When Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky personally calls our Prime Minister to ask him or the Deputy Prime Minister to attend a peace summit on Ukraine, what do you do if you are Anthony Albanese?
Do you see? Of course not.
Send Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles in his place? The Ukrainians said they would be happy with that and, after all, Marles is the Minister of Defense. No.
Send Foreign Minister Penny Wong? She is in charge of Australia’s foreign affairs. No.
Ok, it seems like a bit of a snub to the Ukrainians, but if none of the above are willing or able, I guess the assistant to the defense minister or the assistant to the foreign minister would have to be sent instead, right? Mistaken.
The Australian representative at the Ukraine peace summit in Switzerland later this month will be… National Disability Insurance Minister Bill Shorten.
Snubbed: The Ukrainian president (pictured) requested that our prime minister or deputy prime minister attend his peace summit. They said no
Bill Shorten (pictured) travels to Switzerland to attend Ukraine peace summit
Perhaps you have discovered some important “learnings” (not a real word, I know, but it’s slang in Canberra) about disability services that you want to pass on to Ukrainians in the wake of their continued fight for nationality, while the invasion persists Russian.
Or perhaps Shorten wants to explain why Australia’s jobs and skills experts have determined that no one from overseas can migrate here with job training in the area of disability support.
As Daily Mail Australia revealed today, disability support officers are on the skilled migration rejection list, even though yoga instructors, dog handlers and kung fu experts are all acceptable.
Of course, none of these reasons are why Albo and Penny Wong (it’s really just Wong, Albo doesn’t care much about foreign affairs) have decided to send Shorten on this diplomatic peace trip.
They have done so because, as Wong says, Shorten is a former Labor leader (in opposition) and has never held any kind of foreign affairs portfolio and is not even part of the cabinet’s national security committee.
Ok, she didn’t mention these last two points, I did, but it turns out they’re true too.
However, Wong also said Shorten “has been a very strong voice in support of the people of Ukraine.”
Oh, I didn’t realize that, maybe because I haven’t read anything he’s written on the subject. Maybe they just reveal how little read I am.
But now that I know, maybe I can go too? I have had some thoughts about the tragic situation that exists there.
Or perhaps because I know little about the delicate issues of diplomacy and the conflict with Russia, and because I am not part of the government’s foreign affairs and security team, I am not the right person to go.
That would be true for me, just as it is for Shorten. However, he flies away…
No one should blame Shorten for this foolish decision – he is simply the beneficiary of it. Who wouldn’t want to take a free trip to Europe?
Call me cynical, but sending Shorten abroad just when his NDIS portfolio is in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons couldn’t have anything to do with the decision, could it? If so, they should also send Immigration Minister Andrew Giles.
Probably not.
Despite requesting their attendance, neither the Prime Minister (pictured) nor Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles (pictured) were prepared to attend the peace summit.
I am referring to revelations that billions of dollars of taxpayers’ money have been wasted on NDIS actions. NDIS money has been spent on everything from sex workers to cocaine, although I’m not sure if it was at the same time. The reports I have read have not clarified that possibility.
Additionally, it has been revealed that a former speechwriter for Kevin Rudd now works in the NDIS department and is paid $620,000 on a two-year contract.
At least Shorten will give a good speech when he is in Switzerland.
