Subject: Albanese Government’s weak response on US tariffs
E&OE…
PETER STEFANOVIC: Well the federal Government has made a not-so-subtle threat to the US over trade by offering critical minerals as a way to exempt us from steel and aluminium tariffs and whatever else might be next. But if it doesn’t want them, there are plenty of others who do. Joining us is the Shadow Foreign Minister David Coleman. David, thanks for your time this morning. A carrot and stick approach here. Is that the right play now?
DAVID COLEMAN: Oh, look, I think what this shows, Pete, is the Government has basically given up, because this isn’t a smart way to publicly negotiate with the US. We know that the PM can’t get a phone call returned. We know that Penny Wong found out the decision on tariffs by watching TV. And there is concern, not only about the tariffs that have already been put on, but the potential for more. And so what we need to be doing is acting sensibly in the national interest, and that’s not what that does.
PETER STEFANOVIC: Well, do you think though, I mean, there’s been some quite strong and quite inaccurate language that’s come from the Trump Administration in recent days accusing us of dumping aluminium on their shores, which isn’t right, so is another approach needed from us? Do we need to kind of grow a bit more of a backbone?
DAVID COLEMAN: What we need to do is succeed, Pete, and we’ve failed so far. I mean, the Trump Administration shouldn’t be putting these tariffs on, obviously, so the task now is to win, not to fail as we’ve done on the first round. And to say publicly to the United States “if you don’t do this, we’re going to do that”, that’s not the way to succeed in negotiations, particularly with such an important partner as the United States. And it suggests to me that the Government’s basically given up on the substance here, and they’re all about the political theatrics. That’s not a mature way for a country like Australia to behave. If the Government’s diplomacy was succeeding, presumably Penny Wong would have got at least a text message from Marco Rubio, as opposed to finding out from, probably from Sky News, what was going on. And that doesn’t augur well, and so I think it’s not the right approach.
PETER STEFANOVIC: But don’t you agree that nothing was going to work? I mean Donald Trump took an invitation from the King, but that didn’t even help the UK.
DAVID COLEMAN: We did it last time and we were successful back in 2018 and Australia was not successful this time. The arguments were even stronger now than they were in 2018. A situation where our Prime Minister can’t get a return phone call, the same Prime Minister who needs a Virgin Airlines pilot to tell him when there’s Chinese warships about to conduct live-firing exercises off our coast, that’s not a good thing for our country. We need to be frank about that. A Foreign Minister that doesn’t know what’s going on at all. Put it this way Pete, if the Government had got an exemption, do you think they’d be claiming credit? I suspect they would. The Government didn’t get an exemption.
PETER STEFANOVIC: And I’m sure the Prime Minister’s office knew that nothing was going to work. And so if the Prime Minister got rejected while in DC after making a trip there, I mean that would even look worse for him, right? Which is why I presume he didn’t go.
DAVID COLEMAN: But again, that’s about political theatrics, Pete, not the substance. The substance is, we want to have a good relationship with the United States. They’re our most important ally. They have been for decades, and our security is underpinned by ANZUS. So you want the best possible relationship. Clearly, the relationship is not going well if the PM can’t get a phone call returned and if Penny Wong doesn’t know what’s going on. And for the Government to somehow try to spin that as a positive shows a lack of maturity. And to publicly negotiate in this way I think basically shows that they’re not serious about the negotiation itself and that’s an immature approach, it’s not in our interests.
PETER STEFANOVIC: Okay so there’s an interesting turn of events that’s now in play, because if us and China are caught up in this trade war wouldn’t that help our two-way trade between us and China? Can we start moving things in their direction, and likewise?
DAVID COLEMAN: Well, there’s no upside in trade wars, Pete. Tariffs are bad. Tariffs make things more expensive.
PETER STEFANOVIC: No, but that’s what I’m saying, we need to diversify now, this is what all our producers and manufacturers have got to look at diversification, which they had to do in the past, but now, you know, if China opens up even more, does that mean opportunity?
DAVID COLEMAN: Well, trade with China is a terrific thing, and we absolutely want to see that grow, and trade with China more than doubled under the Coalition after we did the 2015 Free Trade Agreement. So, trade with everybody is welcome, trade wars are not, trade wars are bad, tariffs are bad, but the task for the Government is to work professionally to try and limit the impact on Australia, and so far they’ve been unsuccessful and their current approach suggests they will continue to be.
PETER STEFANOVIC: Do you think the Trump Administration acted professionally with us?
DAVID COLEMAN: Oh look, I think the Trump Administration’s behaviour is absolutely wrong. No question. Tariffs are a really bad idea, and I don’t in any way think the Trump Administration’s conduct on this issue is the right approach. But we’ve got to deal with the world as it is, not the world as we would like it to be. And within that, the role for Australia is, be professional, act in our national interest and succeed. The Government is not being professional, it’s not acting in our national interest and it’s not succeeding.
PETER STEFANOVIC: We’re going to leave it there David. Good to have you with us though. Thank you. We’ll chat again soon.