Prime Minister Anthony Albanese dismisses call to divert to Florida and seek out Donald Trump
Anthony Albanese has dismissed calls for him to seek a face-to-face meeting with Donald Trump while Peter Dutton warns the Government needs to “course correct” to make sure Australia does not fare poorly under the new US administration.
The Prime Minister travels to Peru and Brazil on Wednesday for the APEC and G20 leadership summits over the next week.
Shadow foreign affairs minister Simon Birmingham said Mr Albanese should be proactively seeking a meeting with Mr Trump while in the region.
“The Albanese Government should be doing all it can to try to get Anthony Albanese in the door for an early meeting with Donald Trump,” he told Sky News on Tuesday morning.
“The chance is there for him to go up to Florida and seek this meeting.”
But Mr Albanese dismissed this suggestion.
“If you have a look at the map, it’s actually not on the way,” he said.
“I had a really constructive discussion with President-elect Trump last week, it was a very good beginning to our relationship.”
Mr Albanese has never met Mr Trump in person.
He did not meet the Republican candidate or any of his team while in Pennsylvania for the Quad meeting in September, unlike Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
However, ministers including Penny Wong, Richard Marles and Jim Chalmers have held talks with some inside the Republican camp.
DFAT officials told Senator Birmingham in estimates last week that, by convention, the only formal engagement the Australian Government could have with the new administration was the congratulatory phone call Mr Albanese made to Mr Trump after his election victory.
The only break in this protocol they could recall was then-UK leader Theresa May visiting Washington in 2016 before Mr Trump was sworn in the first time.
Mr Dutton said the Government must make sure Australia continued to have a strong and trusted relationship with the US.
The Opposition Leader pointed out that the Coalition, under Malcolm Turnbull, had been able to negotiate tariff exemptions during Mr Trump’s first time in the White House.
“The onus will be on the Prime Minister to negotiate a similar outcome with the Trump administration, and that will be a question for him as to whether or not they’re able to craft that,” he said.
“But I think it’s obvious that America has charted a different course now, and the government here needs to course-correct and make sure that they’re working with and not against our most important ally.”
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