PM poised to decline Donald Trump’s offer to join Board of Peace
Anthony Albanese is set to reject Donald Trump’s invitation to join the Peace Committee.
The US President invited dozens of countries to join the initiative.
It was initially designed to resolve the war in Gaza, but Mr. Trump has since signaled it would look at other conflicts as well.
He will chair the board and have the final say on membership, and permanent spots will be made available to states that pay fees of $1 billion.
Although the Prime Minister has remained tight-lipped about the decision, reports indicate that he will decline the Albanian government’s invitation to join the board.
On Sunday, Sky News reported that the government’s attempt to remain diplomatic towards Mr Trump was a front and an attempt to “be nice” about joining the board.
Mr Albanese confirmed he received correspondence from Mr Trump in January but repeatedly refused to say whether he would attend.
He told the ABC: “We have received correspondence from the President… this is something we have not had time to think about.”
He said he had not yet “looked at it in detail” at Mr. Trump’s invitation.
“I’m focused on what we will do in parliament today and tomorrow,” Albanese said, referring to the comprehensive reforms prepared and adopted after the Bondi terrorist attack.
“I’ll take a look at this when I’m in the office this morning… but I’m not going to respond to something I haven’t had a chance to think about enough.”
When the invitation arrived, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles welcomed the invitation somewhat more openly but also declined to comment further.
“We welcome the invitation as we are committed to the Trump administration’s full efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East,” he said.
“For humanitarian aid to flow and for this part of the world to rebuild, we need to see an end to the conflict there.
“In terms of specific demand, we will discuss this with America to understand what that means and what it involves.”
The Peace Board aims to have oversight of a “technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee” that will temporarily govern Gaza.
While it has not been confirmed how many countries have been invited to become members, Türkiye, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Qatar have agreed to participate.
Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Sweden and Slovenia rejected the offer.
