Anthony Albanese snubs NATO summit in the Netherlands as Richard Marles' attendance is confirmed

Sky News AU

6 hours ago

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has snubbed the upcoming NATO summit, as it has been confirmed that Deputy PM Richard Marles will go instead.
Mr Albanese has been heavily criticised in recent days after US President Donald Trump left the G7 Summit in Canada early due to the ongoing Middle East crisis.
The move is understood to have left the Albanese government blindsided after planned talks between the prime minister and the commander-in-chief at the conference were suddenly scrapped.
Following Mr Trump's early departure, Mr Albanese did not rule out that he was he considering attending NATO summit in the Netherlands next week, suggesting a potential rescheduled meeting with the US president.
The Australian reports that a senior government source has now said Mr Marles will be attending the conference and not Mr Albanese.
The masthead reported there was a risk Mr Trump may not attend the event in the Netherlands either, considering the current geological climate.
The now-cancelled talks at the G7 summit involved months of work for Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd in securing the meeting.
In the wake of Trump's departure, Mr Albanese instead held two brief meetings on the sidelines of the conference in Canada with members of the Trump administration, including US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
Key issues including AUKUS and US tariffs on Australian exports were expected to be covered in the now-cancelled opportunity for a bilateral meeting between Australia and the US.
Sky News Host Andrew Bolt blasted Mr Albanese's public snubbing at the G7 summit and claimed the lack of discussions could be a "disaster" for Australia.
"Humiliation for a Prime Minister, who has no personal connection with US President Donald Trump, who has rejected Trump's demands for more defence spending and, big surprise, now gets treated like dirt," Bolt said on Tuesday night.
Shadow assistant competition minister and Australia's former ambassador to Israel Dave Sharma labelled the lack of talks at the G7 an 'abject failure of Australian diplomacy'.
'Unlike every other world leader or nearly every other world leader who's made their way to Washington over the past six months... Anthony Albanese has not gone,' Mr Sharma told Sky News host Chris Kenny on Tuesday.