A guest on Peta Credlin’s Sky News program compared Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s diplomatic trip to Japan to Scott Morrison leaving Australia during the worst bushfire season on record for a holiday in Hawaii.
The bizarre comparison was made by Sky News political commentator Chris Smith on Peta Credlin’s show earlier. Albanese was elected and sworn in as Australia’s 31st Prime Minister on Monday.
Smith described the idea of Albanese taking now foreign minister Penny Wong to meet Quad leaders as a “ray of Labor madness in the first week” and questioned how the process would work.
“He’s not on the planet,” host Chris Smith said. ‘Having Anthony Albanese in the transition stage from one government to another government… a hint of Labor madness in the first week.
“I know it’s an economic fool, we’ve proven it for the last five weeks, but this is like going to Hawaii on steroids… Seriously, the first week?”
Joe Biden praised Anthony Albanese’s energy after the new Prime Minister flew to Tokyo on his first day in office.
Morrison’s most famous debacle was escaping the country for a family holiday in Hawaii amid the 2019-20 bushfire crisis.
Smith only expanded on his comparison by questioning how Albanese would handle the factions – in an apparent reference to how his cabinet would be selected – in such a situation.
Albanese was sworn in as government on Monday before traveling to Tokyo for a planned summit of Quad leaders with leaders from the United States, Japan and India.
The Labor leader will return from the whirlwind trip on Wednesday.
Morrison left the country to vacation in Hawaii with his wife and daughters amid the 2019-2020 wildfire crisis.
His office repeatedly denied that he was abroad before it was finally confirmed that he had left the country as it burned the week before Christmas. Photos emerged on social media of him posing for selfies with tourists drinking beer and relaxing with his wife Jenny at his Hawaiian hotel.
In an interview with 2GB’s John Stanley, while still in Hawaii, Morrison famously said, “I don’t hold a hose, mate” to justify the trip. The trip was not well received and has dogged Morrison in the years since, impacting his recent campaign and being regularly mentioned in media interviews.
Before the election, host Credlin accused Albanese of appearing “arrogant” in the run-up to Election Day, describing his leadership as “Biden-esque” and “in name only.”
Credlin has long been critical of Albanese and was mocked after his emphatic victory on Saturday night.
When Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump in the January 2021 US election, his critics claimed he would be his party’s “spokesman” and doubted how much power and influence he would have in the top job.
“(The Albanians) will leave for Japan on Tuesday, leaving us with Richard Marles in charge as interim prime minister… but worse than that, he doesn’t even have to choose his cabinet,” Credlin said.
“Factional warlords (faces most voters wouldn’t even know) are coming and splitting up your cabinet.”
Days later, Richard Marles is now serving as acting Prime Minister while Albanese is abroad. The Labor leader plans to select his cabinet from a list prepared by the party’s left and right factions next week.
In an interview with 2GB’s John Stanley, while still in Hawaii, he notoriously said, “I don’t hold a hose, man” to justify the trip while the nation burned. Pictured: A kangaroo runs past a burning house in Lake Conjola, Australia, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2019.
Credlin has been inundated with comments criticizing the comparison between Albanese’s work trip to Japan and former Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s family holiday in Hawaii.
I don’t hold a hose, buddy
Scott Morrison defending his Hawaii vacation during the 2019-2020 wildfires
Meanwhile, Albanese appears to have become fast friends with world leaders at his first event as prime minister, and was seen laughing alongside President Biden at the Quad leaders’ summit on Tuesday.
The 79-year-old US president, who fell asleep during the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow last year, told Albanese: “If you fall asleep while you’re here, that’s fine.”
In his brief address to his fellow leaders, President Biden congratulated Albanese on winning Saturday’s election.
The four leaders, including newly elected Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, waved to cameras as they posed for photographs at the Tokyo summit.
‘Prime Minister Albanese, I welcome you to your first meeting of the Quad. Like I said, you took the oath, you got on a plane and if you fall asleep while you’re here, that’s okay because I don’t know how you’re doing it,’ he said.
“It is really extraordinary to also come out of the electoral campaign.
‘Congratulations on your choice. When he won and I called him, we really appreciated his commitment to being here so soon after taking office.’
Albanese said Australia’s commitment to the Quad remained strong despite the change in government. He announced that the Quad will host a summit of Quad security leaders in 2023.
“We have had a change of government in Australia, but Australia’s commitment to the Quad has not changed and will not change,” he said.
Albanese also discussed his increased commitments to addressing climate change and spoke of his goal of reducing emissions by 43 percent by 2030.