Wong says Dutton “made a statement by the President of Indonesia.”
As I mentioned a while ago, Penny Wong shook back against Peter Dutton yesterday over his response to a report that Russia had requested access to the Indonesian base of aircraft.
Wong and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles are interviewing this morning, which began with ABC News breakfast.
Wong says Dutton “made a statement” while she and Marless are engaged through the “appropriate channel.”
We were involved in the right channels: the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Defense, and the level of diplomatic work, and we got confirmation very quickly.
Peter Dutton forged a statement by the Indonesian president. Now, this is extraordinary for anyone who wants to be prime minister. They are trying to try out Indonesia’s president in person to create a political point in the country. He is simply reckless and too aggro.
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Updated with 17.31 EDT
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Sarah Basford Canales
Albanese says he doesn’t want to encourage Dutton to “dial up everything.”
Conclusion that we’ll be chatting at ABC Melbourne this morning, Anthony Albanese will be asked if he’s preparing some jabs or ginger to target Peter Dutton in tonight’s ABC Leader discussion.
The Prime Minister questioned Dutton’s temperament:
No, no. I stick, I stick to the policy framework. I, look, Peter Dutton dials it to 11. I don’t need to encourage it. That’s who he is. He dials everything. And I think that’s one of the problems. This means that you need an appropriate temperament to become a prime minister.
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Updated with 19.57 EDT
Sarah Basford Canales
Albanese says Dutton issued a statement from the Indonesian president “simply did not happen”
Anthony Albanese was asked in ABC Melbourne about reports that Russia had requested Russia to be based at a facility in Indonesia’s easternmost state of Papua, as reported in the defense publication Janes.
At a press conference yesterday, Peter Dutton asked: “Did the Prime Minister know about this before it was publicly announced by the Indonesian President? And what is the government’s response to that?”
The report was then dismissed by the Albanese government as “simply not true” after speaking to his Indonesian counterparts. The prime minister accused the opposition leader of mistakenly acknowledging the statement to the Indonesian president.
Albanese told ABC Melbourne:
It has not been announced by the Indonesian President of Indonesia that it has nothing to do with such a plan. They made it very clear. [Dutton] A statement was made by the Indonesian president. It is based on good, and simply on what didn’t happen, but it was not just factual.
The Prime Minister continued his attack on Dutton’s character, adding that he “always shoots in the waist.”
One of the problems with Peter Dutton, only one of them is that he always dials things up to 11. He always shoots from the waist. And if you are the prime minister or alternative prime minister of this country, all you need to do is have an approach to consideration of our international relations.
I had to use this term to repair my relationships with friends in France, friends in ASEAN, friends in the Pacific. And what Peter Dutton reminds people is how reckless he is.
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Updated with 19.58 EDT
Sarah Basford Canales
Albanese says Senate candidates who posted addresses of vacant homes for those seeking emergency accommodation are “disgraceful”
As if a simultaneous press conference on Wednesday morning wasn’t enough, Anthony Albanese also joined ABC Melbourne for a pre-recorded interview.
The Prime Minister was asked about an ABC report in which a woman claimed that her home locks had been changed and the items had been stolen after Victorian Senate candidate Jordan van den Lam posted online people encouraging people in need of emergency accommodation.
Vandenlam, better known online as a Purple Pinger, has risen to social media fame for posting about dangerous landlords and creating a database of vacant properties for audiences to squat down.
I think he is dishonorable… it’s clearly a self-satisfaction behavior.
Van Den Lamb told ABC she was considering an apology to the woman, “I don’t want her to feel bad,” adding, “People don’t have a home, but I don’t think that’s what I hate.”
Later, he was asked again if there was a housing crisis, Albanese said:
You need to build more houses. I don’t think there’s any excuse for this Senate candidate’s actions. I don’t want to draw that link because I have to say it, so there’s nothing to excuse that action.
Both major political parties released housing announcements over the weekend. For more information, see Ben Smee:
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Updated with 19.48 EDT
The Prime Minister says it’s important that he enters an “uncontrolled environment” despite being a Heckler
Reporter Josh Butler asks PM about the video released on social media. He is faced with several people in the hotel lobby. Butler asks if it will make him reconsider his public appearances and if he knows how these protesters find out where the media emergence is.
Albanese says:
[It] It’s probably not a good idea to broadcast it [our security plans] Frankly, like I said before, I’m not going to get into a security discussion. It’s not for security purposes.
He says when he stops at the gym on the first day of Peter Dutton’s Dixon seating campaign, there’s nothing that has stopped him from making other public appearances.
I worked with people… I went for a walk around Adelaide. The Adelaide Mall was amazing. I also went for a walk around Perth. And I think it’s really important, and that’s what I did. I enter an uncontrolled environment.
