‘Shocked’: Albanese govt has ‘a lot’ to answer for as it fails to answer Ukraine’s plea for coal

Nationals Senator Matt Canavan says he was “shocked” to hear the Albanese government hasn’t answered Ukraine’s plea for Australian coal. Ukraine is requesting with the Albanese government for a consistent supply of coal as Russia continues its intense attacks on its electricity grid. According to the Australian Financial Review, four weeks later, it is understood the government is still deciding on the plea, which has been compared to the speedier response time from the Morrison government in March 2022 when they sent Ukraine 70,000 tonnes of thermal coal. “The government talks a big game when we support Ukraine,” Mr Canavan told Sky News host James Macpherson. “I was shocked to hear that it’s been a month to get a response from us and we’re the world’s largest coal exporter, or we vie with Indonesia for that mantle every other year. “When that request came through to a previous Liberal-National government, we acted – we organised some coal … from Whitehaven, an Australian coal producer, to help Ukraine.” “The Albanese government has a lot of questions to answer here: are they putting their own internal politics ahead of the global security of Eastern Europe and, indeed, the world.”