Opposition Leader Sussan Ley isn’t going to back down over the PM needing to do more about securing a meeting with Donald Trump. Photo: Andrew McLaughlin.
Sussan Ley is employing an effective approach to dealing with a majority Labor government, by agreeing with good legislation and needling Anthony Albanese where she perceives a weakness.
The Opposition Leader spent much of Tuesday (29 July) highlighting the Prime Minister’s vulnerabilities, while at the same time giving her support to some of his flagship bills.
On the very day Nationals Senator Matt Canavan described the Coalition (his own side) as irrelevant, Ms Ley demonstrated otherwise, because it was also the same day news broke of US President Donald Trump flagging higher tariffs for Australia and other countries, with a baseline of 15 to 20 per cent.
Ms Ley’s reaction to that?
“With respect to Donald Trump, I just regret the way that the government seems to be shrugging its shoulders as if there is nothing they can do to address the tariff situation,” the Opposition Leader said.
“It is not good enough that all these months after Donald Trump became President, the meeting, the vital meeting between Anthony Albanese and the President, has not taken place.
“And I just see that Anthony Albanese appears to be running up the white flag, and we have a lot of questions that we’re raising about whether biosecurity for Australian beef has been traded off somehow for access to a discussion about tariffs.
“Meanwhile, the most important thing, the personal relationship between two leaders that needs to exist now, not later, and we’ve got a Prime Minister who is a complete bystander in all of this.”
Calling the PM a bystander was a clever dig. It would have wounded the Prime Minister’s ego.
When asked (during a media conference she called), “how do you deal with a foreign leader who just seems to be making it up as he goes along?” Ms Ley had just as sharp a response.
“By sitting in the room with him and talking to him,” she said.
“At least 20 world leaders have. And the important thing is, in this increasingly digital, interconnected world, the face-to-face meeting matters and it makes a difference, and it’s the way the President does business.
“And it is something Anthony Albanese does not seem to be stepping up to do. And the questions that you’re asking me, I really think with respect, you need to ask the Prime Minister, and I’m sure you will.
“What is he doing about getting a meeting? What is his plan? How much longer do we have to have a situation where we haven’t had that face-to-face meeting?
“And the questions that are developing from that are very concerning because we’ve raised the issue of biosecurity with respect to beef.
“And it does seem very coincidental that that issue has just turned up this week, so the government has real questions to answer.
“I hope they’re not trading away our precious biosecurity for some sort of access to a conversation about tariffs. That conversation should have started long ago.”
The government lifted biosecurity restrictions last week on beef imports from the US, but insists it hasn’t really, and the decision to ease import conditions was a long time in the making.
But does the Opposition Leader think Mr Trump is treating Australia unfairly?
“I don’t comment on any other world leader and their domestic or international policy,” she said.
“What I comment on is our national interest in response to that.
“It’s very clear that the impact we can have is the conversation that allows the real reassurance that I know Australians want about tariffs, about AUKUS, about the strength of the relationship between our most important ally.
“And without a personal relationship, without a personal conversation, that’s not happened.”
During the same media appearance, Ms Ley confirmed the Coalition’s support for the government’s childcare reforms.
“This needs to be sorted,” she said.
Same for Labor’s student debt relief legislation.
“We will not oppose the government’s proposal.”
Energy was a different matter, with the Opposition Leader describing government plans as a “continuing train wreck of an energy policy,” while demanding more transparency from Labor.
“I said when I started as Opposition Leader, we were going to listen, stand by our values, fix our policies and work bloody hard for the Australian people,” she said.
“So it’s good to be in parliament doing exactly that.
“I also said that when the government comes up with a good idea, we’ll be constructive, but we’ll be critical where we need to be.
“When they come up with a bad idea, we won’t hesitate to call that out.”
That left Question Time for the Opposition to hone in on another perceived weak spot the PM might have.
“How many Australians today are using their credit card to see a GP?” Ms Ley asked.
The question gave the Prime Minister another opportunity to whip out his Medicare card and blame the Coalition for policies bent on “undermining the health system”.
But it also reminded everyone that most people still have to use both cards when they visit their doctor.
Opposition irrelevant? Not yet.
They’re a bit messy internally at the moment, but not irrelevant by a long shot.
Original Article published by Chris Johnson on Region Canberra.
