Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

As I indicated to parliament last week, I was informed by the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government after I had a discussion with the Virgin CEO, which was on 13 July.

The idea that when I'm at a NATO summit the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government thinks she'll ring me up or contact me to tell me that nothing is happening is just bizarre. I can also confirm the Minister for the Environment and Water didn't ring me up to tell me that nothing was happening, the Treasurer didn't ring me up to tell me that nothing was happening, the Minister for Education didn't ring me up to tell me that nothing was happening and the Minister for Climate Change and Energy didn't ring me up to tell me that he was still sticking to net zero by 2050.

This shows how bereft they are of any real issues. This is a status quo-nothing decision being made—a nothing decision, to keep exactly the same thing that was put in place just one year ago. The idea that this was front and centre while I was at a NATO summit discussing a land war in Europe with all of the global inflationary consequences that were going on is quite frankly absurd.

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