh and they're actually really challenged particularly in the Senate uh where the greens do have uh significant numbers and can really determine whether legislation passes or not you can see Penny Wong as the leader of the government in the Senate get quite worked up each and every time uh the greens put one of these kind of wedging motions on the table uh and I think they're going to be similarly challenged again at the end of the day leadership is about doing the right thing despite uh the protestations and The Angst around you it is standing firm in the face of challenges and every single time a challenges put forward um but you know to this government they fall flat and can't seem to recognize that you have to stand for something and I think you're seeing that in the polls the Australian government knows that these guys aren't on the Australian people's side they're simply on the side of winning seats particularly in this case with the Israel issue in Western Sydney and protecting some of those ministers who have significant Islamic populations in their electrics uh Bridget I also wanted to ask you we had last week on the show Willie Packer one of the investors in the jabala uranium mine up there uh near kakadu at the GMA Festival Anthony albanes he made a song and dance about how the future for indigenous Australians would be based entirely on Renewables and uh basically uh climate technology at the same time he shut down jabala which was a shorefire investment worth billions of dollars potentially to Australian investors and taxpayers um what do you make of albanes do you think the future for indigenous Australians is Renewables only as he claims well I think this is a classic case of 21st century colonialism uh you know you can have the glass beads not the mirrors it's just insane absolutely insane we want to see economic empowerment particularly for marginalized indigenous Australians and that means all options on the table to actually grow well-paying jobs uh in the Northern Territory and that's exact government is now wanting to shut those opportunities down and we know Australia's uranium is going to power progress over this Century particularly as the world is seeking to Triple its Net Zero nuclear um energy production overc coming decades so it should be a bright future for jabala and the territory uranium deposits in instead once again albo is picking ideology over practical solutions that will actually help people James um there's an interesting news snippet this week that out of Queensland uh the opposition there sorry the government there hasn't been running hard on an anti-nuclear scare campaign trying to tie the coalition to um nuclear energy because it was said that in the regions there's a lot less uh takeup of the scare campaign than people had on the left had originally thought is is this an indicator that the nuclear issue is going to be prosecuted as a top tier issue uh in the coming election campaign which could be sooner than we think yeah James I think um Australians are recognizing that that Nexus between ideology and reality is real um the outlook for prices um for their energy production for the reliability of energy production is at risk if we actually don't get some base load into the network and they know that the renewable roll out is a disaster and it's not going anywhere fast particularly as those Regional communities that are having to put up with the 28,000 kilm of transmission lines and the solar panels and the wind farms are saying hang on what about our private property rights so Australians are looking at Net Zero nuclear as a viable option not just to 2050 but well into Next Century because if we get this nuclear positioning right uh a bit of a grease and oil change at 60 years and these assets can go up to 90 years and I think Australians who've traveled the world particularly young people know that if FR it's okay for France if it's okay for the US and UK it is something that should be okay for Australians going forward and so I'm excited about having a sensible conversation that doesn't involve com comics of freyed fish Etc but a mature debate about how we power progress uh in this country going forward and and nuclear is going to be a part of that here here Senator Bridget McKenzie always great to chat to you thanks so much for coming on Outsiders this morning