Transcript – 2CC Breakfast with Stephen Cenatiempo

Angie Bell MP

Shadow Minister for the Arts

Shadow Minister for Sport

Shadow Minister for Youth

Federal Member for Moncrieff

TRANSCRIPT

2CC Breakfast with Stephen Cenatiempo

5 March 2026

Subjects: Cohesive strategy and string direction under Angus Taylor; Iranian conflict; Penny Wong’s lack of engagement with the US; Asian Cup; Matilda’s; Netball’s push for Brisbane 2032.

E&OE…………………………………………………………………………………………………

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO:

The Shadow Minister for the Arts, Shadow Minister for Sport and Shadow Minister for Youth, Angie Bell joins us. Angie, good morning.

ANGIE BELL:

Good morning, Stephen. Great to be with you.

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO:

A lot to talk about this week. The first sitting week and first set of question time performances under the new leadership structure of Angus Taylor and Jane Hume. How do you think it’s gone so far?

ANGIE BELL:

Well, I think it’s great. We have a new leadership team with a new strategy, new direction and renewed energy and I think that’s going very well in the Coalition. And ultimately, Stephen, what I would say is that the renewal is good for Australians because it gives us an opportunity to reset and work towards being that strong united team. We needed clearer messaging and a focus on holding the bad government to account. And that’s what we’re doing. We’ve reset and we have a new direction under the new leadership of Angus and Jane.

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO:

When it comes to holding the government to account, I guess a unique set of circumstances that should really play into the Liberal National Coalition’s hands in that we’ve got an economic situation we need to talk about, but also a national security and broader geopolitical environment at the moment. These are traditionally, I guess, home soil for you guys. Do you feel like that that’s helped this week?

ANGIE BELL:

Well, certainly with the national accounts that we saw come out yesterday, basically it’s highlighted what Australians are facing under this government. And that is we’re going backwards in our standard of living by ten per cent. And I think it’s, of course, an important part of our job to highlight that, but in time, also offer options to Australians on what we will do about that. But look, Australians are hurting, Stephen, because inflation is just remaining high persistently because the government won’t stop spending. I mean, the Treasurer has absolutely got a huge credit card that he keeps piling the debt onto, and Australians are paying the price.

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO:

Last week we were sort of getting the sense that there was messaging from the government that they finally woken up to the spending issue but I now get the sense that the conflict in Iran is going to be used as an excuse to keep spending. What do you think?

ANGIE BELL:

Well, absolutely, the government is always looking for excuses for their bad governing and their bad management of the economy. And of course, this will be an excuse for them to say, well, what’s happening in the Middle East is pushing up inflation as they did previously with Ukraine. But we know that we are among the world’s worst performing countries. In fact, the worst OECD performing country, when it comes to inflation. It is sticky and the reason that it’s sticky and it won’t come down- it’s at the top end of the band- is because the government won’t stop spending. And it’s the public sector or the government sector, if you like, that’s growing. And that’s where the money’s going.

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO:

I think the Iran conflict more broadly does create a couple of problems for Australia. Obviously, there’s the geopolitical issues and fuel security and things like that. And I spoke to Senator Matt Canavan about that a short time ago. But the social cohesion problems that we’ve been having in Australia seem to have been exacerbated too now.

ANGIE BELL:

And this is because the government has been soft on this to start with. I mean did you see Penny Wong yesterday on the news? And she looks like she’s actually lost the will to live in her job. You know, she’s monotonous. She’s not interested. She hasn’t spoken to Marco Rubio, which, by the way, is exactly who she should be speaking to. I mean, her excuse was, well, he’s got a bit on. Well, what he should have on is speaking to the Australian Foreign Minister about what’s going on, because we are a key ally of the United States. So, you know, it’s an absolute joke to see the way they are managing this.

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO:

The other issue that really hit home to me is that we saw mosques and prayer halls around Australia and, you know, limited. I’m not sort trying to tarnish the entire Islamic community with this, but we saw places mourning the death of Ayatollah Khamenei, celebrating him as some sort of martyr, where the New South Wales Premier Chris Minns, come out and say that it was atrocious and horrendous. The Prime Minister managed to say that it was inappropriate. And the government had to be dragged kicking and screaming into launching criminal investigations into whether or not this breaches Australian law.

