When Scott Morrison announced that it was not a “race” to get vaccines first and quickly into Australia during the COVID epidemic, it was another nail in the coffin of his aging prime minister.
Prime Ministers who do not unite at a time when the public is afraid and looking for leadership lose the public’s trust.
The Albanian government is still on the brink of the same period. But last week, there was a pivot in the fuel crisis, and the PM is meeting this moment.
Over the weekend, that pivot was all too clear when Australia began a run to get fuel here first – at high prices – underwritten by the Commonwealth. It may seem like a crazy idea, to spend a lot of money to strengthen our supply chain, but a long period of indifference by various governments has left us in great danger.
There was a moment before the oil crisis caused by the war in the Middle East when it felt like the government had failed in a hurry that was visible throughout the country. We were entering a total crisis that required a total response.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen has come under heavy criticism for what one senior Labor insider told me was his condescending style and failure to “meet the moment” in his speech.
Albanese is now involved, standing by to provide daily updates on how the government is dealing with the fuel crisis. Optics have improved significantly for the government as it faces the next test with state and local leaders discussing next steps today.
Loading
The government has been careful not to stir up memories of the COVID crisis.
There is a feeling in government that Australians are fed up and insisting on telling them how to behave will be met with anger.
At today’s national cabinet meeting we expect orders for everything from the home to public transport to be light – no one wants to overdo things that scare the Australian public.
Loading…
Original Australian style, not MAGA
How our leaders talk about this crisis and who they are responsible for.
Albanese dictated the gravity of the moment and the tone he must take to respond.
The opposition used question period last week to target the government, particularly Bowen, but did not confirm its attack.
The PM did not miss the opportunity to step back and question whether they are on “team Australia”.
But there is one person who stands out in the Coalition who has done more to develop the Australia-first approach than his colleagues.
The deputy leader of the Coalition and the shadow industry and independence advocate Andrew Hastie is now one of the people on his political side who can directly blame the President of the United States, Donald Trump for the great problems that we and many other countries are left with.
Yesterday, he said while supporting the US attacks on Iran’s nuclear power last year, called Operation Midnight Hammer, he said, “I don’t know why we got involved now.
“I thought last year we did the job,” he said.
Loading…
Hastie said he was concerned that US credibility was being undermined by the current military operation in the Middle East, and that Australian support for the alliance could be eroded.
“I am pro America and I have been for a long time. I am married to an American, my grandfather was saved by a US doctor during WWII, I have served in combat operations with the Americans,” he said.
“But we can criticize bad policy decisions… I think this was a big mistake.
“Iran has successfully held the entire world economy to ransom, and because we are at the end of a very long supply chain we will suffer.”
This builds on his comments last week, where he labeled Pauline Hanson as pro-Trump and, therefore, hurting Australians financially.
Loading
No one has been harsh enough to expose One Nation for its conflicting messages about the pain of the cost of living while supporting the man responsible for delivering the worst energy crisis in decades.
“You have Pauline Hanson, who has come out twice to support the war. That sounds very MAGA first, rather than Australia first,” Hastie said.
“My heart goes out to ordinary Australians who play by the rules, who expect the system to work, and now they’re going to be crushed by this global panic.
“I want the audience to think very carefully about who is working on your behalf. And I think as a nation, we need to plan past this war and make sure that if there is another global crisis, that we take care of ourselves, we can take care of our people, and we don’t depend on long supply chains that end up in the Middle East.”
The fact that the most critical critic of Australia’s involvement in the wars is a former soldier from the Conservative wing of the Liberal Party should worry Labor.
The public is not behind Trump’s war
Hastie said the need to “build up security areas for war operations” is deeper than offering hot foreign policy options.
He is not only involved in the civil unrest because of the conflict, but also the fact that the government is involved with the United States to intervene in the war with Iran (albeit defensively, since they are in pain of repetition), a conflict that has forced the closure of the critical shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz.
With diesel now sitting at around $3 a litre, it is not the state of Australia’s policy that is causing people to be sad and worried. The war in the Middle East is causing us to pay for the fuel we currently have left, while the government insists on how to get more.
Liberal MP Garth Hamilton, who is the shadow deputy minister for energy security and affordability, told me he believes public opinion is not the cause of Trump’s war.
“I sense deep concern and anxiety in my community about the idea of going into yet another war in the Middle East,” he said, referring to his constituency of Groom, which is Toowoomba along the Darling Downs in Queensland.
Loading
Australians can be quick to turn around
Public concern about Australia following the US in this latest war runs deeper than anti-Trump sentiment.
When world events go from the news to what you hear about gasoline or while you’re grocery shopping, people worry and quickly turn to someone to blame.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, economic uncertainty and shortages of basic foods on store shelves caused concern and anger. The fact that COVID was first detected in China, as well as how it manages this epidemic, has caused a significant change in attitude towards our important trading partner.
A 2021 survey by the Lowy Institute highlighted how Australians’ views on China changed dramatically: 63 percent said China was a security threat to Australia, while only 34 percent said it was an economic partner. In 2020, that was almost the opposite, with 55 percent saying they were partners and 41 percent.
The outbreak showed that when global events turned local, Australians were quick to turn to a powerful trading partner.
Many Australians already have a negative view of Trump. Lowy’s 2025 poll of trust in the United States fell to 36 percent, down 20 points on the year and the lowest level in the institution’s two-decade polling record. A poll last year also found that 68 per cent of Australians had no confidence in the next four years under Donald Trump.
There is a real potential here for war to destroy our perception of the US alliance.
Politicians have often called for Australia to have its own independent foreign policy.
With two superpowers causing Australians economic pain and anxiety over the past five years, perhaps the public is growing weary of our actions being dictated by others, and that no longer just means Beijing but Washington as well.
Patricia Karvelas is the host of the ABC News Afternoon Briefing at 4pm weekdays on the ABC News Channel, as well as the weekly Party Room podcast with Fran Kelly and the host of the politics and news podcast Politics Now.
Loading…
#Albanese #brink #fatal #error #pivot