Albo to Musk: ‘Australia only welcomes foreign election interference from progressive elites’

Kurt Mahlburg

January 16, 2025 5 Reactions

Two years ago almost to the day, Mr Albanese hosted leftwing billionaire Bill Gates at Kirribilli House to discuss climate change, renewable energy, international development and vaccines.

In its write-up of the rendezvous, The Sydney Morning Herald described the time as one of “mutual admiration,” making no secret of Albo’s fawning praise, who declared that Bill Gates — and presumably his financial largesse — are “very welcome here”.

Later that year, during a trip to California, Mr Albanese carved time out of his busy schedule to meet with billionaire and BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, who sits on the board of progressive influence cartels the World Economic Forum and the Council on Foreign Relations.

Of that meeting, the Australian leader remarked that it was “great to catch up with Mr Fink” and that he welcomed “Blackrock’s significant investment in Australia”.

And don’t forget the “celebrity endorsement” Albo received from basketballer Shaquille O’Neal while campaigning for the highly politicised Indigenous Voice to Parliament.

Speaking of foreign election interference, Anthony Albanese is yet to express any concerns about the influence of George Soros, whom The Australian has warned “has established a transnational network that pressures governments to adopt high immigration targets and porous border policies”.

The outlet added that “his [Soros’] Open Society Foundations target individuals who criticise Islamism and seek to influence the outcome of national elections by undermining Right-leaning politicians.”

“The Australian arm of the Soros network is GetUp!” the paper reported, following a Wikileaks data dump in 2016.

Why, at such a late hour, is Mr Albanese now concerned about election interference from Elon Musk?

It would appear the Australian leader is less concerned about the fact that foreign elites insert themselves into Australian elections than the political leanings of those elites.

As is so often seen with modern political leaders, the side matters more than the principle, and the ends, by and large, justify the means.

What’s fascinating about Elon Musk’s ongoing spat with Anthony Albanese is that Musk has not picked sides between Australia’s two big political parties. In fact, he has tended to criticise policies broadly supported by both the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton — including the role and influence of the Australian eSafety Commissioner, the now-scrapped Misinformation Bill, and restrictions on social media use for under-16s.

Musk’s crimes, it would appear, are his stateside support for Donald Trump, who must be demonised at every turn, along with Musk’s decision to be overt about his political passions instead of surreptitious, as other billionaires tend to be.

But the most unforgivable sin on the part of Elon Musk is his advocacy for free speech.

As the legacy media’s spell is broken, and platforms like X help Australians peer behind the political curtain, governments like Albanese’s feel uniquely embarrassed and defensive.

But here’s my advice for the Wizard of Aus: Fearing free speech is hardly a good look in an election year.  

What do you think about Musk's meddling in domestic politics outside the US?   

Kurt Mahlburg is a writer and author, and an emerging Australian voice on culture and the Christian faith. He has a passion for both the philosophical and the personal, drawing on his background as a graduate architect, a primary school teacher, a missionary, and a young adult pastor.

Image credit: Elon Musk at the Madison Square Garden rally for Trump before the election / WFAA screenshot