Peta Credlin says Prime Minister Anthony Albanese becoming ‘more diminished by the day' as govt defends response to US strikes on Iran
Sky News host Peta Credlin has taken aim at Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for going into defence mode after it took more than a day for the government to back a United States move to hit Iranian nuclear targets.
The government initially responded to the US strike via a spokesperson-issued statement which did not overtly support the move, before Mr Albanese later backed the action directly.
Credlin blasted the Prime Minister following his interview with Sky News on Tuesday, where Mr Albanese denied his stance taken was 'flat-footed' and claimed he ran a 'considered, orderly government'.
'(Mr Albanese's) becoming more and more diminished as the days go on and world events swirl around him, and he's left looking like he's trying to lasso a column of smoke,' Credlin said.
Mr Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong have both claimed Australia is not 'central player' in the Middle East crisis, leading Credlin to question stances taken by the government toward world events.
'Not central (Mr Albanese) says, despite the fact that our largest military ally is, and many Australians ,too, are currently stuck in the region,' Credlin said.
'It is bizarre isn't it that when it relates to Israel, this isn't our sphere of influence, that the Middle East isn't anywhere or somewhere that Australia gets involved in.
'Yet, if that's the case, explain to me why the government took 3,000 people out of Gaza when no other Muslim neighbour in the region took anyone and we are still funding UNRWA?'
The Australian's Foreign Editor Greg Sheridan Greg Sheridan has also criticised the Albanese government for its stance towards the Israel and Iran conflict, labelling its latest position 'bizarre' and 'implausible'.
'If (the Albanese government) backs the US action, why did it not back identical Israeli actions against identical targets?' Mr Sheridan asked when he spoke to Sky News on Tuesday.
'If it backs the US action it has to say 'the US action is legal'. Otherwise, logically, the government is backing an illegal action and therefore the government no longer thinks international law has any consequence.'
Meanwhile, Centre for Independent Studies executive director Tom Switzer said he does not think Canberra's stance on the US strikes will negatively impact Australia's image.
'Many Americans from left to right, Democrats and Republicans, are highly anxious that this could drag the United States once again into a forever war,' Mr Switzer told Credlin on Tuesday.
'So I don't think that Canberra's stance really damages Australian credibility or isolates us in the world, especially if, and it is still an if, if there is a ceasefire,' Mr Switzer told Credlin on Tuesday.
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