The Opposition criticized the Prime Minister on Monday for being gone while his government was dealing with a domestic issue since he had spent 14 of his first 42 days in office, or one-third, abroad.
Mr. Albanese claimed that after his return to Poland from the Ukraine, he was only permitted to turn on his phone once more and receive updates from his emergency management minister and the NSW Premier.
He was visiting President Zelensky on Sunday in the war-torn nation, so he turned off his phone as a security precaution.
Have crossed into Poland from Ukraine and gone radio silent, Mr. Albanese tweeted.
My first course of action was to ensure that federal government assistance is being given after receiving briefings on the flooding in NSW.
One man was killed and thousands of homes were evacuated in Greater Sydney as a result of the torrential rain that pummeled NSW.
200 ADF soldiers have already been provided by the federal government.
Since last Sunday, the prime minister has gone on business travels to a NATO summit in Spain, a meeting with President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, and a high-security journey to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Despite the fact that all of the visits were for official business, several Australians claimed he should be dealing with problems at home instead.
The hashtags “Airbus Albo” and “Where’s Albo” trended on Twitter, and some referred to him as “Anthony Overseasy.”
Since winning the election on May 21, Mr. Albanese has traveled more than 45,000 kilometers on trips to Japan, Indonesia, the UAE, Spain, France, Poland, and Ukraine, where he made an announcement on Sunday about providing Ukraine with an additional $100 million in military aid paid for by Australian tax dollars.
Dan Tehan, the shadow minister for immigration, claimed that Mr. Albanese, who would visit Fiji for a Pacific Islands meeting the next week, was overly preoccupied with global issues.
He told Sky News, “It is worrying because what he seems to be doing is concentrating entirely on the foreign front and good Prime Ministers can do both.”
The Prime Minister’s office stated that he was receiving a briefing on the NSW floods and that after he returns late on Tuesday night, he will think about visiting flooded districts.
Angry Australians contrasted Scott Morrison’s controversial trip to Hawaii during the December 2019 bushfires to Mr. Albanese’s absence during the floods.
In a tweet from March, Mr. Albanese said: “If I’m Prime Minister, I won’t go missing when the going gets tough – or pose for photos and then disappear when there’s a work to be done.” Critics brought up this statement.
“I’ll turn up, I’ll act, and I’ll strive every day to unite our nation.”
While the move was backed by MPs on all sides of the political line, some also criticized the PM’s choice to give Ukraine more public money at a time when excessive government expenditure was driving up inflation.
Others, though, argued that the Hawaii comparison was unfair because Mr. Albanese was away on important foreign policy missions while Mr. Morrison was lounging on the beach.
Mr. Albanese claimed that Australia’s attendance at the NATO summit in Spain was very advantageous for discussing China’s escalating assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific.
For the first time, the group labeled China a “security danger”.
After Mr. Morrison backed out of a $90 billion submarine agreement with a French manufacturer and later revealed private emails between him and Mr. Macron, he had a fruitful meeting with President Emmanuel Macron to mend tense relations.
On his high-security visit to Ukraine, Mr. Albanese was likewise welcomed with open arms.
The trip was designed to demonstrate that the west, which extends beyond Europe and the US, is unified against Russian aggression.
He is the first Australian Prime Minister to visit the nation.
After Moscow invaded in February, Australia is the greatest non-NATO supporter to the nation’s war effort.
Peter Dutton, the leader of the opposition, took Sunday off and won’t be back at work until July 19.
More than 32,000 people in NSW, largely in Greater Sydney, were encouraged to leave their homes over the weekend due to heavy rain, and another 6,000 people will be on alert on Monday.
After being rescued from Sydney’s Parramatta River, one man, a kayaker, perished.
Murray Watt, the minister of emergency management, has been aggressively responding to the flooding and has dispatched 200 ADF personnel to assist.
As heavy rain continues to fall, 30 neighborhoods are in danger of submerging, and 71 evacuation orders are in effect.
NSW may be seeing the worst floods in the past 18 months as a result of the deluge.
The most recent areas to receive evacuation orders by Monday morning were Wallacia Caravan Park, portions of Emu Plains, parts of Penrith, parts of Lower Portland, Pitt Town, Agnes Banks, and South Maroota.
Major flooding has occurred in North Richmond due to river levels exceeding those observed in March (15.92 meters), with potential for further increases.
Sydney Basin, the Hawkesbury Nepean, and the Georges River water levels are all of great concern.
The town of Camden, which has been inundated for the fourth time this year, is among the worst affected, along with Lansvale, Chipping Norton, and Moorebank in some areas.
200 defense personnel—including two ADF nighttime helicopters and an additional 100 soldiers—were sent to the scene on Monday to help during the crisis.
Despite not having yet talked with the prime minister about the developing crisis, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said the federal and state emergency ministers were coordinating their response.
He told reporters on Monday, “We have worked with the Commonwealth government to get ADF troops on the ground immediately, providing crucial help, going door-to-door, and delivering instructions and advise to individuals who are flood-affected.”
The fact that the ADF were on the scene right soon is really encouraging, and it is clear that things have changed from the earlier in the year flooding occurrences.
“We can always use the lessons from the past to ensure that we perform better in the future.”