Nat Bar has grilled Foreign Minister Penny Wong about the prime minister’s difficulty securing a face-to-face meeting with Donald Trump.
After he was stood up by the US President at the G7 Summit in Canada, Anthony Albanese instead met with Trump’s senior economic team on Wednesday AEST.
Trump had left the summit early due to the Israel-Iran conflict, scotching a planned meeting with Albanese, who has only ever spoken to him on the phone.
In a strident interview on Sunrise, Nat Barr questioned Wong about the snub, with the senator appearing to be visibly frustrated with Barr’s question.
‘Our prime minister is now eyeing up a trip to the Netherlands next week with hopes he might be able to line up a second date with the president, that’s after the president stood him up in Canada,’ Barr said.
‘Is the PM going to chase him around the world?’
‘Can I just put a bit of perspective here, Nat?’ Wong replied.
‘The president left the G7 because of the war in the Middle East.
‘Now, I know we all want to think it’s about us, but he left the G7 because of the war in the Middle East and he was unable as a consequence, not only to not have a bilateral meeting with the prime minister, but with (Indian) Prime Minister Modi, (and) with the president of South Korea.’
Wong added that the ‘world is an unstable place at the moment’ and ‘we’ve got a war in the Middle East and we have a war in Europe’.
But Barr was not satisfied with Wong’s answer.
‘We have now, but there have been calls for many months,’ Barr said.
‘Trump was in in November and many of the leaders lined up and went to the White House earlier in the year, you were at the inauguration yourself in January, and there were calls for our prime minister to go and meet him much earlier than this.’
Wong then repeated the line, also used by Albanese this week, that the prime minister has had three ‘very constructive calls with the president’.
‘But no meeting,’ Barr said.
‘A meeting was scheduled, (and) wasn’t able to happen because of the Middle East conflict,’ Wong replied.
Barr continued to call out Wong: ‘But there were months before that.’
Wong then unleashed on Barr.
‘Nat, I’m sure that a meeting will be arranged. We look forward to it. But I think the perspective, we need to remember, is what is happening in the world right now.’
After Wong snapped back, Barr stopped questioning her about Trump meeting Albanese.
Before the Trump meeting was cancelled, Albanese told media on Sunday that he was looking forward to ‘building on the very constructive phone conversations that we’ve had on the three occasions that we’ve had the opportunity to talk’.
The cancelled meeting was a crucial blow for Albanese as he tries to shore up the AUKUS submarine deal, now under review by the US, and to negotiate an easing of tariffs on n goods.
There was pressure on the prime minister to negotiate an exemption from the tariffs: a 50 per cent levy on Aussie aluminium and steel products sent to the US, and a baseline 10 per cent levy on other goods.
On Sunrise, Barr also asked Wong for her reaction to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei declaring ‘the battle begins’ after launching missile strikes on Israel.
‘The world does certainly face a dangerous moment,’ Wong said.
‘But our message to Iran, along with so many countries of the world, is it’s time to stop any nuclear program and it’s time to come to the table.
‘We see what is occurring on the ground. We see the risk to civilians in the region. It’s time for de-escalation, dialogue and diplomacy and Iran must return to the table and it must stop any production of nuclear weapons.’
Wong also played down a question from Barr about what the government’s response would be if the US asked for ‘s help in the conflict.
‘We’re not a central player in the Middle East,’ she said.
‘Obviously we’re a long way from this conflict but it does affect, as you know, regional stability and global stability. It also affects ns.’
Albanese might get another chance to meet Trump in person within days.
The White House confirmed this month that Trump will attend the NATO Summit in the Netherlands next week, though his presence may now be in doubt because of the rapidly changing situation in the Middle East.
Asked on Wednesday if he would also attend, Albanese said: ‘I’m considering (it).’