The $100 Million Selfie

I've tried really hard to refrain from criticising the Albanese government. They've only been in the role for a few weeks and a lot of the problems they are encountering aren't directly of their making.

Sure, they made things worse by pushing the former government to the Left but that's their job. The real failing is with the Morrison team failing to stand their ground.

However there are areas that Albanese and his team need to be held to account because those decisions are entirely of their making.

One was the $100 million selfie opportunity he took this week.

Our PM travelled to one of the most corrupt countries on earth to get a selfie with a leader with a terrible track record of defending human rights among some of his community.

The Ukraininan President has previously excused the Nazi's of the Azov battalian as they waged an eight year civil war against Ukrainians of Russian descent. That resulted in countless atrocities and thousands of civilian deaths which all passed with barely a murmur from the Western press.

Now the narrative has changed because the Ukraine is in a full on proxy war between the West and Russia.

That explains why so many countries are rushing to send money and their leaders chasing pic ops with the actor President.

It's not unusual for leaders to go to war zones where their countries are actually at war. It's morale boosting for the troops and also provides the all important political photo-op.

There's a story about Kevin Rudd actually flying out to Iraq, spending an hour on the ground, getting the pics and flying off again. I can't confirm if that's true but it certainly fits with what I know of Rudd's leadership.

However, why does a politician whose nation is not at war feel the need to rush for the selfie-experience?

It's smacks of virtue-signalling self importance.

Albanese is not alone of course. There's been a veritable line of US politicians rushing to the Ukraine to express their solidarity against Russia.

It's more senseless propaganda as they conveniently overlook the glaring faults of the Ukrainian government.

Recently they (the Ukrainian government) even commissioned a stamp to commemorate the life of Roman Szuchewycz who oversaw the Wolyn genocide during which 100,000 Poles were killed..

The other aspect of Albanese's selfie opportunity is the fact we have a flood disaster going on at home.

When his predecessor was overseas during the Sydney bushfires, he was pilloried. So far, Albanese has escaped the same fate.

That actually says a lot about the preferences of the national political press.

That said, although the scrutiny and accountability of the current government is unlikely to ever match a coalition one, for the good of the country, the Albanese honeymoon of excuses needs to end soon.

Maybe he can start by spending more time in our country rather than everyone else's