The Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has defended his absence on the national scene after dropping by the Perth Live studios at Radio 6PR on his way back from visiting war-torn Ukraine.

Albanese told Oliver Peterson on Tuesday he will head to flood-ravaged NSW after his Perth visit but it was vital for Australia’s national interest he attended the Quad Leaders meeting the Monday after the election, the NATO summit shortly after and repairing the country’s relationship with France.

“I didn’t set the election date, Scott Morrison did, knowing [the meeting was on],” he told Peterson in Perth.

“Those relations had stalled, we needed to repair those relations.

“And visiting Ukraine was something that certainly wasn’t recreational… seeing the devastation first hand was quite a difficult thing to do.

I haven’t had a day off Oly, as you know, I’ve been working hard and I will continue to do so each and every day.”

LISTEN 👇 to the PM’s full chat with Oliver Peterson on Perth Live