Caroline Kennedy lashes Robert F Kennedy Jr’s ‘dangerous’ anti-vaxxer views, says world needs to be calm and ‘wait and see’ on Donald Trump nominees

US ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy has lashed the anti-vaccination views of Robert F Kennedy Jr, her cousin and Donald Trump’s pick for health secretary, while issuing a warning on the President-elect’s nominees.

US Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy addresses the National Press Club in Canberra. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

US ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy has slammed the “dangerous” anti-vaccination views of Robert F Kennedy Jr, her cousin and President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for health secretary, while warning the world needed to “just calm down and wait and see what happens” to Mr Trump’s nominees.

The outgoing ambassador, whose two-and-a-half-year tenure will end in the new year, also declared there was “no turning back” in the global fight against climate change despite increasing expectations Mr Trump will embrace fossil fuels and pull out of the Paris accord.

As Mr Trump’s high-profile and contentious nominees for some of the most powerful government positions spark worldwide interest, Ms Kennedy conceded it “would be of great concern” if his pick for director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard — who is facing accusations she is a Russian asset — was appointed.

The Senate, where Mr Trump will have a narrow majority, will have to confirm his nominations.

“Let’s just calm down and wait and see what happens. But obviously that would be of great concern and we’ll see who … actually gets confirmed,” Ms Kennedy said.

She also distanced herself and the Kennedy family from Mr Kennedy Jr’s anti-vaxxer views after Mr Trump picked him as the next secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

“Yes, I think Bobby Kennedy’s views on vaccines are dangerous but I don’t think that most Americans share them. So we’ll just have to wait and see what happens. I grew up with him so I’ve known all this for a long time,” Ms Kennedy said. “I would say that our family is united in terms of our support for the public health sector and infrastructure and has the greatest admiration for the medical profession in our country and Bobby Kennedy has got a different set of views.”

Ms Kennedy challenged ongoing criticism at home and abroad of the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine pact, saying the deal was priceless as it represented an “existential investment in Australia’s sovereignty and way of life”.

Amid fears over China’s military might, she said its deterrent effect for the US and Australia — two maritime trading nations that depended on freedom of navigation and open sea lanes — was already a “game changer”.

“We have made remarkable progress, but we can’t slow down. We are only three years away from the first rotational deployment of a Virginia-class submarine in Perth and eight years from the first sovereign Australian nuclear-powered submarine, which will be in service for decades,” Ms Kennedy told the National Press Club in Canberra.

“There is funding available. There is huge opportunity. The greater risks are those of inaction and delay. To those who still question whether AUKUS is necessary, ask the Philippines and Vietnam what it’s like to have your ships rammed and sunk by Chinese ‘coast guard’ vessels, or Japan what happens when missiles land close to shore, or the Pacific nations when your most precious resource is destroyed by an industrial-scale fishing armada.

“Ask our private sector what the consequences are from the damage to undersea cables in the Taiwan Strait. The long delays and higher prices that result from the Middle East conflict are insignificant compared to the global consequences of a conflict in this region.”

Delivering a rallying call on climate change, Ms Kennedy said Australia and the US needed to do more to accelerate the green energy transition and co-operation on critical minerals was more important than ever.

While she acknowledged action to combat climate change “maybe not as fast” and different under the Trump administration, she said the fight would continue.