Paul Keating says 'cut the tag' with the US after Donald Trump's shock win

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This was published 7 years ago

Paul Keating says 'cut the tag' with the US after Donald Trump's shock win

By Michael Koziol
Updated

Former prime minister Paul Keating says Australia should "cut the tag" with the United States following Donald Trump's shock win in Tuesday's presidential election, and instead assert our own foreign policy in the Asian region.

He said Australia found itself in a "crazy position" where the US alliance had "taken on a reverential, sacramental quality" for both Coalition and Labor politicians, at the expense of pursuing relationships with our closest neighbours.

"The foreign policy of Australia is basically: we have tag along rights to the US. It's time to cut the tag, it's time to get out of it," Mr Keating told the ABC's 7.30 program. "What we have to do is make our way in Asia ourselves, with an independent foreign policy."

The comments come amid a soul-searching following the election of Mr Trump, whose unorthodox pronouncements on foreign affairs and trade have alarmed observers and markets, but pleased American voters who want the US to look after its own backyard.

President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to declare China a currency manipulator.

President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to declare China a currency manipulator.Credit: AP

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop assured Australians the special relationship with the US would survive and flourish under the Trump administration - a reaction Mr Keating said demonstrated the "cult" nature of the US alliance.

"We had the Prime Minister almost saying prayers to the alliance yesterday, and the foreign minister, as if nothing has changed," the former Labor PM said.

Mr Keating said the basic elements of the alliance - mutual consultation in the event of adverse military action, intelligence sharing and shared defence technology - could be preserved while moving away from total "subordination" to every whim of Washington.

There was little at risk from a more independent, assertive foreign policy, he told 7.30, which could include joining ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Mr Keating has long pushed for a pivot away from the US alliance and toward the Asian region.

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John Howard would not resile from his previous comment that the thought of a Trump presidency made him "tremble".

John Howard would not resile from his previous comment that the thought of a Trump presidency made him "tremble". Credit: ABC

Mr Keating described Mr Trump as a "strong guy" and said that although he would not have voted for the Republican over Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, Mr Trump did have some good ideas when it came to improving relationships with Russia and China.

However, Mr Trump has also vowed to declare China a currency manipulator, threatening to impose a 45 per cent tariff on Chinese imports to the US. His victory has been met with trepidation in Beijing.

Keating as prime minister at an Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in Osaka in 1995.

Keating as prime minister at an Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in Osaka in 1995.Credit: Mike Bowers

Also appearing on the ABC's 7.30 program, former Liberal prime minister John Howard said he would not resile from his previous remarks that he would "tremble" at the thought of a Trump presidency because of Mr Trump's apparent instability.

Mr Howard said he believed the billionaire businessman won because he was perceived as a better agent of change. "I hope he makes a success of it," the former PM said. "I do believe he will take into account the historical warmth of the relationship [with Australia]."

Mr Howard said he was concerned Mr Trump would lead the US away from free trade and globalisation and down an isolationist and protectionist path.

"Everybody has got to do a better job of explaining the benefits of globalisation," Mr Howard conceded. "It does carry pain and penalties for some people ... you've got to try and help the people who are disconnected."

In his remarks, Mr Keating was critical of US society on many fronts, comparing it unfavourably with Australia when it came to healthcare, the welfare safety net, gun rights and egalitarianism.

"This society of ours is a better society than the United States," he said. "It's more even, it's more fair ... we don't shoot our children in schools and if they were to be shot we'd take the guns off the people who shot them. The Americans do not do this."

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