Speaker 1: From Schwartz Media. I'm Ashlin McGee. This is seven am.
Speaker 1: Back in twenty sixteen, when Donald Trump was elected president,
Speaker 1: the Australian government was caught off guard. Then Prime Minister
Speaker 1: Malcolm Turnbull had to call golfing legend Greg Norman just
Speaker 1: to get Trump's numbers so he could call and congratulate him.
Speaker 1: This time around, the government's taking the prospect of his
Speaker 1: second Trump presidency seriously and they're preparing. They're strengthening tires
Speaker 1: with Trump allies and insiders and positioning Scott Morrison as
Speaker 1: a sort of special envoy or Trump whisperer. Today the
Speaker 1: Saturday Papers, Jason Katsukes takes us inside those preparations and
Speaker 1: what the government thinks Trump Vito could mean for Australia.
Speaker 2: That's after the break, Jason.
Speaker 1: Last month Scott Morrison found a pretty surprising candidate to
Speaker 1: help launch his new book to the US market, didn't he.
Speaker 3: That's right, none other than Kevin Rudd, the former Labor
Speaker 3: Prime Minister, now Ambassador to Washington and longtime foe of
Speaker 3: Scott Morrison.
Speaker 4: But when I see him say that as somehow God's
Speaker 4: intervention to appear to him through the image of a
Speaker 4: portrait of an eagle. As if this is a reference
Speaker 4: to the prophetic writings of the prophet ied Sire in
Speaker 4: the Old Testament, I think that starts to get really wacky, frankly.
Speaker 3: And the fact that Kevin Rudd is launching this book
Speaker 3: is a signal that he's buried the hatchet with Scott
Speaker 3: Morrison and is happy to work with him. If there's
Speaker 3: one thing that links Scott Morrison and Kevin Rudd, it
Speaker 3: is their Christian faith. Kevin Rudd was always very open
Speaker 3: his relationship with Christianity. It was always, you know, there
Speaker 3: was a real feature of his personality and his makeup
Speaker 3: as Prime minister.
Speaker 4: Like me or loathe me. What I did prior to
Speaker 4: becoming Prime Minister was write a long essay in the
Speaker 4: monthly magazine called Faith in Politics, which basically lays it
Speaker 4: out in black and white as to my interpretation of
Speaker 4: what a Christian belief means in terms of political practice,
Speaker 4: which is about, frankly, the theology of social justice.
Speaker 5: Scott Morrison is the thirtieth Prime Minister of Australia and
Speaker 5: the first Panecastle to hold the office. During his term,
Speaker 5: the United States and Australia forged deeper bond, and now
Speaker 5: he's written a book about his experience on the world stage.
Speaker 3: What was also really interesting about it was who was
Speaker 3: there some of the people that were closest to Donald
Speaker 3: Trump during his time as president, people like Mike Pompeio,
Speaker 3: former Secretary of State, the former Vice President, Mike Pence,
Speaker 3: and Kellyanne Conway, the director of Communications and longtime counselor
Speaker 3: for Donald Trump.
Speaker 6: Thank you for the terrivic response we've had to the
Speaker 6: release of Plans for Your Good this week. We're already
Speaker 6: now in our first reprint. If you've got your copy,
Speaker 6: I hope you're enjoying it. I hope it's encouraging you.
Speaker 3: So Scott Morrison's book is titled Plans for Your Good,
Speaker 3: a prime Minister's Testimony of God's faithfulness, and it's a
Speaker 3: real insight into not just Scott Morrison's time as Prime Minister,
Speaker 3: but also his faith which was sometimes a controversial part
Speaker 3: of Scott Morrison's prime ministership.
Speaker 6: This is not a book that an next politician, former
Speaker 6: prime minister would normally write. It's not about what I did,
Speaker 6: It's about what I believe God has done for me
Speaker 6: over the course of my whole life, not just when
Speaker 6: I was Prime Minister, as a result of my faith
Speaker 6: in Jesus Christ.
Speaker 7: You know, it was tough when I was in that job.
Speaker 6: We dealt with so many challenges, the toughest times the second.
Speaker 3: I think everyone I spoke to for this piece showed that,
Speaker 3: you know, this government is taking the prospect of a
Speaker 3: Trump victory very seriously. And that's not just people who
Speaker 3: are in the elected positions, this is this is people
Speaker 3: right through the bureaucracy. And yeah, they are focused every
Speaker 3: day on what a Trump victory would mean for Australia
Speaker 3: and they're working through all sorts of game plans for
Speaker 3: for how to deal with a with a future President Trump.
