General News
24 February, 2025
It's tough to ignore Trump's rhetoric
Our parties have to show how they will respond to Trump.
Our upcoming federal election, which may or may not be called this weekend, well and truly has a wildcard in its midst.
It comes in the form of Donald Trump, the freshly inaugurated American President who, while running a different country from far away, seems to now have a measure of undue influence over how our own election might play out.
Granted, this past week has shown, if we needed reminding, just how unhinged Trump is and can further be with his pronouncements on everything from government efficiency to plastic straws, not to mention the war in Ukraine.
But it's clear our political parties will have to show voters how they will respond to Trump should they win government.
This will entail, and has already, responding promptly to Trump's more preposterous statements pertaining to geopolitics.
And it won't be enough to simply decline to comment on such things, even with the reasoning that next week's pronouncements may well contradict the recent ones.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, for example, came out firmly against Trump's outrageous rhetoric on Ukraine on Thursday, saying the US president had "got it wrong".
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, on the other hand, did not comment directly on Trump's statements regarding Ukraine's role in the war and its president.
He instead repeated that Australia firmly backed Ukraine, and that he would not provide "ongoing commentary on everything Donald Trump says".
The latter comment is a stance many of us wished we could adopt, but it's clear, just two months into the second Trump administration, that it's going to be difficult to ignore what's happening in the US, or even to filter the news in any comprehensive way when it comes to Trump.
The early signals were already there before the Ukraine pronouncements, with the government hitting pause on its plans to tax US tech giants that choose not to make deals with Australian news outlets.
This was in response to Trump's chaotic announcements on tariffs, and which countries may or may not be hit with them.
Australia needs to win a concession on tariffs, so wading into geopolitical debates that involve contradicting Trump is not desirable.
But Mr Dutton leaping to Ukraine's defence so promptly has placed the Prime Minister on the back foot.
This is even more marked when one considers how many of Mr Dutton's views - on the size of the public service, for example - align broadly with Trump and his ilk.
Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, helmed by Elon Musk, has already found favour with the likes of mining magnate Gina Rinehart, who doesn't like how much is spent on office pot plants in the capital.
But the Prime Minister opting not to engage in issues of international importance when Dutton is eager to wade in is the kind of dynamic that could, eventually, make or break an election campaign.