Anthony Albanese has been accused of double standards after warning US billionaire Elon Musk to stay out of Australian politics ahead of the federal election.
The slap from the world’s richest person came four months after Musk called the Labor government “fascists” for trying to force X and other social media sites into censorship.
Since then, the businessman donated $447 million to Donald Trump’s US presidential election campaign, attacked the Labor government in Britain and hosted German right-wing leader Alice Weidel in a live chat.
When asked if he was concerned about Musk’s influence on Australia’s upcoming federal election, Albanese said: “We have foreign interference laws in this country and Australian elections are an affair for Australians.”
He added that he “didn’t set out to be a commentator on what people want to do abroad.”
“People will make their own judgments and have their own opinions about it.”
Albanese’s comments brought accusations of hypocrisy as he was keen to use a former American NBA star to promote the ‘Yes’ vote on the Voice referendum.
“During the Voice era, he had Shaquille O’Neal actively promote the Yes campaign. Double standards?’ wrote one.
Anthony Albanese has been accused of double standards after warning US billionaire Elon Musk to stay out of Australian politics ahead of the federal election.
Another added: “Let’s not forget his deceitful behavior regarding ‘The Voice’ referendum! Time to resign!’
O’Neal had met Mr Albanese in August 2022 before the Voice was rejected by Australian voters, with 60 per cent voting no in the October 2023 referendum.
The American star’s visit provoked a lot of reactions as he was best known in Australia for promoting the gambling company PointsBet.
Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians Jacinta Nampijinpa Price questioned why a ‘black American’ was brought in to help ‘black Australians’.
“Aboriginal Australians have historically had more in common with Native Americans than African Americans,” she said in a Facebook post at the time.
‘What superficiality without any substance when we are confronted with such serious problems.’
Mr Albanese has not yet announced the date for the next election, but it is widely speculated that it will take place on April 12.
Last September, Musk called the Australian government “fascists” over proposed legislation to fine social media companies if they allowed posting what the government deemed “misinformation.”
That could result in the platforms having to pay up to five percent of their global revenues in fines.
Mr Musk (pictured) donated $447 million to Donald Trump’s US presidential election campaign
Mr Musk then doubled down and said: ‘Far-left fascists love censorship’ (pictured)
Mr Musk, who sees himself as a protector of free speech, responded to an X user’s post about the disinformation law with one word: “Fascists.”
Mr Albanese responded at the time by saying social media companies must act responsibly.
“If Mr. Musk doesn’t understand that, it says more about him than it does about my government,” he said.
But the South African-born billionaire then doubled down on his comments in another post, captioning it: “Far-left fascists love censorship.”
Musk had also previously clashed with the Australian government over requests for X to remove clips of a Sydney bishop who was stabbed during a church service.
Last April, Australia’s eSafety Commissioner ordered X to remove the graphic content from its platform globally and initiated legal proceedings, but the case was dropped in June.
Laws passed by the coalition government under Malcolm Turnbull in 2018 could be used against Musk if he tries to financially support an Australian political party.
Part of the legislation includes a ban on donations from non-Australians to political parties. But X has an Australian subsidiary, potentially creating a loophole.
In addition to his massive donations to Trump’s election campaign, Musk has also regularly tweeted about immigration, identity politics, crime and other issues.
He reportedly promised the British Reform Party $157 million, but this now appears to have been put on hold after Musk fell out with Reform founder and leader Nigel Farage.
In Germany, Musk backs the right-wing Alternative for Germany party, which went from a fringe party accused of harboring Nazi sympathies to the second-largest party in last year’s German European Parliament elections.
Last week he hosted a live chat with AfD leader Alice Weidel, bringing condemnation from the political mainstream.
In November, the
However, both major parties supported the legislation, and Musk has not indicated he would support either party in the federal election.