Foreign Minister Penny Wong says first engagement with Marco Rubio was ‘very warm and constructive’

Foreign Minister Penny Wong described her first meeting with the new US Secretary of State as “very warm and constructive”.

The threat of punitive tariffs, critical minerals and the AUKUS partnership – not the future of Kevin Rudd’s ambassadorship – formed the basis of Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s first meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Speaking from Washington following Donald Trump’s inauguration, Senator Wong described her first official engagement with Mr Rubio as “very warm and constructive”.

The pair had a “very positive discussion on AUKUS”, which Mr Rubio previously said would be strongly supported by the incoming administration.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Picture: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/ AFP

Watering down fears of a pending tariff war on foreign exports, Senator Wong, who was the second international foreign affairs minister to meet with Mr Rubio after India’s S. Jaishankar, said she articulated that “Australia’s economic relationship with the US is of benefit to the US as well as to Australia”.

“What I would say, and I understand that people are very focused on this, every new US administration has had a view about trade policy, and every Australian government in office at a time where a new administration has come in has had to navigate those trade policy issues,” she said.

“And this is no different.”

Growing our processing capacity for critical minerals and their role in Australia’s economic future was another prominent topic.

However, Senator Wong sidestepped commenting on some of Mr Trump’s more controversial policies, like renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, and the US having a 50 per cent stake in TikTok, with the President backing tech billionaire Elon Musk as a potential buyer.

“I’m not going to comment on the domestic decisions that the President makes,” she said.

She described her meeting with Mr Rubio as ‘very warm and constructive’. Picture: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/ AFP

Senator Wong also confirmed her meeting with Quad foreign ministers, including MPs from India and Japan, plus a face-to-face with US national security adviser Mike Waltz.

“We also discussed our shared interests when it comes to economic prosperity and security,” she said of Mr Waltz.

“We had such an early meeting, the moving van was still in the driveway at the West Wing when we came out of our meeting.”

Senator Wong said the early engagement with key Trump administration stakeholders revealed a “great deal of optimism and confidence” about the US-Australia alliance.

Senator Wong was notably given a prime spot during Mr Trump’s inauguration on Tuesday, sitting next to his older sister, Elizabeth Trump Grau.

Senator Wong also met with her fellow Quad foreign leaders to discuss the incoming administration’s view on the Indo-Pacific region. Picture: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/ AFP

A joint statement from Quad foreign ministers released on Tuesday reaffirmed their commitment to “strengthening a free and open Indo-Pacific” bound by “rule of law, democratic values, sovereignty, and territorial integrity”.

Quad members are due to next meet later this year in India.

“Our four nations maintain our conviction that international law, economic opportunity, peace, stability, and security in all domains including the maritime domain underpin the development and prosperity of the peoples of the Indo-Pacific,” the statement said.

“We also strongly oppose any unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion.

“We are committed to strengthening regional maritime, economic, and technology security in the face of increasing threats as well as promoting reliable and resilient supply chains.”