Albanese’s attendance at the previous two summits,Madrid in 2022 and Vilnius last year,earned a fierce rebuke from Beijing through its state-control media,as well as fromformer prime minister Paul Keating and former foreign minister Bob Carr,who believe the Europeans and the US should stay out of the Indo-Pacific affairs.
But the prime minister said last year the summit had become “essentially the meeting globally of the world’s democratic leaders” and while its focus was on the north and Europe,its principles applied globally.
A government source,not authorised to speak on the record,said the decision was made after Albanese was unable to confirm a bilateral meeting with US President Joe Biden. Albanese’s office advised him not to make the trip as it could invite further criticism as his government struggles with a cost-of-living crisis at home.
The government is determined to promote the new stage 3 tax cuts,but inflation remains stubbornly high and there are renewed fears of further rate rises.
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It is not the first time an Australian prime minister has sent another cabinet member to a NATO summit. Malcolm Turnbull,for example,sent then-defence minister Marise Payne to a NATO summit in Belgium in 2018.
Three Labor MPs said there was broad consensus in the party that selling the government’s domestic agenda should be the priority.
“That’s what[the prime minister’s] been told in no uncertain terms. Our electorates are feeling it,” one MP said.
At a later press conference on Tuesday,Dutton said it was time for Australia to send a message that it was part of a united global front against international aggressors.
“Australians are very unsettled at the moment ... and they’ve got a prime minister who wants to put local politicking ahead of his obligation to stand up for our country,” he said.
In November Dutton urged Albanese against flying to the US and to instead focus on domestic issues.
Coalition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham condemned the prime minister’s decision not to go,saying “national security is the top responsibility of the government,and the idea that Anthony Albanese would rather be campaigning to shore up Labor marginal seats than sitting down with the NATO leaders to ensure global security and our national security interests are heard,is an appalling representation of his priorities”.
With the US election in November,the NATO gathering would probably have been the last meeting between Albanese and Biden as counterparts. His attendance could have provided an opportunity for the first bilateral leaders’ meeting with Keir Starmer,who is widely expected to become the UK’s prime minister on Friday.
US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said last month the White House was expecting Albanese to attend as well as Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida,South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeo and New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.
Albanese was forced to fend off criticism from the Coalition and several media commentators last year as he took four overseas trips in the month after the Voice referendum defeat,taking his tally to 18 since he came to office. He has made just one overseas trip this year,to Papua New Guinea,for Anzac Day.
The prime minister’s office was contacted for comment.
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