Anthony Albanese slammed for enjoying a beer at Vietnam while Australia grapples with cost-of-living

Anthony Albanese has been slammed after he was photographed enjoying a glass of beer during his trip to Vietnam. 

The Prime Minister was drinking a local brew while on official Government business in Vietnam, and had a banh mi sandwich with it. 

‘Australia and Vietnam are on a roll. (Australian-trained chef) Sam Tran took me to a local spot in Hanoi today to try a couple of Vietnamese classics,’ Mr Albanese wrote on Twitter on Saturday.

But hundreds of posters under his tweets failed to see the funny side and questioned how serious he is about tackling problems at home. 

It marks his latest publicity stunt that has drawn backlash after Mr Albanese was blasted for enjoying a beer at the Australian Open in January and a game of tennis in March. 

The Prime Minister was pictured drinking a local brew while on official Government business in Vietnam

‘Gee what a shock. Albo out drinking always with a beer in hand instead of being here sorting out problems,’ one social media user wrote on the weekend. 

‘Remember when he complained about scomo missing in action. At least scomo wasn’t prioritising booze over work.’

Mr Albanese had ripped into Mr Morrison in December 2021 – vowing he would not disappear from the country during its most pressing times if he was Prime Minister.

Mr Morrison famously sparked backlash after taking a trip to Hawaii in 2019 during the devastating bushfires. 

Social media users were quick to slam Mr Albanese for deciding to take a trip to Vietnam while Aussies wrestled with cost-of-living pressures at home. 

‘No masks, no leadership, all photoshoots. You’re just pathetic,’ one wrote.

‘Your HECS index (rise) just ruined so many lives. You are not being a good man right now.’

A second called Mr Albanese a ‘little selfie taking fanboy on the beers. Zero concern about cost of living, or actually doing his job.

‘A complete embarrassment to the position.’

‘This is beyond a joke,’ a commenter wrote. ‘Why are Australians tolerating this? It’s all partying and selfies. Vacuous at best, embarrassing.’

Beyond the beer and banh mi, there was a serious purpose to Mr Albanese’s visit. 

‘Ninety nine percent of Vietnamese beer is made using Australian barley, and a lot of the banh mi baguettes are made with Australian wheat,’ he tweeted. 

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (pictured with his partner Jodie Haydon) travels abroad so much he is nicknamed ‘Airbus Albo’

Another Twitter user unfavourably compared (pictured) Mr Albanese to Scott Morrison 

Many Twitter users (pictured) were not impressed with Mr Albanese’s latest photo opportunity

Mr Albanese will on Sunday as meet with Vietnam’s  Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, President Vo Van Thuong, National Assembly chair Vuong Dinh Hue and Communist Party  General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

China’s ever increasing power in the region is likely to be on top of their agenda.

‘Vietnam of course shares a border with China to its north,’ the Prime Minister said. 

‘Discussions will no doubt touch on that relationship but will touch as well on how we and Vietnam (share) a view on the South China Sea and that the (UN) Convention on the Law of the Sea needs to be upheld and maintained.

‘We need to respect nations’ sovereignty in the region and indeed throughout the world. We share that view.’

The Vietnam trip is far from the first time Mr Albanese has been criticised for how he behaves amid huge domestic problems. 

In January, he was slammed for spending three days ‘chugging beers’ at the Australian Open tennis with his partner Jodie – after staying just four hours in Alice Springs which was riven with violence at the time.

His brief visit to the troubled Northern Territory town when it was in the midst of a youth crime spree led to him being called the ‘FIFO (fly in, fly out) PM’. 

Northern Territory senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, who previously served as the deputy mayor of Alice Springs, was livid. 

‘It’s an insult and a kick in the guts for the people of Alice Springs to see the PM spending more time relaxing and chugging back beers at the tennis than what he did on the ground in Alice Springs,’ she said at the time.

Tennis was also at the centre of an internet pile-on criticising Mr Albanese in March.  

The PM was blasted for ‘chugging beers’ by Senator Jacinta Price. Mr Albanese is pictured at the tennis semi-finals 

The Prime Minister shared a photo of his early morning hit at tennis to promote the centenary of Tennis Australia, but the photo was used to attack him

Mr Albanese was accused of not talking about a group of men who gave a Nazi salute (pictured) in Melbourne. But in fact, he already had done so

A photo of him playing tennis had critics comparing him unfavourably to former prime minister Scott Morrison’s sometimes strange media stunts. 

Mr Albanese shared a picture of an early morning tennis hit to promote the centenary of Tennis ACT and then went to Parliament for a full sitting day.

Although though the photo was taken at an official event where the PM was working, Twitter users used it to attack him and harshly accuse him of failing to address Nazi salutes performed at a protest in Melbourne the previous weekend.

Mr Albanese had appeared on Nova radio that morning urging all Australians to condemn the confronting scenes that took place in front of Victoria’s state Parliament.