Anthony Albanese has confirmed he attended a fundraiser in Sydney on the identical day as Peter Dutton, as northern New South Wales and Queensland ready to be hit by cyclone Alfred.
Peter Dutton confronted vital criticism, significantly from senior Labor ministers, for leaving Queensland on Tuesday to attend a fundraiser on the Sydney residence of hospitality billionaire Justin Hemmes.
Employment Minister Murray Watt accused Mr Dutton of “filling Liberal Celebration cash baggage whereas his personal group was filling sandbags”.
As not too long ago as Friday morning, Training Minister Jason Clare stated the fundraiser confirmed Mr Dutton’s “priorities are all backwards and he isn’t able to be the prime minister of Australia…
“This bloke determined to desert his personal group and go to a fundraiser at a mansion in Sydney when a cyclone was barrelling down,” he instructed Seven’s Dawn.
However in an interview immediately on Nova Perth, Mr Albanese stated he had additionally attended a fundraiser.
“So what occurred on that day, Peter Dutton flew out of Queensland, and I flew in,” he stated.
“I flew as much as Sydney within the morning, we did a giant announcement — I had a gathering with Chris Minns, the New South Wales Premier, as a result of it impacted northern New South Wales severely as properly.
“And we did a giant colleges funding settlement, $4.5 billion. Had different conferences in the course of the day.
“I went to, I did have a fundraiser throughout that day, however then flew up, had a gathering with Premier Crisafulli that evening, after which attended the assembly of the catastrophe coordination authority that happened the following morning.”
The prime minister stated he cancelled all remaining engagements that week to work on the catastrophe response from Canberra and from affected areas, scuttling a deliberate journey to Perth forward of the WA state election and shelving a long-speculated plan to name a federal election the next day.
Peter Dutton defended his attendance at a fundraiser that day as honouring ‘diary commitments’.
“It wasn’t a celebration, it was a fundraising dinner and the prime minister and I are doing them across the nation in the meanwhile,” Mr Dutton instructed Sky Information earlier this week.
The day earlier than the Nova radio interview, Mr Albanese had averted a reporter’s questions on his fundraiser attendance at a press convention in Perth, saying solely that Mr Dutton’s fundraiser attendance was “a matter for him”.
Deputy Liberal Chief Sussan Ley instructed Dawn on Friday morning it could be “rank hypocrisy” if the PM had additionally attended a fundraiser.
