Peter Dutton sought to position himself as the master negotiator on Thursday.Credit:James Brickwood
This prompted weeks of increasingly overt messaging from Labor ministers attempting to tie Dutton to Trump,even as Dutton sought to distance himself on a series of issues.
Determined not to let Albanese dominate the morning news cycle,Dutton started his day early,dialling into 2GB at 5.15am Perth time to offer his take on the tariffs.
Taking notes from Trump’sArt of the Deal,perhaps,Dutton was selling himself as the ultimate negotiator on Thursday.
Fronting the travelling media in Perth after Trump’s tariff announcement,he tried to present the 10 per cent tariff as an opportunity for Australia to strike a grand bargain with the US. No country in the world has escaped Trump’s trade wrath.
Many countries,including fellow US allies such as Japan and Europe,fared far worse than Australia. But Dutton declared it would be possible for Australia to secure a tariff exemption “very quickly” with a bit of effort and the right negotiating strategy.
Dutton said that “resolving this matter will centre around the defence relationship”.
“We have troops in the north of our country,we have the AUKUS deal,we have the ANZUS treaty,” Dutton said,implying that core elements of the US-Australia alliance could be up for negotiation.
He then added critical minerals as a “natural point of leverage for us in the relationship”.
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Dutton’s comments connecting defence to trade prompted a barrage of questions on what exactly he would put on the table to secure better access to the American market for Australian beef farmers and other exporters.
Would he re-examine the basing of US troops in Australia? Could Australia stop buying military equipment from the US? Dutton’s intervention was strikingly different from that of the government,which has been determined to ringfence defence from disagreements on tariffs.
Dutton declined to go into detail but,at a drilling equipment factory in Perth’s outer suburbs late in the morning,suggested he wanted to offer ways to deepen defence co-operation rather than weaken it.
By slamming Albanese and Rudd as failures and dangling critical minerals as leverage,Dutton provided ready bait for Labor.
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Foreign Minister Penny Wong accused Dutton of “reckless arrogance”,telling Sky News:“Peter Dutton seems to think he’s Superman,but he’s actually Captain Obvious.
“He suggests that this is a time for negotiation – well,that is exactly what we have been doing,” she said,noting the Trump administration rejected a government offer for a special access agreement last month.
Defence Minister Richard Marles was aghast about Dutton from one of the urgent care clinic visits every minister must make. “What Peter Dutton has done is loose,and it is reckless,” he said.
Meanwhile,back on the east coast,a Newcastle radio host was checking in on Albanese after his fall.
“Are you OK?” asked ABC Newcastle host Jenny Marchant.
“No,I stepped back one step,” the prime minister said. “I didn’t fall off the stage.”
“It looked like you went down,” Marchant said. “I’m glad to hear you’re OK,though.”
This time Albanese wasn’t backing down,despite the video footage.