Former foreign minister hired as troubleshooter as Trump sets sights on Greenland
The former foreign minister says ‘watch this space’ as Kevin Rudd prepares to attend Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Former foreign minister Julie Bishop has cast doubt on how long Kevin Rudd will remain Australia’s ambassador to the US after Donald Trump’s inauguration as President.
Ms Bishop said “watch this space” when asked about Mr Rudd’s future as she backed Australia to walk a tightrope between maintaining good relations with both the US and China.
Ms Bishop was speaking after taking on the job of strategic adviser to an Australian company aiming to develop one of the world’s biggest rare earths deposits in Greenland.
Mr Trump has fuelled a big jump in the share price of Energy Transition Minerals (ETM) by refusing to rule out using force to take control of Greenland, a self-governed Danish territory he describes as vital to the US on economic security grounds.
As well as rocking Europe and the foundations of NATO with his expansionist designs on Greenland, Mr Trump’s second coming as President is expected to heap pressure on Australia’s ability to juggle its security and other relationships with Washington and major trade partner China.
Ms Bishop, who was foreign minister for part of Mr Trump’s previous stint in the White House, said Australia and the US did not share the same views on many issues regarding Beijing, and managing the relationship would take “competent diplomacy”.
“Australia has long managed the competing relations between the US and China, and I believe we are well positioned to continue to do that,” she said.
“We have a significant trade surplus with China, unlike many other countries, and the US is our major defence and strategic ally. Australian governments have become adept at managing both relationships, and I believe that with competent diplomacy, Australia can continue to do so.
“We’re not the only country in this position. There are challenges. We don’t share the same world-view of China on many issues, but we’re able to resolve them. It does take considerable time and effort to manage the relationships.”
Both foreign minister Penny Wong and former Prime Minister Rudd, in his capacity as ambassador, are expected to attend Mr Trump’s inauguration.
Mr Rudd dubbed Mr Trump a “traitor to the West” and “the “most destructive president in history” in now deleted social media posts.
Ms Bishop said Mr Trump’s comments on seeking to buy or take control of Greenland added a complicated geopolitical layer to the legal and permitting challenges already facing ETM and its flagship Kvanefjeld rare earths project.
The Greenland government blocked ETM’s exploration licence after the company had invested about $150m in Kvanefjeld, and the company is now bogged down in three separate legal proceedings which also involve the government of Denmark.
ETM managing director Daniel Mamadou said the Greenland government had introduced a law banning uranium mining as a means to thwart development of Kvanefjeld, which as a rare earths deposit contains some of the radioactive element.
The ERM share price jumped almost 20 per cent to 8.6c in trading on Monday after it announced Julie Bishop & Associates had been hired to provide strategic advice, stakeholder engagement and government relations.
The stock was trading at around 2c late last year when Mr Trump started talking about control of Greenland. He also has designs on control of the Panama Canal.
Ms Bishop said there was nothing new in Mr Trump’s comments on Greenland. She said her focus was on the benefits the development of Kvanefjeld could bring to Greenland, Denmark, the rest of Europe and global rare earths supply chains.
“The US has been making this claim in relation to Greenland for over 100 years now and there have been numerous unsuccessful attempts to buy Greenland,” she said.
“What gives it an added interest at present is the focus on rare earth developments and the geo-strategic concerns around rare earth supply chains.
“We haven’t had any detailed reasons as to why President-elect Trump has made these claims, but over the next few weeks and months after his inauguration his claims may have more details.”
Denmark has said resources-rich Greenland, which sits in the Arctic between Europe and North America, is not for sale.
China dominates global supply of the rare earths used in permanent magnets and considered vital in electronics, renewables and military applications, and has threatened to cut off supply at flashpoints in its relationship with the US.
The Albanese government last month inserted a clause in legislation enabling it to prevent sales to China in providing an additional $400m to Iluka Resources to complete Australia’s first fully integrated rare earths refinery.
The new funding is on top of a $1.25bn limited recourse loan from Export Finance Australia (EFA) issued to Iluka to build the refinery at Eneabba in WA.
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