LATIKA M BOURKE: Anthony Albanese, New Zealand Prime Minister, not attending NATO summit as Australia warned

The prime ministers of Australia and New Zealand will not attend this year’s NATO summit, it can be revealed.

It means Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who was mulling attending the Socceroos match against the United States and score a sideline meeting with President Donald Trump, will miss a second opportunity to meet the US President, having been left off the G7 invite list this week.

And it leaves Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi as potentially the sole leader of the Indo-Pacific 4 countries to attend the leaders’ summit set for Ankara, Turkey, next month. Japanese press has cited government sources saying that Ms Takaichi plans to attend.

Both the Australian and New Zealand governments are still deciding which ministers will represent their countries.

Mr Albanese, who French President Emmanuel Macron did not invite to this year’s G7 — breaking a semi-regular run of Australian appearances at the summit, is booking an overseas trip closer to home around the same time, The Nightly understands.

The Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s planned travel has complicated Australia’s attendance at NATO.

Previously, Defence Minister Richard Marles has gone to NATO in lieu of the Prime Minister.

But the absence of the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister from the country at the same time could require Mr Marles to stay at home and act as Prime Minister.

A spokeswoman for Mr Albanese told The Nightly: “The Prime Minister’s travel will be confirmed in the usual way.”

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon will also not attend this year, sources in New Zealand confirmed. Mr Luxon is cutting back on his overseas travel ahead of the election in November.

It is likely, although not yet confirmed that New Zealand Defence Minister Chris Penk will attend.

A NATO official said: “The NATO Summit in Ankara will include a meeting of the 32 NATO Heads of State and Government, but we expect the programme will also include engagements with some of our partners, including from Ukraine, the European Union, the Indo-Pacific, and the South.”

“We will also be hosting the NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum, which will include industry leaders from across the Alliance,” the official told The Nightly.

Oana Lungescu, who served as NATO’s longest-running spokesperson said the decisions by IP4 leaders were understandable.

“The IP4 countries are expected to attend the dinner of NATO defence ministers.

That is significant, especially in terms of the discussion on expanding cooperation on the defence industrial basis, scaling up defence production and cooperating on technology, but I wouldn’t expect heads of state and government to travel to Ankara for that,” she said.

Separately, NATO officials have said Gulf states Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will also be invited, following the war in Iran, which has sent shockwaves through global supply lines, similar to those caused by the pandemic and war in Ukraine.

Australia has committed to the UK and French-led Coalitions for the Strait of Hormuz as well as the Coalition of the Willing for Ukraine.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has confirmed that President Donald Trump will attend the summit, which brings together the leaders of 32 countries across Europe and north America.

Since 2022, NATO has invited the leaders of four Indo-Pacific countries, Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand to its annual summit.

The invitations are aimed not at expanding the trans-Atlantic alliance into Asia, but at broadening collaboration between Europe and Indo-Pacific democracies, as well as accelerating defence rearmament.

In 2024, Mr Albanese became the first of the four leaders to turn down the invitation and send his Defence Minister instead.

It is a practice he has continued since and has, increasingly been copied by fellow leaders, culminating in last year’s Hague gathering, when only Mr Luxon attended at the prime ministerial level.

During the election campaign, Mr Albanese told the Latika Takes podcast in collaboration with The Nightly, “sure,” when asked if he would continue attending NATO if re-elected.

“But I’ve been to NATO twice. We’re not a member of NATO, I’ve been twice.

“I will go whenever I can, but I, of course, prioritise what’s happening in Australia in terms of parliamentary meetings and what I have to do domestically as well.”

The opposition’s defence spokesman James Paterson said he backed Mr Marles attending but said the G7 snub showed the prime minister could not afford to waste chances to promote Australia’s interests at the highest levels.

“I would have thought the Prime Minister would have seized the opportunity to meet world leaders after he failed to secure an invitation to the G7,” Senator Paterson said.

“Consequential decisions which affect Australia’s national interest are made and shaped in these forums. In a dangerous world we shouldn’t miss any opportunity to take a seat at the top table.”

Sophia Gaston, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Statecraft and National Security at King’s College London, said Australia could not afford to be complacent.

“Thanks to Ukraine, Europe is the most dynamic military-industrial arena in the world, and NATO is focused on a historic capability uplift for its members. Japan recognises this, and the significance for its own security of developing reciprocal defence and technology alliances with European allies,” Ms Gaston said.

“Its seat at the table buys it a privileged strategic voice in these conversations. Australia talks the talk of the indivisibility of the theatres, but seems more cautious about making commensurate leader-level investments.”