APEC: Albanese backs in Kevin Rudd, says he won’t stop to meet with Trump after summits

Anthony Albanese has confirmed he won’t stop to meet with Donald Trump on his way back from twin South American summits, as he backed in ambassador Kevin Rudd amid growing calls for him to be sacked.

Speaking ahead of the APEC summit in Peru on Thursday local time, the Prime Minister confirmed he would not be joining the list of world leaders trying to meet the president-elect ahead of his inauguration.

“I’ll have a meeting with President Trump when it is organised. We spoke about gathering, and I’m sure that will occur,” he said at a press conference, but said it was not his intention to make a stop in the US on his way back to Australia from the G20 in Brazil next week.

“We’ve had a very constructive beginning to our relationship with a very constructive phone call, and it was very positive.”

Mr Albanese also backed in Mr Rudd and downplayed concerns about his standing as Australia’s ambassador to the US, after Mr Rudd deleted disparaging comments he’d made on social media in the past.

“Ambassador Rudd’s doing a good job and that’s been recognised across the political spectrum in Australia, from Tony Abbott to Malcolm Turnbull to Peter Dutton and obviously to the Australian government,” Mr Albanese said.

His comments came after Mr Trump’s returning deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino posted an image of an hourglass in response to Mr Rudd’s statement – an indication that some close to Mr Trump believe Mr Rudd’s time in the role is running out.

Speaking more broadly, Mr Albanese acknowledged the second Trump Administration would have an impact on the world, but said Australia could potentially benefit should Mr Trump follow through in imposing widespread tariffs and wind back Joe Biden’s clean energy agenda.

Mr Albanese didn’t want to pre-empt what the US’ new trade policy could look like, but acknowledged the incoming Administration could have an impact on the global movement to net-zero.

“Potentially given Australia’s position in the world and the resources that we have, there are potential benefits if there are changes in US policy, we’ll wait and see what occurs,” he said.

“Of course President Trump won’t be sworn in until January 20, but the world is giving consideration of course to the changes that will occur.”

As for what investment Australia would hope to attract, Mr Albanese said the country’s natural resources had ample potential.

“The Inflation Reduction Act has seen considerable capital flows in the US, and if those investments aren’t there that would have some implications for the nature of the global economy,” he said.

“But we don’t pre-empt that government… certainly we see that Australia has great opportunity through climate action.

“We see that it’s important for our environment, but I also see this about economic opportunity. We have all the resources under the ground that will drive the global economy in the 21st century… We have a great opportunity to produce green hydrogen, we have the best solar resources in the world, and this represents an opportunity for Australia to participate in those measures.”

Mr Albanese met with Indonesian President Prabowa Subianto on Thursday (local time), where the pair discussed what impact Mr Trump’s presidency would have on the region, the growing military ties between Australia and Indonesia, and the need to “de-escalate” tensions in the region.

“As we speak, our defence forces are involved in a joint exercise in northern Australia, once again showing the importance of that security relationship that was finalised between the Defence Minister (Richard Marles) and yourself just before your inauguration,” Mr Albanese said.

“And of course our economic relationship is so important as well, I want to see more cooperation between our two great nations.”

Mr Prabowo said Australia was a “very good friend of Indonesia” who share “very common problems”, saying that despite some “ups and downs, we have been neighbours forever.

He said he was looking forward to continuing to build closer relations between the two countries, and expressed his desire for greater Australian participation in the Indonesian economy.

“I am happy with the state of our security cooperation – police to police and military to military,” Mr Prabowo said.

He said he was focusing on trying to improve Indonesia’s relationship with all its neighbours, including Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

“And some sort of management with the Chinese to de-escalate and lower the temperature,” he said, before media were quickly ushered out of the room.

Speaking later, Mr Albanese said Mr Prabowo was looking to ensure there was “peace, stability and security” in the South China Sea.

“And that there is engagement and dialogue to make sure that there aren’t any incidents that can escalate quickly… It is important that there be engagement and communication so there isn’t any misunderstanding,” he said.

Mr Albanese also met with Peruvian President Dina Boluarte, where he praised Peru’s successful leadership of APEC this year and pledged to work closely with her on trade, climate and mining.

The PM will deliver a speech to mining and business representatives on Thursday night (local time) where he will pitch for greater Latin American investment in Australia.