Opposition Welcomes Gaza Peace Plan, Accuses Albanese of Being Sidelined from U.S. Negotiations
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Opposition Leader Sussan Ley and Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Michaelia Cash welcomed the U.S.-led Gaza peace plan Tuesday while accusing Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of being excluded from negotiations and engaging in “theatre” with his recent recognition of Palestinian statehood.
The Coalition leaders, speaking in Western Australia, said the peace framework represented progress toward ending the conflict but claimed Australia’s relationship with the United States had deteriorated under Albanese’s leadership, leaving the country uninformed about diplomatic developments.
“The US was always going to be the country that negotiated a peace settlement plan,” Cash said. “This is now a step forward to stopping the killing, releasing the hostages and returning them home, but also to dismantling Hamas.”
Cash said the announcement by President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu highlighted what she called Albanese’s failure to maintain close ties with Washington.
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“The announcement by the US President and the Israeli Prime Minister really highlights why Anthony Albanese’s recent grandstanding in New York in terms of recognising a Palestinian state was quite frankly just theatre and nothing more,” Cash said. “If we’d had a very close working relationship with the United States we could have been brought on in relation to this peace deal. Instead, Mr Albanese is just left standing there, not quite knowing what is going on.”
The shadow foreign affairs minister called on Hamas to accept the agreement’s terms.
“The ball is now really in Hamas’s court,” Cash said. “They can choose to lay down their arms and surrender and bring this war to an end so we can finally take concrete steps towards a peace process.”
Ley echoed the Coalition’s support for the peace framework while criticizing the government’s diplomatic approach.
“We do welcome the announcement today, and of course, we always knew that any peace process brokered in this part of the world would be brokered by the United States,” Ley said. “I don’t believe Prime Minister Albanese had any insight into this whatsoever, but we certainly agree that we want a peace deal that sees the hostages released, humanitarian aid delivered, the war ended, and an enduring peace settlement put in place for the future.”
The comments came hours after Albanese released a statement from Abu Dhabi endorsing the peace plan and calling on Hamas to surrender its weapons. The prime minister said he had discussed the ceasefire framework with various leaders over the past week and emphasized Australia’s commitment to supporting efforts toward a two-state solution.
Ley also addressed the closure of Alcoa’s Kwinana alumina refinery, which will eliminate 220 jobs in Western Australia. The opposition leader said the announcement contradicted the government’s manufacturing rhetoric.
“Today, my thoughts are with 220 workers at Alcoa’s Kwinana facility in Kwinana who have been told they no longer have jobs and whenever we hear this we must always think first and foremost about the families because this is devastating news,” Ley said.
She criticized Albanese’s messaging on Australian manufacturing.
“How can he say that we are making things in Australia when we are seeing facilities like this with job numbers like this close,” Ley said. “It only adds to the fragility of our alumina and aluminium manufacturing in this country when we have announcements like this from the great resources state of Western Australia.”
Ley said the closure occurred in Resources Minister Madeleine King’s own electorate and reflected broader failures in energy, industry and manufacturing policies.
“We know that we need energy policies, industry policies and manufacturing policies that back in the great manufacturing ability of Australia and the great resources contribution that Western Australia makes,” she said. “So every time you hear Anthony Albanese spruik made in Australia, just think of the number of job losses in genuine manufacturing industries that are going on his watch.”
The opposition leader launched a sharp attack on Communications Minister Annika Wells over recent Optus triple-0 emergency system failures, calling for an independent inquiry into the entire emergency call network.
“Australians would rightly be disappointed, actually furious, with the Communications Minister today, because while she stood up earlier and addressed the issue of the failure of the Triple O emergency network, she didn’t do it in a way that gives anyone any confidence at all,” Ley said.
She criticized Wells for describing herself as new to the portfolio and characterizing the failures as a compliance issue.
“She only has her training wheels on?” Ley said. “And she explained what has happened as some sort of compliance issue with Optus. To treat a critical emergency services breakdown as some sort of paperwork glitch tells you all you need to know about this failing communications minister.”
