HOST, LAURA JAYES: I want to bring in now, Tim, as he's live for us from Canberra. Of course, it's a little bit of a mixed message coming out of Canberra, coming out of Washington before we did see this press appearance from Donald Trump in the Oval Office. But even after that phone call, what Donald Trump said just there, Tim, how much confidence does it give you and what does your government need to do to ensure this gets over the line?
SENATOR TIM AYRES: Well, G'day, Laura. It's good to be with you and your viewers. The Prime Minister had a very warm conversation with President Trump this morning. It's his second planned discussion with President Trump and there was an agreed approach to what would be read out from that meeting. What President Trump has said just a few minutes ago on your screen is consistent with what Prime Minister Albanese has been saying following that discussion as well. Emphasise that, you know, the Australian government approach here. It is absolutely important that there is this kind of leader to lead discussion with the new Trump administration.
It hasn't been a surprise that the new American President has taken this approach. It's something that the Australian Government has been preparing for, and of course, we had the Deputy Prime Minister in Washington over the course of the weekend, he left Parliament the moment it rose, flew to Washington, met with the new defence team on all the strategic questions that you would anticipate. Foreign Minister Wong there just a few weeks ago for the inauguration and of course, our team in Washington and across the globe fully engaged in Australia's interest in a calm and deliberate and effective way.
HOST: So, you say you were anticipating these specific tariffs on steel and aluminium and you were right to do so because it happened back in 2018 and we got an exemption then. What is different this time around? And how have you and the team in Washington been preparing for such an announcement? A blanket 25% announcement.
AYRES: Well, I can certainly say that the Albanese Government has been anticipating that there will be shifts in the United States approach to trade, not just in this area, but, you know, obviously we've got an eye on the Australian interest more broadly in terms of the bilateral relationship, which as President Trump and the Prime Minister both indicated, there is a very strong bilateral trade relationship.
The United States has enjoyed a strong surplus in that trading relationship, but Australian firms benefit from that as well. It's in the interests of both the United States and Australia. We've been making the case at diplomatic and official level, at Ministerial level and at leader level in a consistent way and the way that this government has done across a whole range of issues, a whole range of bilateral and regional relationships.
We haven't been yahooing on the domestic front. We've just been focused on carefully working in the Australian interest and we'll continue to do that over the coming months and years. This is the beginning of a four year administration. We're focused on the Australian interest in economic terms and in terms of supporting good jobs in our economy, but also in defence and strategic and all of the other facets of what is a very important relationship to Australia and to the United States.
HOST: Tim, we know from Donald Trump's first iteration in the White House that he responds to business leaders and people that he believes are on his side. So, what engagement have you made with the likes of be it Greg Norman, be it Gina Rinehart, be it Joe Hockey, Scott Morrison, Anthony Pratt to make our case in Washington for these exemptions and other exemptions we might need?
AYRES: Well, I think, you know, we've got some free advice, haven't we, over the course of the last couple of weeks from Mr. Dutton and Mr. Littleproud and Kevin Hogan, the National Party spokesperson on trade, about who should and shouldn't be engaged in this important endeavour on behalf of the country? It's a bit of a contrast to what happened when Mr. Turnbull was the Prime Minister and he confronted a similar set of issues, although as you say, different. Different, but similar. Those engagements led by the then Australian government took place over many months. What didn't happen was that the opposition, then the Labor Party in opposition, wasn't out there undermining Team Australia, which is what Peter Dutton and David Littleproud and Kevin Hogan have been doing. They've been trying to cast shade on what is a very effective team in Washington. Now that's just undermining the national interest for cheap partisan politics.
We didn't do that in opposition. I think Australians are entitled to expect a little bit better. We haven't seen anything better, but people are entitled to expect better from Peter Dutton and David Littleproud. Who, whenever there is a national challenge that requires Australians to rise to the occasion, back in Team Australia, back in the national interest and for all of the Parliament to come together, they never fail to look for division, they never fail to go the partisan interest before the national interest. And, you know, once again they're letting Australia down. Now, we'll consider, of course, as we go through this, all of the facets of the people to people, the business to business, the cultural, the sporting, the economic, all of these issues are a key part of the relationship. I saw the Trade Minister recently in the, say, G'day to LA event. It's an important cultural event for Australia and United States ties. You can expect to see much more of that, you know, continuing to go on. We will use every lever at the government's disposal to support Australia's national interest. That's what we've done in the context of this relationship and all the important bilateral relationships.
In the long term, our focus is about diversifying Australia's economy, diversifying the markets, but importantly making sure that we're building Australian manufacturing. That's what the Future Made in Australia production tax credits were about that passed the Parliament last night. Medium to long term, we need to make the Australian economy more resilient, more value added. That's in the national interest and it's the interest of good jobs in the regions and outer suburbs.
HOST: Just on Kevin Rudd, though, we know how important personal relationships are to Donald Trump. Is Kevin Rudd the right man to be leading these negotiations?
AYRES: The short answer is yes, absolutely. The long one is that, you know, he is doing very hard, systematic work on behalf of Australia right across the political aisle in Washington, with the administration, in the Senate and in the Congress, across all of the officials. It's, I think, a misunderstanding of how relationships work when one country is dealing with another to make it all about the politics. That's not what this is about. This is about Australia's national interest and the national interest of the United States and the fact that together we are very important strategic partners at an economic level. Australian steel and aluminium, for example, makes a very significant contribution to American manufacturing and US production processes. From housing to the defence industries to computer chips. We have all of the critical minerals that’s for sure.
HOST: Sorry, sorry to interrupt you. We have to leave it there.
