Albanese backs in Rudd as US ambassador

Anthony Albanese says Kevin Rudd will remain Australia’s ambassador to the US beyond the May federal election, as he pushes back against efforts by confidants of Donald Trump to undermine his captain’s pick.

Anthony Albanese is backing Kevin Rudd to be in the role of US ambassador for another 12 months or longer.

Anthony Albanese says Kevin Rudd will remain Australia’s ambassador to the US beyond the May federal election, as he pushes back against efforts by confidants of Donald Trump to undermine his captain’s pick.

The Prime Minister is backing Dr Rudd to be in the role for another 12 months or longer despite concerns the former prime minister’s historic and disparaging comments about Mr Trump will freeze him out of doing business with the Republican administration.

In an interview with Sky News, Mr Albanese brushed-aside a social media post by Trump loyalist and incoming deputy chief-of-staff Dan Scavino that featured a GIF of sand running through an hourglass above Dr Rudd’s statement congratulating Mr Trump.

https://t.co/gZgn50AWYipic.twitter.com/ieUTiYW6bG

— Dan Scavino Jr.🇺🇸🦅 (@DanScavino) November 12, 2024

Asked if he had reached out to Dr Rudd or the Trump team about Mr Scavino’s post on X, Mr Albanese said “no”. The Labor leader confirmed that Dr Rudd’s position in Washington DC had not been raised during his 10-minute phone call with Mr Trump last week, in which the US President-elect reportedly said they would have a “perfect relationship”.

“The fact is that Kevin Rudd has been a very good ambassador. He continues to do the job. He has developed relationships across the political spectrum in the United States, as I’d expect any ambassador to do,” Mr Albanese told Sky News.

“That’s why he received praise from people such as Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull and Peter Dutton for the job that he’s been doing. He’s doing a very important job. The work that he did with AUKUS was a difficult task to get that through the Congress and the Senate. When I was there, one of the things that struck me was just how extensive the links that Kevin Rudd had developed.”

Among a series of critical comments about Mr Trump made before his ambassadorial appointment, Dr Rudd previously described the 78-year-old as “incompetent”, a “village idiot” and “the most destructive president in history”.

Dr Rudd, whose social media accounts were scrubbed to remove critical posts following Mr Trump’s election victory, broke his silence on Friday to celebrate a ‘Friends of Australia Caucus Dinner’.

“Australia and the United States share a close and special friendship. It’s a bond that has strengthened across generations and across the political aisle in both countries. And it will continue to prosper in the years ahead,” Dr Rudd posted on social media platform X.

Mr Albanese – who in 2017 said a Trump presidency “scares the shit out of me” – told Sky News he was no longer scared and would “deal with President Trump … constructively.”

Quizzed on whether he could personally convince Mr Trump to exempt domestic products from tariffs, Mr Albanese said he reminded the US President-elect during their phone call that “the United States has enjoyed a trade surplus with Australia since (Harry) Truman was president”.

Mr Albanese said he would “always stand up for Australia’s interests … the trade between Australia and the United States is in both of our nation’s interests”.

Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison were successful in directly lobbying Mr Trump to exempt key Australian exports from tariffs during the billionaire’s first-term in the White House. During the US election campaign, Mr Trump said he would impose 60 per cent tariffs on Chinese goods and tariffs of up to 20 per cent for other products, potentially including Australian exports.

Mr Albanese – who is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping during the G20 summit in Brazil – confirmed he wouldn’t advocate on Beijing’s behalf in the event of a US-China trade war.

“That’s a matter between China and the United States. My job is to advocate for Australia’s national interests. I leave bilateral relations between other countries to them. President Trump will take office on January 20 and I’m not about pre-empting any of those decisions that might be made.”

Following the APEC summit, US President Joe Biden will hold his third and final in-person meeting with Mr Xi in Peru before the pair head to the G20 in Brazil. Mr Xi has been holding a series of bilateral meetings with leaders in South America to shore-up Beijing’s position amid fears of US tariffs and potential trade war.

In a statement to the APEC summit, read on behalf of Mr Xi by Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, the Chinese President warned against any efforts to unwind globalisation in the wake of Mr Trump’s election win. Mr Xi is pushing for emerging nations in the so-called “Global South” to expand their influence with the support of China.

“Blocking economic cooperation under various excuses and dividing an interdependent world is going back in history. The world has entered a new period of turbulence and change. Unilateralism and protectionism is spreading, the fragmentation of the world economy is intensifying. Economic globalisation is faced with severe challenges,” Mr Xi’s statement said.

Mr Albanese, who is travelling with fiancée Jodie Haydon, will also fly to Rio de Janeiro on Sunday (AEDT) for the G20 summit after participating in the traditional APEC family photo and leaders’ retreat. The Prime Minister, who has ruled-out seeking a meeting with Mr Trump following the G20 summit, has flagged his intention to be back in Canberra next Thursday to attend federal parliament.

With incumbent governments across the globe suffering deep electoral unpopularity due to high inflation and cost-of-living pressures, Mr Albanese said Labor would double-down on its 2025 “Building Australia’s Future” election slogan.

Amid ongoing speculation of an early election in March, Mr Albanese again committed to running full-term: “I have not spoken to (Western Australia Premier) Roger Cook about a possible March election. He has said that his election is on March 8 and I talk to state leaders sometimes about the dates in which they have elections set. It’s as simple as that.”

“We will go to an election sometime between May. We have a budget scheduled for March and the election will be in May. That’s when it’s due, it could be beforehand.”

Speaking on his way out from the APEC summit, Mr Albanese said there is a “great deal of consensus” among Asia-Pacific countries to combat the global inflation challenge, address supply chain security and advance renewable energy.

“We’re all dealing with the global inflation challenge, we need to make sure that we create jobs through acting on climate change, addressing food security, addressing global supply chain challenges, and also making sure that we lift living standards by creating jobs at home,” Mr Albanese said.

Mr Albanese said he would promote the need for “free and fair trade” at the G20 summit in Brazil, as well as “advancing Australia’s economic interests, the creation of jobs, lifting of living standards and addressing what is a global inflation challenge”.