Monday 21 July 2025

Topics: PM's China visit, productivity & stagnation under Labor

E&OE.......................

PETER STEFANOVIC: Now that the Prime minister's trip to China is over, come plans to get that face to face meeting with the US President, Donald Trump. Joining us live now out of Canberra, Liberal Senator Dave Sharma. Good to see you this morning, Dave. So plans are afoot, apparently. How do you rate our chances of that happening anytime soon?

DAVE SHARMA: Well, look, this is really up to the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese. He needs to be prioritising a meeting with the US President Donald Trump, who's, you know, it's now been almost, I think 260 days since his election. Most world leaders, certainly those with a comparably close relationship with the United States have met with President Trump. Some have done so multiple times. Anthony Albanese has yet to do so. And it reflects a sense of drift or neglect towards our most important security, strategic and defence partnership that with the United States.

PETER STEFANOVIC: Well, Matt Thistlethwaite on the programme earlier, he disputes that and and that's to be expected. But you know, on the, on the, on the topic of defence, you know, you've got Talisman Sabre that's, that's taken place. You know, the, the, the strength of our relationship is still there in his view. And so I mean, presumably he believes that, you know, a lot of your argument is overblown.

DAVE SHARMA: Look, I'd say that the institutional underpinnings of the US, Australia relationship are, are strong and have always been strong. That's military to military, defence to defence, intelligence to intelligence, official to official. But we know that President Trump runs a much more personalised court like style of administration. And so the relationship with the leader is all important in that sort of government. And Anthony Albanese simply does not have a relationship with Donald Trump. And there are many decisions that will sit in Donald Trump's intro that he will personally sign off on, whether it's tariffs, whether it's the orcas deal, where we need to make sure that we have an audience and we are able to register our points. And without a face to face meeting, we have not had that opportunity.

PETER STEFANOVIC: OK, So he got that face to face meeting as we know with Xi Jinping. He's back after that trip to China Now. Dave, how successful do you think that trip to China was? How successful and necessary?

DAVE SHARMA: Look, I think China is an important commercial, economic and trading partner and it's it's good then Anthony Albanese when I support him making a visit. It does not seem though, that we made a lot of progress on issues that were important to us, whether it's market access for blueberries, for instance, whether it's normalising our trading relationships, whether it's assurances from China's leadership about provocative and aggressive actions directed towards the Australian Defence Forces in international waters or international airspace, or whether it's, you know, the provocative circumnavigation and live fire exercise off our coast. And my read of it is that Chinese state media has basically portrayed Anthony Albanese's visitors, that of a supplicant. Now, I don't think that was Anthony Albanese's intention, but that's clearly how Chinese state media has portrayed this visit. And I don't think that's a good position for us to be in.

PETER STEFANOVIC: Is that to irritate the Americans though, do you think?

DAVE SHARMA: Well, I think the message that China is seeking to broadcast here is, look, countries like Australia, close US allies like Australia are coming to pay fealty to Xi Jinping and recognise China's dominance in this century and in this region. Other countries should get on board. And I think it's unfortunate that Australia has, under Anthony Albanese, has allowed itself to be portrayed in that way. The visit, the choreography, the messaging, it does not look like Anthony Albanese took a firm set of messages to Beijing, just as we would expect him to do with any other country.

PETER STEFANOVIC: So you might have just heard that item, that news that we've got that, that that looks as though there's some progress on a, on a Trump – Xi Jinping meeting. I mean, what, what would you be looking for on that front?

DAVE SHARMA: Well, for a Trump – Xi Jinping meeting that is important. The US China relationship is incredibly important, one not only for Australia, but for, you know, World Peace and prosperity and security. But I don't think there's any doubt that President Trump will go with a firm set of messages and he will be seeking to broadcast his own, you know, prosecute his own interests and broadcast his own interpretation of that rather than just going as a visitor to be told, you know, what to expect from China and to get on board with China's vision for the 21st century,

PETER STEFANOVIC: Closer to home, Dave, just a final point here that the year begins in earnest tomorrow. The Prime Minister's already got a shot across the bow to the Liberals, the Nationals and the Greens as well, not to obstruct things because it has a mandate. And, and it does considering the margin of victory. Plus the opinion polls aren't in great shape for, for the Libs and Nats as well. Will you obstruct? What are you gonna do? What's, what's the plan for this, at least the, the next fortnight?

DAVE SHARMA: No, look, we, we want to work with Labor to address Australia's fundamental problems. I mean, the, the truth is, Peter, that our country is in stagnation. We've got living standards flatlining. We've got housing that remains unaffordable, we've got productivity which is at 2016 levels. These are all problems that Labor has exacerbated or made worse during its last three term, three years in office. We want them to fix it now. I can't say the signs are positive, but we need to fix our productivity. We need to improve our living standards, we need to get government spending under control, we need to balance the fiscal fiscal books. Again, we will work with Labor constructively on all of those if they are prepared to actually grasp the nettle and deal with these challenges.

PETER STEFANOVIC: Good to see you as always this morning Dave. Talk to you again soon.

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