“That was a matter of keeping us safe, but also keeping safe [Ukrainian] president Zelensky and the Ukrainian people that we were meeting with,” Albanese said.
“There is a war going on and apparently that should have been dismissed.”
Albanese said as soon as he left Ukraine he got in touch with Perrottet, as well as acting PM Richard Marles and Minister for Emergency Management Murray Watt to ensure “every support was being offered”.
“I was fulfilling a responsibility that I believe that I had, of travelling to Ukraine. And to compare that with a holiday, I just find beyond contempt frankly.”
Have crossed into Poland from Ukraine and left radio silence. My first actions were briefings by @murraywatt and @Dom_Perrottet on NSW flooding and ensuring Federal Government assistance is being provided.
“What we’re seeing from Mr Albanese is very much a focus on everything international and we’re starting to see serious drift when it comes to incredibly important domestic issues, like energy, like skills shortages, like these floods we’re now confronting on the eastern seaboard,” Tehan said, per the ABC.
“They were pretty quick to throw a few grenades at Scott Morrison,” Littleproud said.
“Yes, he was on holidays. But again, let’s get the facts out there, let’s understand, but at the core of this has to be the victims.
“We can sit down, throw political barbs at one another but it is those men and women, kids whose homes have been inundated are the most important thing today and NSW is leading the charge on that.”
, start playing ‘Deja Vu’.
ICYMI, Albanese’s been jetting off around the world since he became PM. First he traveled to Tokyo for a Quad Security Meeting, then to a NATO summit in Europe and most recently, he’s been visiting war-torn Ukraine where he was under radio silence for safety measures.
I mean, that all sounds pretty legit to me. But he’s been ripped into by opposition pollies for scooting about, particularly because of the NSW floods.
Albanese has since defended himself against the critiques, labelling them “beyond contempt”.
On Wednesday he held a press conference with NSW Premier to discuss the active flooding emergency in NSW. They also which have been affected by the floods.
Per , Albanese explained that because of the situation in Ukraine, he wasn’t able to use electronic equipment to communicate.
The critiques of Albanese largely centred on the devastating floods in Sydney and wider NSW.
Shadow Treasurer had told on Monday that Albanese was “more concerned about his reputation on the global stage than… making sure people in NSW have a place to sleep”.
Taylor also claimed that Albanese “has only just picked up the phone to [NSW Premier] to ask if he needs a hand”.
In a very similar vein, Shadow Immigration Minister implied Albanese was prioritising international affairs.
In perhaps the wildest critique, Nationals Leader (of course) essentially compared Albanese’s travel during the floods to scooting on holiday to Hawaii during the Black Summer bushfires.
He on Tuesday that Labor was very keen to slam Morrison for his holiday.
Look Dave, let’s be honest here. Going to a load of big international conferences and then visiting a war-torn country isn’t quite the same as scooting off on holibobs.
Perrottet defended Albanese’s actions in their joint press conference.
“From my perspective the Federal Government needs to balance international concerns and domestic concerns but as soon as he could, he picked up the phone to call me,” Perrottet said.
He then described the response between the federal and state governments as “pleasing”. Okay secret fan!
So yeah, maybe not quite the same as going on holiday.
Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
