Anthony Albanese blasted by opposition over response to NSW flood crisis

Anthony Albanese has been accused of being more concerned about his “reputation on the global stage” than the current NSW flood crisis.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been blasted by a Liberal MP over his response to the NSW flood crisis.

More than 30,000 people have been ordered to evacuate their homes as torrential rain continues to cause flooding in Sydney and surrounding areas.

There are fears flood levels will continue to increase today, with NSW SES Commissioner Carlene York previously warning that levels were expected to rise above those seen in the last 18 months.

“It’s important not to expect that if you survived, and your house survived the last occasion, then it will this time,” Ms York said on Sunday.

Mr Albanese has been visiting war-torn Ukraine while this crisis unfolds. Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor accused the Prime Minister of being more worried about his “reputation on the global stage” than the thousands of Australians who are currently suffering due the floods.

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A man is rescued from his car by State Emergency Service workers in Windsor. Picture: Jenny Evans/Getty Images

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Picture: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/AFP

“Almost every day during his election campaign Albanese said he would step up and take responsibility as leader. It was flooding for 48 hours, Luke, and he has only just picked up the phone to Dominic Perrottet to ask if he needs a hand,” Mr Taylor told 2GB’s Luke Grant.

“There’s 30,000 people who have been told to evacuate their homes but the PM is more concerned about his reputation on the global stage than making sure people in NSW have a place to sleep.”

Mr Taylor, who had spent the day in Camden in his electorate of Hume helping flood victims, told the program that he was with former prime minister Scott Morrison when he visited his electorate in Picton during the bushfire crisis.

“You do have to be there. Albanese made a real scene about this and yet he couldn’t even pick up the phone and frankly, it’s not good enough,” he said.

Yesterday, Mr Albanese took to Twitter to say he had just come out of “radio silence”after crossing into Poland from Ukraine.

“My first actions were briefings by @murraywatt and @Dom_Perrottet on NSW flooding and ensuring federal government assistance is being provided,” he said.

The PM urged people to continually check NSW SES and the Bureau of Meteorology for the latest advice on the “constantly changing situation”.

Mr Albanese is expected to arrive back in Australia by Tuesday night, with his office confirming he will visit flooded areas of the Hawkesbury on Thursday with Mr Perrottet, The Daily Telegraph reports.

However, Mr Albanese’s explanation hasn’t gone over well with everyone, with Nationals Leader David Littleproud pointing out how eager the Labor Party was to slam Mr Morrison for being on holiday in Hawaii during the 2019 bushfires.

Buildings are inundated by floodwaters along the Hawkesbury River in the suburb of Windsor. Picture: Jenny Evans/Getty Images

“I appreciate that but there’s a difference between a media blackout and whether you can pick a phone up, and whether that puts you in harm’s way. I think we want to be fair and equitable on this, but you can’t have your cake and eat it too,” Mr Littleproud told Nine’s Today.

“They were pretty quick to throw a few grenades at Scott Morrison. Yes, he was on holidays but again, let’s get the facts out there. Let’s understand, but at the core of this has to be the victims.

“We can sit down, throw political barbs at one another but it is those men and women, kids whose homes have been inundated are the most important thing today and NSW is leading the charge on that.”

Treasurer Jim Chalmers was quick to defend the PM, saying Mr Albanese had been briefed on the situation and had been “working around the clock” to ensure federal assistance was provided to those areas in need.

He claimed the Labor government had been left with a “lot of work” to do among Australia’s international partners due to “run down” relationships.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and France's President Emmanuel Macron. Picture: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP

“We would prefer that is we inherited relationships which were in perfect nick in our region, in the Pacific, with the French and around the world. But unfortunately that’s not what we inherited,” he said.

“What we got instead were a series of relationships which are very important to Australians which had been run down over time. We would prefer that work wasn’t necessary.”

However, Mr Chalmers insisted that the work being done overseas hadn’t prevented the Labor government from “advancing our agenda here at home” and that the top priority was still Australians.

Emergency Management Minister Murray Watt declared a state of natural disaster for 23 NSW local government areas about 11pm overnight — meaning impacted residents may be eligible for payments.

“We have seen some of these impacted communities being hit by floods for a third and fourth time in 18 months, which is extremely distressing to the residents of these communities,” Senator Watt said.

The Hawkesbury suburbs of Richmond, Windsor, Sackville and Wisemans Ferry have been impacted hardest and will likely see extensive flooding in the coming 24 hours.