US election: Joe Biden’s message for Scott Morrison: ‘America is back’

Incoming US president Joe Biden will tell Scott Morrison that ‘America is back’ and ready to strengthen the alliance.

US president-elect Joe Biden in Wilmington, Delaware, on Tuesday. Picture: AFP

Incoming US president Joe Biden will tell Scott Morrison that “America is back” and ready to strengthen its alliance with ­Australia.

The president-elect will speak with the Prime Minister in the next day or so and will send the firm message that he will replace Donald Trump’s America First ­approach with a renewed focus on allies like Australia.

Mr Biden, who has said previously that Australia and the US have “an unsurpassed relationship”, is expected to seek an even closer bond with Canberra in the face of a rising China.

The 77-year-old former vice-president has said he wants America’s allies to share the burden of global changes so that it is not “America alone”.

Mr Biden in recent days has been calling world leaders, including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, German Chancellor ­Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and Ireland’s Taoiseach, Micheál Martin.

“First of all, I’m letting them know that America is back,” Mr Biden said when asked about his calls with word leaders on Wednesday (AEDT). “We’re going to be back in the game. It’s not America alone. I feel confident that we’re going to be able to put America back in a place of respect that it had before.”

Mr Biden, who visited Australia as vice-president in 2016, has been invited by Mr Morrison to visit next year to mark the 70th anniversary of the ANZUS alliance. During the 2016 visit Mr Biden made it clear he saw a strong US military and economic presence in the Indo-Pacific in partnership with Australia as a key to stability in the region.

“Anyone who questions America’s dedication and staying power in the Asia-Pacific simply is not paying attention,” Mr Biden said in a speech in Sydney attended by former prime ministers John Howard, Tony Abbott and Bob Hawke. His comments then give an insight into how he will view the alliance with Australia when he is in the White House.

“Our presence in the region is essential to maintaining peace and stability, without which the economic growth and prosperity I ­believe would falter. America is the linchpin. And we want to ensure the sea lanes are secure and the skies remain open.

“The partnership between Australia and America is at the core of our vision for the region’s future.

“Australians are defined by their character; by the grit, their ­integrity, their unyielding resilience that has shaped this nation from the very beginning.

And it’s that character, in my view, which has always drawn Australians and Americans ­together — because we recognise it, I believe, in one another.”

Mr Morrison has congratulated Mr Biden and Kamala Harris on their victory, saying: “This is a profound time, not just for the United States, but our partnership and the world broadly. I have great confidence in the institutions of America’s democracy. This is a time for those processes to finalise and for us to move on with the important work, because there are so many challenges.”