Speaker 3: So Kevin Rudd getting together with Scott Morrison to launch
Speaker 3: his book, it's not just about launching the book. It's
Speaker 3: a way of showing to everyone here in Australia and
Speaker 3: in Washington that Kevin Rudd can talk to the other
Speaker 3: side of politics. And and I think he succeeded in
Speaker 3: demonstrating that very well because some of the names that
Speaker 3: were at that book launcher are going to be people
Speaker 3: that he's going to need to build relationships with if
Speaker 3: Trump becomes president. Again.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So tell me a little bit more about them,
Speaker 1: about Morrison's closeness with the Trump Weldon and some of
Speaker 1: the characters who exist in it.
Speaker 3: When Scott Morrison was Prime Minister, he was able to
Speaker 3: forge a pretty close relationship with Donald Trump. And that
Speaker 3: wasn't just meetings in the White House. We saw Scott
Speaker 3: Morrison actually get up on a campaign stage at one
Speaker 3: point during the twenty twenty election campaign with Donald Trump.
Speaker 8: Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison and he recently won the
Speaker 8: election in Australia, some of you know, and it was
Speaker 8: supposed to be close and he blew them away because.
Speaker 7: He believes a lot of the same things.
Speaker 3: I believe he identified himself as closely as possible, not
Speaker 3: just to Donald Trump as president, but Donald Trump as
Speaker 3: a Republican candidate, and that attracted a lot of criticism
Speaker 3: from people like Anthony Albnezi. You know, it's clear that
Speaker 3: Morrison's got a relationship with Trump and I think it
Speaker 3: would be silly for Australia not to take advantage of that.
Speaker 3: In January, it was announced that Scott Morrison would be
Speaker 3: had been appointed as a non executive vice chairman of
Speaker 3: American global strategies. This is one of those Washington political
Speaker 3: consultancies that provides boutique advice to people who are prepared
Speaker 3: to pay for it. In March, Donald Trump gave an
Speaker 3: interview to Nigel Farage and one of the things he
Speaker 3: did was prompt Donald Trump with a question about Kevin Rudd.
Speaker 3: He related some criticisms that Kevin Rudd had made of Trump.
Speaker 7: I mean he has said the most horrible things. You
Speaker 7: were destruct You were a destructive president, a traitor to
Speaker 7: the West. And he's now Australia's ambassador in Washington.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, I don't know.
Speaker 8: He won't be there long if that's the case. I
Speaker 8: don't know much about him.
Speaker 3: And of course Trump responded in his typical way with
Speaker 3: an insult.
Speaker 8: I heard he was a little bit nasty. I hear
Speaker 8: he's not the brightest bulb. But I don't know much
Speaker 8: about him. But if he's at all hostile, he will
Speaker 8: not be there long.
Speaker 3: When Trump said that, of course, triggered lots of headlines
Speaker 3: back here in Australia, mostly in the Murdock Papers, suggesting
Speaker 3: that yeah, that Kevin Rudd would be would be recalled
Speaker 3: if Donald Trump won. Penny one came out straight away
Speaker 3: and knocked out on the head. She said that Kevin
Speaker 3: Rudd was doing a very good job and it proved
Speaker 3: to be a very effective ambassador. And yeah, I think
Speaker 3: there's no way that they would move to to get
Speaker 3: rid of Kevin Rudd.
Speaker 1: So the moves we're talking about are all in the
Speaker 1: diplomatic space. But is Anthony Albanezi also thinking about his
Speaker 1: own personal relationship with Donald Trump.
Speaker 3: I think, as Malcolm Turnbull said in a recent essay
Speaker 3: also in foreign affairs, the only relationship that really counts
Speaker 3: when it comes to Donald Trump is the leader. And
Speaker 3: so in this case, it's going to be the relationship
Speaker 3: between Trump and Anthony ALBANIZI I think he has to
Speaker 3: really mentally prepare himself for that first meeting that he
Speaker 3: has with Trump, because we know that Trump is going
Speaker 3: to try to walk all over him. He's going to
Speaker 3: try to bully him. And I think Malcolm Turnbull's advice
Speaker 3: is in this case, you know really worth taking. You've
Speaker 3: got to stand up to Trump. That's the only way
Speaker 3: you can that you can really deal with him and
Speaker 3: get something meaningful out of it.
Speaker 1: After the break, What another bout of Donald Trump could
Speaker 1: mean for Australia, Jason it teams. There's lots of positioning
Speaker 1: and strategizing going on to prepare for another Trump presidency.
Speaker 1: Which areas of the relationship is the government really focused on?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think right across the executive wing here in
Speaker 3: Parliament House and across the public service here in Canberra
Speaker 3: and in Washington, the government is very focused on what
Speaker 3: would it mean for Australia if Donald Trump wins the
Speaker 3: White House. I think the two areas that they're probably
Speaker 3: most concerned about trade. So what would happen to Australia's
Speaker 3: trading relationship with China and some of the other key
Speaker 3: countries here in Asia. Would Donald Trump want to start
Speaker 3: a trade war with China? And what would happen to
Speaker 3: Australia if he did so? And then the other key
Speaker 3: area is national security. Big piece of that that is
Speaker 3: relevant for Australia is aucus, So what would happen to
Speaker 3: august And I think in both cases, I don't think
Speaker 3: Australia's going to be at too much of a disadvantage
Speaker 3: if Trump wins. The Republicans see Australia as a nation
Speaker 3: that's paying its own way when it comes to defense,
Speaker 3: aucus is in the end involves Australia paying money into
Speaker 3: the US military industrial complex. Republicans seem to like that.
