Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie has defended Prime Minister Anthony Albanese over criticism he has failed to secure a meeting with US President Donald Trump, saying the President's behaviour towards an ally has been "really rude".
Mr Albanese is one of only three G20 leaders yet to secure a meting with Mr Trump since he took office earlier this year. Former attorney general George Brandis told the Nine newspapers on Sunday the failure reflected the "much-diminished diplomatic capital of the Australian government".
However, Senator Lambie, a former corporal in the Australian Defence Force, argued lack of a meeting — originally scheduled on the sidelines of the June G20 summit before Mr Trump abruptly returned to Washington amid conflict in the Middle East — was not the Prime Minister's fault.
"I think it's really rude actually, of Trump in doing what he's doing," Senator Lambie told Nine's Today program on Monday.
"I know that the government of the day he is doing everything to secure a meeting with him, and it's actually the Trump. It's not on Albanese at all."
Opposition frontbencher Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has argued otherwise, telling supporters in an email last month that Mr Albanese was "flailing on the world stage" after "having failed to arrange a face-to-face meeting" with Mr Trump.
But Senator Lambie dismissed that criticism.
"I just, and quite frankly, you know, if he [President Trump] doesn't want to meet you, then why push the envelope?" she said.
"But seriously, I just think it's really, really rude, considering we've got this big AUKUS deal that they're doing us over on."
Mr Albanese said on Monday that "summit season" will provide multiple opportunities for an eventual sit-down with the US President.
"I look forward to discussions continuing face to face, as they have been constructive when I've had discussions with President Trump up to now," he said.
Defence Minister Richard Marles will travel to Washington this week for talks with US counterpart Pete Hegseth about the AUKUS nuclear agreement.
Separately, Senator Lambie also used media appearances on Monday to push for housing reform. Speaking to Sky News, she said negative gearing should be part of the government's agenda following the announcement of a new 5 per cent deposit scheme, which removes the cap on first-home buyers and single parents eligible for a government-backed mortgage guarantee.
"It will make an enormous difference, because we know that a 5 per cent deposit, rather than sitting around paying someone else's mortgage, makes an enormous difference," Mr Albanese told ABC RN.
But Senator Lambie said those blocking housing developments — the so-called NIMBYs (not in my back yard) — should "get stuffed," adding reform of negative gearing was overdue.
"Saying those people that are on it, you can grandfather what you have, but any new, any new people coming into this market, [the] maximum you can have is two negative geared properties," she said.
"I don't understand why he's [Mr Albanese's] not discussing this, apart from his lack of courage."
