Peter Dutton says if he wins power he will make his first overseas trip to Washington DC to meet Donald Trump, saying he believes he can find “common ground” with the US president.
The Opposition leader has made a major foreign policy speech at the Lowy Institute, where he has fiercely criticised the government’s handling of ties with Israel and China and the prime minister’s openness to sending peace-keepers to Ukraine.
Mr Dutton told the institute that if elected he would seek a meeting with Mr Trump in the “early days” of his government, and make the case that “our national interests are our mutual interests”.
He also said he would handle the US president more effectively than Mr Albanese, suggesting he would be able to find some ideological common ground with Mr Trump.
“There is much we have in common to take forward — deregulation, civil nuclear power and most importantly defence — not just AUKUS Pillar One but Pillar Two as well,” he said.
Mr Dutton previously claimed he would have been able to secure an exemption from the global steel and aluminium tariffs that the Trump administration placed on Australia earlier this month.
The government ridiculed that claim, pointing out that not a single country managed to win an exemption despite making direct personal appeals to the president.
The Opposition leader also used his speech to ratchet up his criticism of Beijing over its decision to send a naval task group to circumnavigate Australia and conduct live fire drills in the Tasman Sea.
Dutton sharpens criticism of China
Mr Dutton called the country’s actions an “obvious show of force”, and said Beijing displayed “contempt” to Australia because it failed to provide any advance notice of the exercises — using some of his strongest language on China in months.
The Opposition has been intent on rebuilding the Coalition’s ties with Chinese Australians.
Mr Dutton praised the diaspora during his speech but said the government shouldn’t remain “silent” when Beijing behaved poorly.
“I do want to see the trading relationship prosper and expand … but we just had a circumnavigation of our country, which has significant consequences for our own outlook on the region and what that means for our national security interests,” he said.
The prime minister and foreign minister criticised China for failing to provide notice for the live fire drills near Australia, but repeatedly emphasised that the Chinese navy had not broken international law.
But Mr Dutton called it the “weakest … response you could see from a leader” and said Mr Albanese risked inviting further aggression.
“What was being tested was our response time, how we’d engage, what we’d say [in response] and I think frankly the prime minister has failed every one of those tests.”
Ukraine peacekeeping jabs
Mr Dutton also stepped up his criticism of Mr Albanese’s statement that he would be open to sending Australian troops to Ukraine if there was a peace deal that allows an international group of peacekeepers into the country to help maintain stability.
Mr Dutton said contributing to that effort could draw critical defence resources from Australia’s priorities in the region.
“We are a middle power and we don’t have an ability to have a presence in multiple theatres, that much is obvious,” he said.
“It’s ill-defined, the Europeans haven’t yet made commitments or undertakings that are firm, and there is no peace.
“I think the prime minister wanted to project strength and look strong … but I don’t believe we should be out ahead of where the Europeans are in relation to a border presence with Russia where there is no United States assurance about providing … a response.”
The Opposition leader was repeatedly interrupted at the beginning of his speech by two climate protesters from the environmental group Rising Tide, who took aim at his policies on nuclear power.
One of the protesters accused Mr Dutton of “lying to the Australian people about the cost of nuclear” before being escorted out of the room.
The second protester was also forced out of the room by a security team member after standing up to criticise Mr Dutton.
