Responding to the report on Tuesday, Albanese said he wouldn’t revise any of Australia’s policies despite pressure from the US administration.
“Those issues are not up for negotiation from the Australian government. We will defend Australia’s interests. The idea that we would weaken biosecurity laws is really, as my Mum would say, cutting off your nose to spite your face,” Albanese said in Adelaide. “Not on my watch.”President Donald Trump has declared April 2 as “Liberation Day,” when he’s due to announce reciprocal tariffs on a number of nations as part of an effort to revitalize US domestic industry. The threat of upheaval in global supply chains and trade is casting a shadow over Australia’s election campaign ahead of a vote on May 3.
A new poll by Resolve published in the Sydney Morning Herald on Monday found 60% of voters believed Trump’s presidential victory had been bad for Australia, while 46% said the government should look to form closer relations with regional players including China.
When asked whether the US, China or Russia was the “greatest threat to Australia in the next few years,” 17% of respondents answered the US. Another 38% said “all equally.” Speaking at the National Press Club on Tuesday, former center-right Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Australia needed to boost its sovereign military capabilities in response to the growing unreliability of its longtime ally, the US.
“The US under President Trump does not share the values we’ve shared with every single one of his predecessors, Republican and Democrat, for over 80 years. And he does not pretend to share them,” Turnbull said in Canberra.
