Malcolm Turnbull calls out Australian deference to | Australian Markets

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has mocked US President Donald Trump in a pugnacious handle to the National Press Club, saying Australian policymakers needed to “get off their knees” and stand up to the “billionaire bully”.

“We’ve got to start looking after ourselves,” he stated.

“As I said, do you think if there was an Australian version of Donald Trump, do you think that person would be tiptoeing around worrying about offending the United States? Of course not. He’d be standing up for Australia … and that’s the challenge for our leaders.

“They’ve got to be able to stand up. And if that means you get a brickbat or a Truth Social post saying you’re weak and ineffectual and ‘you don’t know anything about China’, then you should … If you’re spooked but that, you shouldn’t be in the job.”

Mr Turnbull impersonated President Trump’s distinct voice and method of speech whereas delivering the road, triggering laughter within the room.

The Truth Social dig references a post on the social media platform from President Trump hitting out at remarks from Mr Turnbull in March.

The former prime minister had criticised President Trump’s second administration as “chaotic” in an interview with Bloomberg and stated China would take “massive advantage of Trump.”

President Trump shot back in a late night time post, saying Mr Turnbull had “never understood what was going on in China.”

“Malcolm Turnbull, the former Prime Minister of Australia who was always leading that wonderful country from ‘behind’, never understood what was going on in China, nor did he have the capacity to do so,” President Trump stated.

“I always thought he was a weak and ineffective leader and, obviously, Australian’s agreed with me!!!”

In his speech and the query and reply session that adopted, Mr Turnbull argued Australian policymakers have been too “timid” and “deferential” to the mercurial president and may think about retaliatory actions towards the worldwide superpower in response to hostile stress towards Australia.

He stated each Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton had failed to recognise the modified actuality of international politics and defend Australia’s pursuits.

“The United States is a friend, but my plea to Australian politicians is get off your knees and stand up for Australia,” he stated.

“Be as transactional as America is with us and remember in the imperial capital, they always regard deference at their due.

“Trying to get into a race of who can do the most sucking up, particularly with Mr Trump, as I know from direct experience, is not the way to advance your interests or your nation’s interests.”

Mr Turnbull urged Defence Minister Richard Marles withdraw the lately introduced $3bn fee to US coffers to prop up America’ submarine manufacturing base.

“I think you could start with the $3bn or the $2.5bn left being handed over to support the US submarine industrial base,” he stated.

“Do you think we win any respect from Trump by being such a pushover?

“So timid, so deferential … you’ve got to be prepared to be as tough as him.”

He additionally stated the federal government ought to think about withdrawing American entry to naval bases in Perth.

“How do we feel about providing, at our multibillion-dollar cost, a base for American nuclear submarines in Perth in circumstances where we see massive tariffs imposed on our exports to the United States despite a free-trade agreement, pressure to compromise our Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme with the goal of making Australians pay more for medicine, interference with our sovereign right to regulate social media platforms, a global trade war unleashed which could severely damage our economy and in all likelihood end up with no submarines,” he stated.

Mr Turnbull stated Donald Trump was a “billionaire bully” who solely revered power and energy.

He stated President Trump was systematically trashing western liberal democracies, citing the president’s proposed annexation of each Greenland, a Danish territory, and Canada, and Australia’s political class was paralysed by the shock revolution in worldwide affairs.

“There is a big whale in the bay called Donald Trump, splashing around, wetting everybody and creating mayhem and our political class are pretending it’s not there,” he stated.

Mr Turnbull, who served as prime minister from 2015 to 2018 earlier than he was deposed by Scott Morrison, argued Australia needed to be more unbiased within the new world of brute energy politics and reclaim sovereignty from the US.

“One American general friend of mine … said to me, ‘you go on about sovereignty, Malcolm, but Australia has never really been sovereign’.

“And I said, well, you know, that’s fine for you to say but from our point of view, and this is the thing, we’ve got to stop looking at our own country through the prism of Washington.”

Mr Turnbull’s call for retaliatory measures towards the US comes following the imposition of tariffs on Australian metal and aluminium and threats from American tech corporations incensed by Australia’s regulation of social media platforms.

Mr Turnbull additionally concentrated his eager criticisms of the AUKUS defence pact, which entails Australia buying nuclear-powered submarines from the US, within the speech.

He argued Australia was unlikely to ever obtain submarines from the US given manufacturing challenges in America’s shipyards and there was a bipartisan lack of transparency concerning the dangers to Australian sovereignty and defence capability from the deal.

“If the big parties won’t face reality, it may be that Australians will need the crossbench, assuming they have the balance of power, to demand a thorough and urgent assessment of the state of the AUKUS submarine project, a rigorous analysis of the risks and a clear assessment of the measures and alternative options available to address those risks,” he stated.

“Hope is not a strategy.”

The former Liberal chief was requested concerning the federal election, however refused to say who he would vote for.

“It’s a secret ballot,” he stated.

He additionally confirmed he wouldn’t marketing campaign for Liberal candidates.