Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been criticised by one of his political opponents for putting his “reputation on the global stage” over the needs of New South Wales residents hit by the flood crisis.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has issued multiple flood warnings for the state, including major warnings for communities along the Hawkesbury, Nepean, and Colo rivers, which in some places have reached the record levels seen in February and March 2022.
Albanese is due to come back to Australia late on Tuesday and visit flood-affected areas of Hawkesbury following his return from the NATO leaders summit in Spain and side trips to France and Ukraine.
The PM has said in a post on Twitter he was briefed about the situation by phone by NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet soon after visiting war-torn Ukraine on Monday AEST on the situation in NSW.
Albanese Compared to Morrison During 2019-2020 Bushfires
Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor told Sydney’s radio station 2GB the PM is “more concerned about his reputation” on the global stage than “making sure people in NSW have a place to sleep.”“Almost every day during the election campaign, he said he would step up and take responsibility as a leader,” Taylor said.
“It was flooding for 48 fours, and he’s only just picked up the phone to Dominic Perrottet to ask if he needs a hand.”
The Liberal MP added that he was with former PM Scott Morrison during the bushfires in his electorate of Picton.
In 2019, Morrison was under fire for going on holiday while the country was facing extensive bushfires.
But while Albanese “made a real scene” of Morrison’s response to the bushfires in 2019-2020, he “couldn’t even pick up the phone,” Taylor said.
“Frankly, it’s not good enough.”
But Treasurer Jim Chalmers defended Albanese’s response, saying, “there’s been a lot of work that’s been necessary amongst our international partners because a lot of those relationships were run down.”
He told 9News on Tuesday that Albanese’s work on the international stage “hasn’t prevented us from advancing our agenda at home.”
For many of the communities affected, this is the fourth damaging flood event in less than 18 months.
“We certainly saw that through the Northern Rivers floods (in NSW in March), but at this point, the advice to me is that it hasn’t reached that level,” Federal emergency management minister Murray Watt told ABC television.
Scores of evacuation orders and warnings have been declared, mostly northwest of Sydney, where major flooding is occurring along the Hawkesbury and Nepean rivers.
