Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is insisting that he received no formal requests after US President Donald Trump took a swipe at Australia.
Trump's comments come as Australia continues to be hands off with the ongoing conflict between the US, Israel, and Iran.
Trump Calls Australia 'Not Great'
According to a report by Sky News, Trump took a swipe at Australia during a cabinet meeting in the White House.
"Australia was not great," said Trump. "I was a little surprised by Australia."
Trump has previously criticised Australia for failing to show support as the conflict between the US, Israel, and Iran escalated.
Sky News notes in its report that The Coalition has accused Labor of causing damage to the relationship between Australia and the US.
"The US is our strongest defence ally, and so this is pretty grim news overnight from the United States," Liberal frontbencher Sarah Henderson said on Friday.
"This is just a pretty dire situation, and the Prime Minister, frankly, has got a lot of explaining to do," she added.
Albanese Says No Formal Request Received
In response to Trump's comments, Albanese has insisted that Australia has not received any formal requests for help.
"I said I wasn't going to comment on all of his commentary on a day-to-day basis, but I again reiterate that there is no request being made to Australia that has not been agreed to," said Albanese, according to The Guardian.
He added, "President Trump, it's up to him to explain his comments, but of course, I make the point as well that Australia wasn't consulted before this action was undertaken, and I respect that that's a matter for the United States."
Albanese also emphasized that he wants to the conflict in Middle East, which has affected fuel prices and travel, to end.
For his part, defence minister Richard Marles said support has been provided for the United Arab Emirates following a request from the US.
"The one request we've had from the United States is to provide support for Gulf States, which is in fact what we are doing, and that's where we see our national interest," said Marles.
"We do that because of the relationship we have with the Gulf States but also because in the UAE specifically it is home to one of the largest expat populations that Australia has, and so it's a really important contribution," he explained.
Originally published on ibtimes.com.au
