Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has blamed the Greens for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying the party’s refusal to back Labor’s carbon pollution reduction scheme in 2009 had led to the current crisis.
Speaking at a media conference today, the PM said the situation in Ukraine could have been avoided if not for the Greens’ stubbornness more than a decade ago. “It’s really quite straightforward. If the Greens had backed Labor’s carbon emissions plans in 2009, then we wouldn’t have knifed Kevin Rudd, Tony wouldn’t have rolled Malcolm, Rupert Murdoch would have gone away and Labor would have been in power continuously for more than a decade.
“That, in turn, would have meant that Trump would not have been elected in the US, the guy in China who got infected with COVID would have done something else that day, the pandemic would have been averted, and Putin wouldn’t have invaded Ukraine. Yet the Greens chose not to budge and here we are”.
Albanese said Putin’s aggression towards Russia’s neighbour, which has been building over many years, was not the main issue. “The Greens voting against the CPRS was the catalyst. They need to learn from this”.
By Klaus Weber
