Anthony Albanese deepens ties to South-East Asia rather than focusing on US to help
Anthony Albanese has long admired the success story of Singapore, the city-state that transformed from a poor island into one of the richest societies in the world in a single generation.
The driving force behind Singapore’s rise was Lee Kuan Yew. The country’s founding father was known as the “sage of Singapore” for his open-mindedness about world affairs, which both American and Chinese presidents sought.
Albanese expressed his delight at Singapore’s achievements since visiting Singapore in 2017 as part of a scholarship program named after Lee. Albanese, who is busy making Labor the natural party of government, may be a little jealous of the single-party dominance enjoyed by Lee’s successors in what analysts describe as a benevolent autocracy.
Lee was right about economic development. But as Albanese’s fuel diplomacy offensive in Asia proves, the Singaporean’s predictions about the battle for hegemony between the US and China are being tested.
In 2011, four years before his death, Lee said that because of his creativity and resilience, “America will remain the sole superpower for decades to come.” But he warned that America’s much-vaunted “pivot” to Asia would fail if the United States approached foreign relations like a movie, pausing on Asia when the focus was elsewhere and continuing the game at other times. “He can’t come and go,” Lee said.
The United States, currently Australia’s most important security and cultural partner, has rarely felt this distant. And with Donald Trump punishing his allies and failing to consult them on a major war in the Middle East, the pivot to Asia seems like a fading memory.
On Tuesday, Albanese had a phone call with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, while Australia lobbied its Asian neighbors to continue supplying oil to mask inadequate fuel reserves.
Albanese has not spoken to Trump about de-escalating tensions. Instead, he relied on public statements calling on the US to end the war, supporting the overall cause of Iran’s malign influence on Australian soil and anti-Semitic attacks.
“It was striking that the Albanians spoke to Premier Li Qiang,” said Richard McGregor, a senior fellow at the Lowy Institute and a China watcher. “I don’t remember a time when the United States was involved in a war and the Australian prime minister called Beijing and not Washington. That’s the world we live in.”
When Paul Keating said that Australia needed to find its own security, few could have predicted the extent to which the US itself would encourage such a move. inside instead of asia from BT. Deepening ties in the Indo-Pacific has been a feature of Albanese’s term. Labor has repeatedly and controversially refused to send ships to the Middle East.
After weeks of wrangling from political rivals who said he was slow to react to the oil shock, Albanese made a desperate dash for Asia this week to get more fuel should Trump’s war continue.
“Simply put, it’s about cashing in on the investment we’ve made in these relationships,” Albanese said when asked about using Australia’s position as a major gas exporter to secure oil.
In Singapore, which supplies Australia with more than half its oil, Albanese announced a non-binding agreement with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong that spoke of “maximum efforts” to maintain trade.
Australian officials interpreted this as confirmation that Australia would be given priority if the refining superpower needed to reduce exports in the coming months.
The opposition questioned whether the deal had any tangible impact and suggested it was more of a public relations move than anything else, as the prime minister sought to convey urgency and avoid the draconian decisions he made during his erratic response to the Bondi massacre.
Albanese met Singapore’s foreign minister in 2017 through the Lee scholarship and has met Wong several times. The government has focused on closer ties in Asia for years. On Friday, Albanese said it was valuable to be able to pick up the phone to attend an unscheduled meeting with Wong, who is in demand among world leaders because of Singapore’s fuel exports.
China expert McGregor said the Singapore deal made sense because the two countries shared a solid relationship, but said it was “not a silver bullet”.
“They don’t produce oil; they import and refine it, so they’re going to have to sweat the supply,” McGregor said, adding that more and more fuel will come from the United States. “China will be more of a reference point, even if they don’t go out of their way to fulfill contracts with Australian importers for everything from aviation fuel to fertiliser.”
Similarly, Albanese has sought to use Australia’s evolving relationship with China to his advantage. Reuters reported that China has banned refined fuel exports. But sources familiar with Albanese’s talks with China said it was clear the ban was not hard and fast in the typically opaque Chinese style, and Australia was still accepting at least some tankers.
Critics, including some national security strongmen within the Labor Party, believe Albanese is being soft on China, but the prime minister will argue his approach will deliver economic results and avoid China’s wrath.
Next week, Albanese is expected to travel to Malaysia and Brunei, which are also major oil exporters. Brunei is also a major supplier of fertilizer and its rising prices are already hurting Australian farmers.
Upgrading his program at such a pivotal moment domestically, with a major budget just weeks away, underlines Albanese’s fears of political damage from the inflation shock that has highlighted Labour’s response to supply chain problems during the pandemic.
Initially flat-footed, Albanese and Energy Minister Chris Bowen turned into men of action. Bowen also toned down his aggressive tone at press conferences, causing frustration among Labor MPs who wanted the government to remain calm.
People familiar with his thinking said Albanese was somewhat surprised that the fuel supply situation had not turned ugly. After releasing fuel stocks and announcing $2 billion to help companies buy expensive cargoes, the government has been able to steadily postpone the date on which Australia’s fuel stocks become questionable. The government’s latest forecast puts May at “a few weeks” away. Public debate over rationing has abated, at least for now.
Times of conflict tend to blunt the messages of opposition parties, who struggle to bring their criticism to the public agenda at a time when voters are worried about price and supply shocks and what the government is doing to solve the problems.
Another Labor source, who spoke anonymously to detail internal deliberations, said the battle had diverted attention from thorny debates about tax reform and recorded government spending ahead of next month’s budget, allowing ministers to prepare the financial document without being asked about leaks and speculation.
Budget watchers and the opposition will be waiting to see whether Albania will succumb to pressure to provide relief to households, as the government did last month when it announced it would halve the fuel tax. His cabinet felt that the impact of marginal inflation was outweighed by the need to use one of the few tools at its disposal to limit increases in oil prices and gain the trust of voters.
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor blasted Albanese for his nationally televised April Fools’ Day speech; This speech did not contain any new information and was claimed to be contradictory. Albanese’s particular view is that the message was a success that allowed the government to showcase its methodical approach to a wide audience at a time when digital media has made it much more difficult to reach many people at the same time.
Despite Taylor’s criticisms, Albanese is not alone in appreciating the changing trends.
“The United States is our greatest friend,” Nationals leader Matt Canavan said. Inside Politics podcast last week. “But we cannot rely on another country to solve the problem. [our] “Whether it’s the United States or anyone else, there are problems.”
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Paul Sakkal is the Chief Political Correspondent. He has previously covered Victorian politics and won the Walkley award as well as the 2025 Press Gallery Journalist of the Year award. Contact him securely on Signal @paulsakkal.14.Connect with: X or email.
