Innocent photo of Anthony Albanese's dog triggers backlash
A picture of the prime minister's dog has prompted the leader of The Nationals to lash out.
To mark International Dog Day, Anthony Albanese shared a picture of his dog, Toto, on Twitter on Friday.
The picture seemed innocent enough, however, David Littleproud, the leader of the National Party, took offence to the tweet.
"So the Prime Minister can acknowledge his dog on International Day of the Dog but couldn’t bring himself to pay tribute to our Australian Veterans on Vietnam Veterans’ Day?" Mr Littleproud said on Twitter.
Vietnam Veteran's Day is commemorated on August 18 — the anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan in 1966.
"We remember the sacrifices of those who died and say thank you to almost 60,000 Australians who served during the 10 years of our involvement in the Vietnam War," the Anzac Portal states.
While Mr Albanese did not mention Vietnam Veteran's Day on August 18 on Twitter or Facebook, he did commemorate the anniversary on his Instagram story, the Daily Mail reports.
Instagram stories are only visible for 24 hours.
Opinion divided over dog photo
Both Mr Albanese's dog post and Mr Littleproud's attack proved to be divisive.
Several people did not take offence to Mr Albanese's picture of Toto and started sharing pictures of their own dogs in response.
A handful of others said they were frustrated Mr Albanese did not commemorate Vietnam Veteran's Day.
So the Prime Minister can acknowledge his dog on International Day of the Dog but couldn’t bring himself to pay tribute to our Australian Veterans on Vietnam Veterans’ Day? pic.twitter.com/uyNHyxvaGV
— David Littleproud MP (@D_LittleproudMP) August 25, 2022
In response to Mr Littleproud, one person on Twitter said they were the son of a Vietnam Veteran.
"I'd appreciate [it if] you didn't use them for political point scoring. If Veterans are offended, I'm sure they'll ask for an explanation from the Prime Minister. They're very used to fighting their own battles," they wrote.
Another person accused Mr Littleproud of attempting to "engineer outrage".
Mr Littleproud has become quite vocal about Mr Albanese's recognition of Vietnam Veteran's Day.
In an interview with Sky News, he claimed the prime minister was "too busy" having a "shot" at the Coalition.
Minister for Veterans’ Affairs Matt Keogh did release a statement recognising Vietnam Veterans.
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