Ley said Wells failed in her previous aged care portfolio and then traveled to New York while families worried about accessing emergency services.
“She failed in aged care, with elderly Australians left waiting, wondering and missing out on critical aged care packages on her watch,” Ley said. “Then when families didn’t even know if they could get emergency services connected she was jetting off to New York so she’s failed again.”
The opposition leader called for comprehensive action on the emergency call system.
“We are calling for an independent inquiry and we want action from this government on the whole triple O ecosystem to give Australians confidence,” Ley said. “This is 2025, Minister, not 1925. Step up and do your job.”
Ley also addressed the Reserve Bank’s decision to hold interest rates at 3.60%, blaming government spending for continued financial pressure on homeowners.
“Today, Australians would be disappointed that there is no interest rate relief,” Ley said. “Mortgageholders are paying an additional $1,800 a month since Labor came to government.”
She said Australians are “working harder, they’re paying more, and they’re getting less” due to what she called excessive government spending.
“This government is simply addicted to spending, with government spending growing at four times the rate of the economy,” Ley said. “These are massive failures by a government that cannot get its spending under control.”
The opposition leader said interest rates have risen 12 times and fallen only three times under the current government, continuing to hurt Australian families.
When asked about border protection policies following reports that taxpayers paid $400,000 for vessels handed over to people smugglers off Western Australia, Ley said the government needed to improve border control.
“We’ve had a surge in people smugglers coming to the WA coast and making their way to Australia,” Ley said. “Many have been intercepted, and I always commend the strong work of Border Force, but we’ve had at least 35 boats come. Now, that’s an unacceptably high number.”
She praised Border Force personnel while criticizing government policies.
“I just want to signal to them how much we value what they do, often behind the scenes, that they need to be backed in by a government that has the policies in place that discourage these boat arrivals in the first place,” Ley said.
Regarding reports that AUKUS would proceed with Pentagon support, Ley questioned why the government relies on media reports rather than direct communication with Washington.
“It’s a positive story, but how have we come to this where we are relying on second-hand reports, sometimes in the news, about what’s happening in this critical relationship with the US?” Ley said. “What we should have is conviction and confirmation by our Prime Minister because of a personal relationship that he should have with the US President that he clearly doesn’t have.”
Ley also addressed Environment Minister Murray Watt’s approval of the North West Shelf extension project, saying the government had been “dragged kicking and screaming” to make necessary approvals after excessive delays.
“The North West Shelf Project was in front of me as Environment Minister four years ago and I really despair for the hard-working project, the industry that’s behind it and the jobs and contribution it’s making to Western Australia if in fact it doesn’t get moving soon,” she said.
Ley said Coalition support for resource sector workers remains unwavering.
“Those who work in projects in the North West Shelf and indeed across the state can always know that the Coalition backs in the work they do, understands the value of it and is here to support them every day,” she said.
When questioned about ongoing leadership speculation involving Andrew Hastie, who was on leave Tuesday, Ley deflected.
“The only leadership I’m worried about today is the Prime Minister’s leadership,” she said, noting Albanese’s attendance at a UK Labor conference while the Optus crisis unfolded. “While families weren’t confident they could get emergency services, triple O, when they vitally needed it, and we had the failures of the Prime Minister’s own communications minister,” Albanese “diverted substantially to a UK Labor conference to actually actively campaign for a political party, making a partisan campaign pitch in another country.”
Ley said she would see all shadow ministry colleagues, including Hastie, when Parliament resumes next week.
The opposition leader said she would visit the North West Shelf, Karratha port and meet with small businesses during her Western Australia trip to demonstrate Coalition support for the state’s manufacturing and industry sectors.
“Western Australians work bloody hard. They travel long distances, flying in, flying out, driving in, driving out, and they produce the wealth of this state and indeed the wealth of the nation,” Ley said.
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