Exclusive: Dinner, which was capped at 10 people, was to go ahead this Wednesday before being cancelled amid disaster responseEx-Tropical Cyclone Alfred LIVE: latest news and updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAnthony Albanese has cancelled an “intimate” and “exclusive” fundraising dinner capped at just 10 people in Sydney amid controversy over Peter Dutton’s attendance at a lavish party in the city prior to the onset of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.Earlier this year, Labor’s fundraising vehicle targeted a number of donors with “personal invitations to an exclusive dinner with the prime minister” at an unknown address this Wednesday.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news emailEx-Cyclone Alfred LIVE: latest news and updatesInteractive maps: tracking Qld and NSW rainfall, wind speeds and flood risk areasTC Alfred aftermath – in picturesHow does Alfred compare to past storms? Continue reading…Exclusive: Dinner, which was capped at 10 people, was to go ahead this Wednesday before being cancelled amid disaster responseEx-Tropical Cyclone Alfred LIVE: latest news and updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAnthony Albanese has cancelled an “intimate” and “exclusive” fundraising dinner capped at just 10 people in Sydney amid controversy over Peter Dutton’s attendance at a lavish party in the city prior to the onset of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.Earlier this year, Labor’s fundraising vehicle targeted a number of donors with “personal invitations to an exclusive dinner with the prime minister” at an unknown address this Wednesday.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news emailEx-Cyclone Alfred LIVE: latest news and updatesInteractive maps: tracking Qld and NSW rainfall, wind speeds and flood risk areasTC Alfred aftermath – in picturesHow does Alfred compare to past storms? Continue reading…
Anthony Albanese has cancelled an “intimate” and “exclusive” fundraising dinner capped at just 10 people in Sydney amid controversy over Peter Dutton’s attendance at a lavish party in the city prior to the onset of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
Earlier this year, Labor’s fundraising vehicle targeted a number of donors with “personal invitations to an exclusive dinner with the prime minister” at an unknown address this Wednesday.
Attendance at the dinner required an undisclosed payment and was sold as “a special opportunity” to “connect” with the prime minister “in a private setting”. Similar events have attracted fees of $10,000 or more.
Albanese’s office confirmed Wednesday’s fundraising event had been cancelled and that the PM would instead focus on the recovery from ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred, which has left more than 200,000 homes and businesses without power.
It is not clear whether the event has been rescheduled.
Earlier on Monday, Dutton addressed Labor claims he “sold out his constituents” by leaving his south-east Queensland electorate of Dickson last week to attend a political fundraiser at the harbourside home of hospitality entrepreneur Justin Hemmes.
Dutton also attended a separate event at the home of a Greek Orthodox bishop before returning to Queensland.
When the trip to Sydney was first reported by the Australian Financial Review, Labor senator Murray Watt said: “We now know how much Peter Dutton raised for the Liberals’ money bags, while his community was packing sandbags.
“Dutton sold out his constituents for $500,000 at Justin Hemmes’ Sydney harbourside mansion.”
On Monday, Dutton accused Labor of seeking a political advantage in the midst of a natural disaster and defended his trip to Sydney.
“I flew home on the first flight on Wednesday morning back into my electorate and the [cyclone] obviously hadn’t started by then, didn’t start until Friday,” Dutton said.
“I think people who are using that for political advantage in the time of a natural disaster, frankly, that’s a poorer reflection on them than it is on me.”
Dutton said the Hemmes event “wasn’t a party, it was a fundraising dinner. The prime minister and I are doing them around the country at the moment.”
Guardian Australia reported on Thursday the last-minute cancellation of other fundraising events in Melbourne that Dutton was due to attend last week, including at the headquarters of Macquarie Bank on Wednesday and a lunch hosted by the Pharmacy Guild on Thursday.
Albanese rejected Dutton’s claims in his own press conference on Monday, saying he had engaged across party lines in the government’s cyclone response all week. Albanese said he had invited Nationals MP Kevin Hogan to join him at the press conference in Lismore.
“I’ve been getting on with doing this job … giving support to people in a totally non-political way, and I think it’s disappointing if there’s any suggestion otherwise,” he said.
“There are no politics involved here and there’s no border. I’ve worked seamlessly with [Queensland Liberal] premier [David] Crisafulli and [NSW Labor] premier [Chris] Minns. It’s up to Peter Dutton how he behaves and what discourse he involves himself with.”
Appearing to reference Dutton’s several days out of the media spotlight, Albanese said: “I haven’t seen those comments from Mr Dutton, I haven’t seen any comments from Mr Dutton for a while.”
Invites to the Melbourne event cancelled by Dutton last week show it was to be held on level 36 of a tower on Collins Street and hosted by Charlie Taylor, the Liberal party federal treasurer, and Nicole Andrews, the executive director of the Australian Business Network.
Invites seen by Guardian Australia show Liberal MPs Zoe McKenzie, Aaron Violi and Keith Wolahan were also expected to attend the 5-7pm event.
With an expensive election campaign looming, business leaders across Australia have been deluged with invitations to similar events.
Invitations seen by Guardian Australia show the prime minister, senior cabinet ministers and Coalition figures have all rubbed shoulders with well-financed people in recent weeks.
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