Interview on Sunrise

Natalie Barr, Host: Let's now bring in Minister for Foreign Affairs, Penny Wong, joining us live in Washington D.C. Good morning to you. You were there this morning and we understand this is a first for an Australian Foreign Minister, is that right?

Foreign Minister: That's right. Good morning to you, and good morning to your viewers. Certainly it was such an honour and privilege to be present at the inauguration to represent you, to represent Australia. As you say, the first Australian Foreign Minister to be given that honour, and it really was, as I said, a privilege and quite an extraordinary event, the transfer of power in this great democracy.

Matt Shirvington, Host: He made a number of his target areas obvious in that speech. The big one was he said he's going to bring in an external revenue service, as opposed to an IRS, which will collect tariffs and duties for foreign sources. How do you think that will affect Australia? Will you need to deal with that?

Foreign Minister: Shirvo, as you know, President Trump has made clear his agenda would be about putting America first. So, this is not a new position, it's not a surprising position. What I would say in relation to trade is that when it comes to Australia - US economic relations in terms of trade, that the US has had a surplus with Australia since President Truman. About 2 to 1. And in fact, even of those exports from Australia that go to the US, about half of them go into US supply chains. So, in terms of adding value to the American economy, Australia certainly does. And that will be my message on behalf of Australia to the Secretary of State, and we will continue to put this view, that in fact the economic relationship is very much in America's favour.

Barr: Right. So, they're the winners, so they shouldn't tax us, I guess in short. She seems to be nodding. One of the interesting things he also said that from this day forth there will be two genders, male and female, in America. What did you make of that?

Foreign Minister: Look, I think there will be a lot of things, domestic politics, which, as Foreign Minister, I'm not going to be commenting on. There's going to be a lot of change in this Administration, certainly not going to be providing rolling commentary. What I would say is that my job on your behalf, and the government's job, is to advocate for Australia's interests - our economic interests, our national security interests - and we'll be doing that.

Shirvington: Is tech the new frontier? When you see the likes of Jeff Bezos there, Elon Musk, of course is part of his team. He said that he wants to plant the stars and stripes on planet Mars. What do you make of that? Is tech and tech influence the new war?

Foreign Minister: I'm not sure I'd use those words, but certainly I went to the church service this morning, which is the inauguration service at St. John's which the President Elect and the Vice President elect attend. And I was just sitting a couple of seats behind Elon Musk. And I think this demonstrates the close engagement of this sector in US politics. And this reflects the importance of the sector to the international and to the American economy.

Barr: So, on a broader scale, Trump and his team have made it very clear that they're taking a very tough stance on China. They want to put 60% tariffs on China. Given our close relations with China and just getting exports back on track, how do you navigate that as Foreign Minister?

Foreign Minister: The relationship with China that we have is one which we worked, and I think been reasonably successful, at getting to a more stable footing. And that's enabled some of the trade impediments to be removed, as you've heard me say, it doesn't mean we're not going to disagree on things. There are things we will disagree on, and things where we are not going to shift position and China is not going to shift position, but we are going to continue engaging in our national interest. Obviously, the United States is also going to be embarking on this next phase in its relationship with China and will look to enable the, you know, maximizing of America's interests, but also to have a dialogue and engagement. So, you know, we'll be engaged with both parties as Australia, and obviously very engaged in the United States as its ally.

Shirvington: He's also got an agenda in returning illegal immigrants back across the border. He's called it an emergency down there on the American Mexico border. He is going to pull out all stops to make sure that they are returned and deported. How do you feel about that? I mean, we're a country, we're a generous country, we accept a lot of immigrants. How do you feel about that approach?

Foreign Minister: Look, these are matters of domestic policy that President Trump and his team have been very clear about throughout the campaign. And, you know, I'm not going to engage in, as I said to you, rolling commentary on these matters of domestic policy. What he said today is consistent with what he's been saying for a very long time.

Barr: And just before we let you go, has Kevin Rudd had a chat to him yet?

Foreign Minister: I understand Ambassador Rudd did have an opportunity to chat with the then President Elect, and he was honoured to attend the inauguration with me today and also to attend the various events associated with the inauguration. You know, it's really quite an extraordinary event, and I again want to say my congratulations to President Trump and his team. This is a big day for them, but it's also a big day for the country and for the world. The changing of an American President, obviously a moment of real significance here and throughout the world.

Shirvington: Do you think Kevin Rudd and Donald have repaired their relationship? Will you meet with the Administration this week?

Foreign Minister: Look, I had the opportunity to have a brief chat today to a number of incoming members of the Administration, including the Secretary of the Treasury. I've got an opportunity to meet with Marco Rubio, who's the incoming Secretary of State, tomorrow, and I look forward to that. Also I had an opportunity to speak to Mike Waltz, who will be the National Security Adviser. So, this has been a really good opportunity on behalf of the country to engage with key people in this new Administration with whom we want to have a very open and strong relationship.

Barr: Foreign Minister Penny Wong, thank you very much for your time.

Foreign Minister: It was great to be with you. Thanks.