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Updated with 19.43 EDT
Chalmers claims that the majority of “Law Party announcements” are “already budgeted.”
One of the key questions we follow both key stakeholders regarding housing policy is:
That’s up to Jim Chalmers, the treasurer. Jim Chalmers says much of what was announced is already budgeted.
As you know, most of the announcements we made were already within budget and we made clear how much these new policies cost when we made additional announcements.
He then focuses on the coalition and says he hasn’t announced the costs of the tax-deductible lunch policy it announced last year.
Jim Chalmers and Anthony Albanese at Deakin in Melbourne this morning. Photo: Lukas Coch/Aapshare
Updated with 19.46 EDT
Albanese repeats that Indonesia is a sovereign state, but its relationship with Australia has “become stronger than ever.”
Albanese is drawn back to Russia and Indonesia’s issues, and is asked about the defense relations between the two countries and the aforementioned visits between the Indonesian defense minister and the Russian officials with the president.
Albanese repeats that Australia and Indonesia’s relationship “has not been stronger than ever,” but Indonesia is a sovereign state.
There are no joint exercises between Australia and Russia. I guarantee it to you. However, our relationship with Indonesia has never been stronger…
Indonesia is a sovereign country. So we continue to discuss our case and its relationship with Indonesia. Indonesia and Russia have historically had a different relationship from Australian relations.
It has pushed again whether Australia is seeking security from Indonesia to not allow the power or presence of Russian aircraft, Albanese said, “We will deal with diplomacy through involvement, not through media conferences.”
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Updated with 19.33 EDT
The Prime Minister is working to put pressure on emergency departments, where he claims he has evidence.
Back to PM Presser: Labour is plugging in emergency care clinics across the country, but reporters ask about reports showing clinics not reducing waiting times in the emergency department (also known as the EDS).
Albanese says the “punters” told him that clinics work across the country, and state and territorial leaders say they are putting pressure on them from the EDS.
Today there are two reports about emergency care clinics and mass billing incentives that are completely inconsistent by talking to people on the ground…it puts pressure from those EDs.
In a follow-up question, we ask Albanese if there is clear evidence that the clinic is putting pressure on the hospital. Albanese says:
Yes, I do [have evidence]. Come to anyone, I assure you this, I plan to go to the emergency medical clinic over the next two and a half weeks. And you talk to the people there and talk to them there about whether they’ll reach the emergency department or not.
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Updated on 19.25 EDT
Dutton pledges $6 million to Kid’s Online Safety Foundation
Both leaders will be in Melbourne this morning, and Peter Dutton is holding the presser at the same time.
He is talking about online safety for children and pledged $6 million to the Alana and Madeline Foundation to protect children from online harm.
Every parent’s nightmare is a concern that your child will end up in difficult or traumatic situations due to their online interactions. This is devastating for the family.
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Updated on 19.24 EDT
The Prime Minister has even mentioned constructive ties with China that are “not promoting” from the former liberal government.
Albanese has also been asked about a comment from Washington’s Roger Cook that active liberal diplomacy led to economic coercion from China.
Albanese says “China is responsible” for the actions they took, but some of the Australian government’s language at the time “doesn’t encourage” constructive relationships.
China is responsible. But I do show that in this respect, as well, some of the rhetoric given to them by the Australian government does not encourage them to have constructive relationships…
We are diplomatically, our approach to China is to cooperate, to deal with respect and not dial to 11.
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Updated with 19.17 EDT
Albanese says that the report claiming Russia’s demands on Indonesia is true
Albanese also refuses to clarify whether Russia’s demands on Indonesia have been made so far.
He was first asked whether Russian commentary was a misinformation act by Russia intervening in this election. Albanese says:
What I know is that there was no statement from the Indonesian president and what Peter Dutton said is not true.
He was pushed by another reporter, whether that report from the Defense Publications was true or not.
Assume the Janes report is correct. And there is no basis for you to assume that… I say I will act diplomatically with my Indonesian friends. That’s what I’m saying.
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Updated with 19.17 EDT
Chalmers: “The Moment of Disqualification” from Dutton
Treasurer Jim Chalmers also delved into Dutton’s comments yesterday, calling opposition leaders “dangerous” and “reckless.”
Peter Dutton is too dangerous and reckless to be the prime minister of a great country like us. He has no temperament to manage our relationships around the world and manage our economy here at home and Australians.
What we saw yesterday was a moment of disqualification from Peter Dutton regarding the comments he made about the Indonesian president. Whenever he lies in a way adjacent to pathology about the Australian economy, it is a moment of disqualification.
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Updated on 19.08 EDT
