Liberal senator Maria Kovacic has hit out at Anthony Albanese’s attendance at a British Labour conference during his visit to the UK on the weekend, calling it an “exercise in vanity”.
Asked whether the prime minister attending the British Labour event on the taxpayer dollar was indulgent, Kovacic told Sky, “The Prime Minister has gone on this exercise in what I can only call vanity to the UK. This isn’t a visit about things that are better for Australians. This is a visit from one Labor Party leader to another, to go to the Labor Party Conference in the UK, to actually be a special guest star, and not talk about Australia, and not talk about what’s best for Australia, but talk about what the Labor Party here and in the UK can do for each other. It is extraordinary.
Victoria Starmer, Jodie Haydon and former prime minister Julia Gillard at the UK Labour Annual Conference in Liverpool on Sunday. Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
“There is no excuse for it, and the prime minister should be ashamed, and he should explain how on earth he came to a decision that this was what he should be doing when we have… issues here at home in relation to our budget, cost of living and the broader issues that we’ve got in our country,” the Liberal senator said this morning.
Appearing alongside Kovacic was Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs Matt Thistlethwaite, who defended Albanese’s attendance at the conference by pointing to the PM’s stacked agenda of meetings with leaders while he was in the UK.
“He was invited by the British prime minister to attend that [conference], but he also met with the King, our head of state. I’d love to know if Maria and the Liberal Party think that meeting with the King is indulgent.
“He also met with the Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to discuss foreign policy issues. He also met with the prime minister of Spain, and Australia is, of course, negotiating a free trade agreement with Spain that comes on the back of the meeting… And all the prime ministers’ meetings, they’re about the best interests of Australians, if you look at our legislative agenda, it’s all aimed at assisting Australians with their cost of living,” Thistlethwaite said.
Read the full article here
