Peter Dutton holidaying in US as colleagues blast Albo for Ukraine visit

As his colleagues blast the PM for heading overseas during the NSW floods, news.com.au can reveal their own leader is doing some globetrotting of his own.

Liberal leader Peter Dutton is holidaying overseas in the United States as his colleagues come under fire for attacking Prime Minister Anthony Albanese over visiting a war zone.

In an embarrassing development for the Liberals’ claim that the “globetrotting” Prime Minister is spending too much time overseas for work, news.com.au can reveal Mr Dutton has packed his bags and passport and left the country.

The Opposition Leader confirmed this morning via text that he was “in the United States”. He confirmed he was not in Hawaii, the ill-fated location of former prime minister Scott Morrison’s bushfire holiday.

“While I’m over here I’m going to catch up with a few people in Washington and go to the US leadership dialogue,’’ Mr Dutton told news.com.au.

The Liberal leader is travelling with his wife Kirilly but has left his teenage children at home.

It follows days of criticism led by Liberal frontbenchers Angus Taylor and Dan Tehan and Nationals leader David Littleproud that Mr Albanese was spending too much time overseas.

A spokeswoman for Mr Dutton confirmed that he is taking leave from July 3 to 19.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has gone on an overseas holiday with wife Kirilly. Lyndon Mechielsen/The Australian

He will also undertake work while overseas attending talks in Washington DC.

“While on leave, Mr Dutton will visit the US and attend the Australian American Leadership Dialogue (AALD),’’ she said.

Fed up with questions about his own international travel, the Prime Minister offered a subtle dig this morning about the Liberal leader’s whereabouts.

“I’ve got a job to do. And my job is to represent Australia. Let Peter Dutton, when he returns from leave, say if he thinks it inappropriate for me to go to the Pacific Island Forum,’’ Mr Albanese said.

“I found it quite astonishing that senior members of the Opposition would equate going to a war zone in Ukraine with going on a holiday to Hawaii. I just think that says more about them than it does about myself and my putting Australia’s national interest first.”

Mr Albanese said his visit to Ukraine was “very confronting”.

Anthony Albanese has been slammed for his recent trips overseas, including one to Ukraine. Picture: Ukrainian Presidency via abacapress.com

Members of the opposition have likened the PM’s trip during the NSW flood crisis to Scott Morrison’s holiday in Hawaii during the bushfires.

“The security conditions had been raised just that week,’’ he said.

“We visited, for example, a residential apartment block that had been blown up, two blocks from where we were. The town of Irpin was just six kilometres from Kyiv, it had whole buildings blown up, there were tanks on the streets there, just weeks ago. And the courage of the Ukrainian people in resisting a much larger army from a country, Russia that has a much larger defence force, is quite extraordinary.”

Mr Albanese has also issued a new Code of Conduct overnight that upholds the “bonk ban” for ministers and imposes new restrictions on blind trusts.

“Well, what we need is transparency. And the blind trust, so-called, aren’t really blind,’’ he said.

“We had the extraordinary circumstances of the former attorney-general having a so-called blind trust to raise money for his legal case. That really exposed the weakness in the system, because how did people know where to donate to this so-called blind trust. I mean, it just failed the credibility test. And I want politics to be cleaned up.

“That’s why my Government will establish an anti-corruption commission. And that’s why we will have strict adherence to the code of conduct.”