ANGIE BELL:

Look, Stephen, I think you’re right when you say we shouldn’t tarnish the whole Muslim community with this. And where do you draw the line? Well, you certainly draw the line when it comes to celebrating this bloke as a martyr. I mean the Iranian regime is authoritarian, it’s antisemitic and it’s abhorrent. Don’t forget, Australians should remember, that they are responsible for acts of foreign interference in Australia on our soil, including igniting antisemitism and organising at least two acts of terror on Australian shores. Now, so this is dreadful. It’s disgusting. It’s disgraceful. There’s no other words. And so, again, the government is soft on this.

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO:

Despite its denials, the government has bent over backwards to repatriate these ISIS affiliates from Syria. when it came to bringing Australian citizens who had been stranded in the Middle East, they weren’t as eager, it would have appeared. Now, we have seen the first Australians touch down in Sydney overnight, so it’s good that we are evacuating our people. But there was a real reluctance from what I could see.

ANGIE BELL:

What I can say about what’s happening in in the Middle East is that we pray for the Iranian people at this time because they have to be courageous and we hope that the death toll is as low as it can possibly be. But what I will say is the confirmation of the death of Iranian Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei is welcome. Not only for the Iranians, but for the world. And the Iranian people have an opportunity now to have a democracy, which they have not enjoyed for many decades. And I think they thoroughly deserve it. They’ve been persecuted for decades and it’s time for change.

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO:

This takes on an interesting complexion for you as the Shadow Minister for Sport. The Iranian women’s football team plays in your backyard of the Gold Coast tonight against the Matildas. Now obviously we want to celebrate sport and celebrate women’s sport, but these poor women are under surveillance and under a real amount of pressure here in what should be an enjoyable game of football.

ANGIE BELL:

Certainly, and at the end of the day, we actually don’t know anything about these women and if they are supported by the Iranian government, but they are fearless and brave and it must be very difficult for them to be focused on football when this is happening, obviously, in their home country. But ultimately, it’s a matter for the government and the Minister for Home Affairs to answer whether there’s been due diligence done when these women entered the country. But, you know, they are brave and we look forward to seeing them play at Robina Stadium on the Gold Coast. It’s great to have the Asian Cup happening on the Gold Coast. It’s good for local business and inspires young girls across, you know, the whole country, but particularly in Queensland for football, which is a fantastic game with so many young women in particular following the Matildas and aren’t they inspirational?

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO:

Oh, no two ways about that. Now, your predecessor in this role, Anne Ruston, was a mad football fan. What’s your sport of choice?

ANGIE BELL:

Oh, goodness me, there’s so many sports of choice. But, you know, I think as a young woman growing up playing netball and playing tennis, they are terrific sports. And I certainly am keeping a close eye on as many sports as possible. There’s so much going on, you know, the Formula One and everything that’s happening at the moment across the country and, of course, the rugby starting up and the AFL. They’re all my favourite sports.

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO:

Right. You mentioned netball. I just want to touch on that for a moment because I know that Kristen from Netball Australia, who listens in every morning, will be listening to us this morning. There’s a big push on to get netball included in the Brisbane Olympics. Are you across that yet? Have you had a chance to have a look at that proposal?

ANGIE BELL:

Well, I did see the report from Cate Campbell supporting that. And look, of course, we want as many sports as possible included in the Olympics. There’s also a push for Surf Life Saving to be included as part of that. But netball is a great Australian sport and I agree with Cate that pretty much every young woman growing up has played netball and I’m now a wing attack in the opposition. When I was a young woman, I was a wing defence. So, there you go, perhaps one day we’ll be in government and I can be the wing defence again.

STEPHEN CENATIEMPO:

I notice there’s a push from AFL to get included in the Olympics. I don’t know where they’re going to find other competitors to play against Australia. That’s the problem I see there. But I guess we’ll see how that plays out. Angie, great to talk to you. We’ll catch up again soon.

ANGIE BELL:

Thanks, Stephen. Good morning, Canberra.

ENDS.