Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has deflected calls from shadow foreign minister Simon Birmingham to meet Donald Trump on his upcoming overseas trip, insisting last week’s phone call was a “very good beginning to our relationship”.
The Prime Minister is set to travel to attend the APEC and G20 summits in South America on his final trip overseas in 2024 ahead of next year’s federal election.
Trump’s return to the White House has ignited calls for Mr Albanese to take the opportunity to meet the Republican, who he has never met, in a bid to strengthen ties ahead of next year’s inauguration.
Mr Birmingham told Sky News Australia the Prime Minister should try to get an early meeting with the president-elect for the benefit of the relationship between the two nations.
“Keir Starmer, the UK’s Prime Minister, seized the initiative a couple of months ago while he was in the US along with Narendra Modi from India,” he said on Tuesday.
“They went and saw Donald Trump as a candidate and made sure they were forging those relations.
“There’s an opportunity here for Anthony Albanese to seek that meeting, to do so early, and it would clearly be in Australia’s interest for him to show that initiative and that drive.”
When asked whether he has considered “flying past Florida” on his way home from the summits, Mr Albanese shrugged the suggestion off and accused Mr Birmingham of being inconsistent with his calls.
“If you have a look at the map, it’s actually not on the way,” he told reporters on Tuesday morning.
“Simon Birmingham does two things, one, he says I do too many trips, and secondly says I should do more. Simon Birmingham is someone who never has much constructive to say at all.
“I had a really constructive discussion with president-elect Trump last week, it was a very good beginning to our relationship.”
Mr Birmingham urged Mr Albanese to adopt a “proactive approach” in strengthening ties with the US.
“As I said, we saw Keir Starmer do that, UK Prime Minister, a couple of months ago before the election, before Donald Trump had won. That’s the type of initiative and drive that we should be wishing to see from Australia’s Prime Minister that wasn’t there,” he said.
He argued an early meeting with Trump would enable discussions to ensure Australia’s security interests regarding AUKUS, and begin negotiations around potential trade exemptions from tariffs the Republican has mentioned.
“And that is a key test for the Albanese government,” he said.
Mr Albanese called Trump in the wake of his election victory last Thursday, telling him “we are going to be perfect friends” and emphasising the importance of the Australian-US relationship.
He raised the AUKUS nuclear submarines deal and pointed out the US had a trade surplus with Australia, amid speculation of hefty tariffs under Trump’s administration.
The Albanese government has said the phone call to Australia was among the President-elect’s first engagements with a world leader following the US election result.
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Publish date : 2024-11-11 12:22:00
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Author : theamericannews
Publish date : 2024-11-12 17:14:06
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