Anthony Albanese hits back in UN speech after Donald Trump’s ‘green energy scam’ comments

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has championed green energy, berating those who claim a “false choice” between environmentalism and the economy, in his debut speech at the UN General Assembly.

Mr Albanese also backed the value of the United Nations just a day after Donald Trump’s verbal torching of the organisation and climate change.

On Tuesday, Mr Trump spent one hour questioning the value of the UN and railing against the “green energy scam”.

Mr Albanese rushed to its defence, although he said it needed reform, without advocating any specific changes.

He also hit out at “dead end” thinking that valued breaching international rules over dialogue and diplomacy.

“In times of global uncertainty, there are no easy days but there are clear choices,” he said.

“If the United Nations steps back, we all lose ground.

“If we give people reason to doubt the value of co-operation, then the risk of conflict becoming the default option grows.

“If we allow any nation to imagine itself outside the rules, or above them, then the sovereignty of every nation is eroded.

“If we resign ourselves to the idea that war is inevitable, or relegate ourselves to the status of disinterested bystanders.

“We risk a world where dialogue and diplomacy are viewed as a dead end, rather than the vital road to understanding.”

Separately, he told a US audience that Australia was not subservient to the United States, after describing his selfie encounter with US President Donald Trump as “warm and engaging” ahead of their October 20 bilateral in the White House.

Mr Albanese addressed the UN General Assembly (UNGA) just after 8 pm.

After debuting at the UN to recognise Palestine on Monday, Mr Albanese on Wednesday used his first-ever speech to the General Assembly to inform the UN about his government’s decision to expel the Iranian ambassador over alleged Iranian-ordered attacks on Jewish sites in Australia.

“And here at the United Nations we repeat to the world, there is no place for antisemitism,” he said.

He set forward a defence of climate change mitigation, saying Australia had last week committed to cutting emissions by 62 to 70 per cent by 2035.

“We are honouring our commitment to the Paris Agreement and its goal of keeping global temperatures below dangerous levels,” he said.

“Our target is ambitious – importantly it is achievable.

“And more than anything else, Australia’s embrace of clean energy will get us there.

Clean energy can carry the world beyond the false choice between economic growth and environmental responsibility.”

His remarks and ambitions for Australia to become a renewable energy superpower put him at odds with the Trump Administration.

Mr Trump excoriated the “green energy scam” in his UN address and has withdrawn the United States from the Paris Climate Accords.

Mr Albanese put forward a defence of the UN saying it was “more than an arena for the great powers to veto each other’s ambitions.”

“This is a platform for middle powers and small nations to voice and achieve — our aspirations,” he said.

He suggested greater autonomy in the Indo-Pacific.

“But we cannot ask – and should not expect - any one nation to uphold the rules or guarantee the security on which all of us depend,” he said.

“We all have a role to play in making sure that the system which has enabled the rise of new powers, safeguards the rights and aspirations of every nation big and small.

“For Australia, this means investing in our capabilities and investing in our relationships.

“Investing in development, in defence and in diplomacy.”

But speaking hours earlier, he told a US audience at a climate summit that Australia is not subservient to the United States.

Mr Albanese requested a selfie with the US President during their casual meet at a reception Mr Trump held for more than 100 world leaders at the Lotte Hotel in New York on Tuesday night local time. The Labor leader posted the image to Instagram, saying that it was “good to chat” to Mr Trump.

He told the media on Wednesday morning, “We had a very warm and engaging chat. I tend not to broadcast private discussions, but it was very warm, and we look forward to a further discussion in a few weeks’ time.”

But at a New York Times climate summit hours later, he said: “It’s not a subservient relationship, it’s a partnership that’s in the interests of both the United States and Australia as well as the UK.”

Mr Albanese has previously sought to distance Australia from the United States by saying the relationship is not one of subservience, but this was the first time he has said so on US soil.

It came at a delicate time with Mr Albanese heading to the White House next month for his first bilateral meeting with Australia’s security ally, at a time when the gap between Labor’s agenda and the Trump Administration’s on key issues such as climate change has only widened.

Mr Albanese met Mr Trump just hours after the White House confirmed an October 20 bilateral visit for Australia, the first one-on-one to take place after months of Australia trying to negotiate access.

Mr Albanese joked that he wished the AUKUS submarine project, which the Trump Administration is reviewing, cost $3 billion.

He said he was “relaxed” about any new conditions that Mr Trump may impose on the deal struck for Australia to buy nuclear-powered submarines from the United States known as AUKUS.

“The review that’s taking place here, we’re relaxed about because we think it all stacks up,” he said.

“It’s in the interests of all three nations, Australia, the UK and the US, for this to progress.”

When the interviewer said the AUKUS submarines were worth $3 billion, Mr Albanese said he wished the price was that amount.

“Well, it’s a bit more than that, I wish it was $3 billion,” he said.

“It’s $3 billion in payments for the industrial capacity here in the US that we’re contributing.

“It’s many more times that amount.”

He also sought to get on the front foot amid frequent demands from the Pentagon that Australia raise its defence spending to the NATO standard of 3.5 per cent of GDP.

“We’ve put in an additional $70 billion into our defence budget since we were elected, over the next decade,” he said.

He swerved multiple invitations to criticise the US President’s rejection of climate change mitigation measures.

But he restated his warning, first made to The Nightly during the May election campaign, that the Trump Administration risked eroding its influence in the Pacific.

But he pointed to state government climate action, and singled out Mr Trump’s most vocal Democratic critic Gavin Newsom, the Governor of California as continuing to take action.

Mr Newsom met Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen and Australia’s Ambassador to the United States Kevin Rudd on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

Mr Newsom posted a picture on social media of himself and Mr Rudd hugging.

“For the Pacific, I think action on climate change is the entry fee to credibility and to engagement,” he said.

Asked if he saw China taking advantage of the United States’ retreat on climate change, Mr Albanese said: “Of course.”

“China, of course, will use any position that they came to increase their relative influence.

He also offered rare criticism of China, while praising their decarbonisation goals, saying he would like to see Beijing’s climate goals go further.

“No, we’d like to see them do more; we’d like to see new coal-fired power plants not opened, but it is a step forward,” he said.

But Mr Albanese praised China’s dominance of the electric car market as a “revolution.”