Comment

Paul Bongiorno
Seeking consensus at home and abroad

Treasurer Jim Chalmers summed up pretty well where Australia finds itself in a week of significant round tables in Canberra and Washington and a deepening humanitarian crisis in the Middle East.

At the opening session of the Economic Reform Roundtable, held in the cabinet room at Parliament House, Chalmers said: “Global uncertainty surrounds us, big economic challenges confront us and our ambitions must meet this moment.”

The treasurer said the Albanese government was seeking “to build consensus”. He was referring to the need to bring all sectors of the economy together on reforms to kickstart growth and recognise that self-interested fragmentation is a recipe for failure.

This appreciation of the role consensus can play in confronting challenges is not confined to the way the prime minister approaches domestic crises. It is also a guiding principle for the way in which Australia can effectively play its part on the world stage.

Australia sees greater strength in joining like-minded nations working for peace in the Middle East and Ukraine, especially in light of an unpredictable and isolationist United States seemingly willing to vacate its post-World War II leadership of “the free world”.

On Tuesday night, after US President Donald Trump had convened a round table of European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss ending the war in Ukraine, Albanese joined a virtual meeting of the “coalition of the willing” – 30 nations committed to assisting Zelensky in defeating the Russian invaders.

Albanese sees solidarity with Ukraine as a vital defence of the international rule of law that sanctions invasions and promotes world stability. Australia has already contributed more than $1.5 billion in military and other aid to the war effort, making it one of the largest non-NATO donors.

Australia welcomes the role of the United Kingdom’s Keir Starmer and France’s Emmanuel Macron in ensuring the unwavering support for Ukraine in the face of conflicting messages coming out of Trump’s Washington that appear to favour Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

Midweek, Trump confirmed US troops would not be involved in providing any security guarantee for Ukraine if peace is restored. Albanese has not resiled from his position, stated before the election, that Australia would “consider any proposal” to send troops in a non-combat role if there is a peace and a global peacekeeping response.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has signalled the Coalition no longer rules out such a commitment, which is a departure from the stand her predecessor, Peter Dutton, took as leader.

Whatever agreement is converging on Ukraine, however, it is diverging dramatically on Australia’s response to the tragic situation in Gaza.

Ley studiously avoids any criticism of the Netanyahu government’s military strategy and this week blamed Albanese after he was criticised on social media by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In a post on X, Netanyahu said: “History will remember Albanese for what he is: A weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australian Jews.”

In response Albanese said he doesn’t “take these things personally” but engages diplomatically with people joining the increasing global concern over the cycle of violence in Gaza.

The head of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Alex Ryvchin, said the council had had their differences with the Albanese government but had never felt abandoned “and could always speak to the government”.

Ryvchin appealed for calm and said the “public exchange of insults” is no way for governments to resolve issues. He said when allies speak, they should “speak frankly, robustly but also in a dignified way”.

The unprecedented personal attack on Albanese came after Australia signalled its intention to recognise Palestinian statehood and after Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke revoked the visa of far-right Israeli MP Simcha Rothman, who was booked for a solidarity speaking tour to some synagogues and Jewish communities.

Ley accused Albanese of mismanaging the relationship with a long-time friend and said it was “spilling over into the relationship with the US, our most important ally”.

Ley would do well to note the reaction of the opposition leader in Israel, Yair Lapid. The former prime minister posted his own message on X: “The thing that most strengthens a leader in today’s democratic world is a confrontation with Netanyahu, the most politically toxic leader in the Western world.” He said it was unclear “why Bibi is rushing to give the Australian prime minister this gift”.

Senior ministers are privately stunned by Ley’s siding with the Netanyahu government – whose warfare has been cited by the International Criminal Court – over that of Australia, especially as Albanese’s response is in line with major European nations, Canada, New Zealand and a majority of countries at the United Nations.

Another government insider says mass demonstrations against Netanyahu in Israel last weekend are putting him under further enormous pressure.

Tony Burke excoriated the Israeli prime minister on ABC Radio: “Strength is not measured by how many people you can blow up or how many children you can leave hungry … strength is much better measured by exactly what ... Anthony Albanese has done.”

Netanyahu followed up with a letter to Albanese, which according to a government source is a pro forma missive he has also sent to Macron and other world leaders who are urging Israel to change course.

The letter accused the prime minister of “appeasement” and pouring “fuel on this antisemitic fire”.

Burke said the Israeli prime minister was “lashing out” at other countries. He said he cancelled the Simcha Rothman visa and that of a former member of the Knesset over statements calling Palestinian children “the enemy” and “little snakes”.

Burke echoed Albanese in saying Australians wanted the “killing of innocent people” stopped and for the hostages to be released. “They do not want the conflict and the hatreds brought here,” he said.

The home affairs minister said he would block the visa of anyone who had bigoted views against Israeli children to stop them coming on a speaking tour. He said he was not going to lower the bar of protection for the Palestinian or Muslim community.

From Vietnam, Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong issued a statement saying: “At a time when dialogue and diplomacy are needed more than ever, the Netanyahu government is isolating Israel and undermining international efforts towards peace and a two-state solution.”

She said Israel’s cancellation of visas for three Australian diplomats working with the Palestinian Authority is unjustified.

The diplomats play a key role in overseeing Australian aid distribution, providing consular assistance to Palestinian Australians or their relatives, and are an important contact point to promote the reform of the Palestinian Authority that Albanese sees as critical to a peace process.

Australia will now relocate its personnel in the region to salvage much of this work, although midweek Netanyahu ruled out any role for the Palestinian Authority in Gaza, which could be a major obstacle to renewed efforts for a permanent ceasefire.

Two opinion polls this week – Resolve and Newspoll – suggest the opposition is a long way from finding its line and length on policy responses. Newspoll’s results also show Labor has increased its primary support since the election and, after preferences, has an unassailable 12-point lead.

This political ascendancy goes a long way to explaining the success of the Economic Reform Roundtable. Business and other participants not normally aligned with the Labor side of politics were enthusiastic and constructive across the three days.

A major investor at one of the 40 forums Treasurer Chalmers held ahead of the round table found the process a positive experience and cause for some optimism.

The Business Council of Australia’s chief executive, Bran Black, was encouraged by the hearing all sides got. This was especially true when he and others pushed back against union calls for a levy to fund the training of employees, even though all accepted how vital a skilled workforce is.

Chair of the Productivity Commission Danielle Wood said she was thrilled by the new appetite for economic reform that the round table has created over the past two months.

Regulatory reforms have already been adopted and will be progressed. Wood described them as a “regulatory hair ball” that had found its way into almost every corner of the economy.

Wood said the importance of the whole exercise – the growth mindset behind the treasurer’s drive to boost flagging productivity – has “been missing from Australian policy for far too long”. She said government workers should adopt the practice of the US Department of Commerce in the era of John F. Kennedy, which put up signs asking, “What have you done for growth today?”

Ahead of the meeting, shadow treasurer Ted O’Brien kept coming up with ways to lampoon it, calling Chalmers “Willy Wonka” and suggesting that Albanese’s dog, Toto, videoed on the couch between the treasurer and PM at the Lodge, was responsible for bringing the two men together for “probably the biggest breakthrough of the government”.

O’Brien was happy to have his say in the discussions, but one of his colleagues is hoping he won’t keep playing the court jester.

Maybe, like the rest of us, he could do with one of Danielle Wood’s signs.

This article was first published in the print edition of The Saturday Paper on August 22, 2025 as "Seeking consensus at home and abroad".

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