Speaker 3: They are a bit worried that they won't have enough
Speaker 3: submarines of their own, but I'm sure that's something that
Speaker 3: we will be worked out over the next eight to
Speaker 3: ten years. One of the things Donald Trump has said
Speaker 3: he wants to do, you know, perhaps as soon as
Speaker 3: he takes office, is try to end the war in Ukraine.
Speaker 3: If that means that it's on terms that are very
Speaker 3: favorable to Vladimir Putin. What kind of a signal does
Speaker 3: that send to dictators or other strong man governments around
Speaker 3: the world, And what kind of a message does it
Speaker 3: send to China? And how would that affect China's relationship
Speaker 3: with Taiwan. So I think what Donald Trump does with
Speaker 3: regard to Ukraine won't affect us immediately, but it will
Speaker 3: have long term consequences for our region.
Speaker 1: If friend's taking the prospect of a second Trump presidency
Speaker 1: very seriously, aren't they?
Speaker 3: Yeah? And I think that's with good reason given what
Speaker 3: a mercurial, unpredictable president Donald Trump was in his first term.
Speaker 3: He's acquired a lot of anger in the four years
Speaker 3: he's been out of office, and you would assume from
Speaker 3: what Donald Trump says that he's going to want to
Speaker 3: settle a few scores. When you look at the polls,
Speaker 3: the averages of all the polls in the US right now,
Speaker 3: Donald Trump is ahead by about zero point five of
Speaker 3: one percent. And I think it's very difficult to predict
Speaker 3: what will happen, but it's definitely not a certain that
Speaker 3: Donald Trump will win. And I think you know Nate
Speaker 3: Silver from that website, five point thirty eighth, he's got
Speaker 3: this very complex election prediction forecast model and he's saying
Speaker 3: that right now it's fifty to fifty.
Speaker 9: And always remember, we are one movement, one people, one family,
Speaker 9: and one glorious nation under God. And together we will
Speaker 9: make America powerful again. We will make America wealthy again.
Speaker 9: We will make America strong again. We will make America
Speaker 9: proud again. We will make America safe again, we will
Speaker 9: make America free again, and we will make America great again.
Speaker 9: Thank you, God, bless you all, Thank you, thank you Pennsylvania.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 1: Finally, Jason, how does Donald Trump see Australia.
Speaker 3: I think he probably doesn't think about Australia.
Speaker 7: That much.
Speaker 3: It probably doesn't know a lot about Australia. But one
Speaker 3: thing that you know, Donald Trump really values is loyalty.
Speaker 3: And there's been no ally of the US that has
Speaker 3: been more loyal than Australia. Not only have we followed
Speaker 3: the US into every war for the last hundred years,
Speaker 3: but we've also over the last ten years started contributing
Speaker 3: a lot more of our taxpayer dollars to defense. And
Speaker 3: I think the USC's that Australia is paying its own
Speaker 3: way and spending more than two percent of GDP on defense,
Speaker 3: you know, which was this key benchmark that Donald Trump
Speaker 3: set for US alliers during his first term. So I
Speaker 3: think he probably when he thinks about Australia, he probably
Speaker 3: thinks Australia's okay.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for your time today, Jason.
Speaker 3: Thanks Ashlon, it's always a pleasure talking with you.
Speaker 1: Also in the news today, the salary of the Governor
Speaker 1: General will be increased by more than two hundred thousand
Speaker 1: dollars under a bill introduced by the Albenese government. The
Speaker 1: increase comes as Sam Moyston prepares to take on the
Speaker 1: role on July the first this year, and the government
Speaker 1: argues it's necessary because Unlike former governors general, she won't
Speaker 1: be receiving other entitlements like those given to former judges
Speaker 1: or military officers.
Speaker 2: And a fifth, close.
Speaker 1: Ally of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, has been embroiled
Speaker 1: in a growing bedding scandal and golfing his re election campaign.
Speaker 1: The five party officials and MPs are now all under
Speaker 1: investigation by the UK's Gambling Commission.
Speaker 2: Which is investigating.
Speaker 1: Suspicious bets placed on the election date before it was
Speaker 1: publicly announced, with the investigations even leading to the arrest
Speaker 1: of one of Sunac's security detail. That's all from us
Speaker 1: at seven am for today. My name's Ashlin McGhee. Thanks
Speaker 1: for your company. See you again tomorrow.