DAVID SPEERS: Penny Wong thank you for joining us from Canberra this afternoon.
SENATOR PENNY WONG, LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION IN THE SENATE: Good to be with you.
SPEERS: What is your reaction to what we are seeing with these election results here in the United States?
WONG: Obviously it is a very close election, perhaps the results to date are not what many people expected, and Mr Trump is certainly leading at the moment. My first reaction is this: as I have consistently said, what is important to remember from Australias perspective, whatever disagreement or different views we might have on domestic policy, we will work with whomever is elected President because that is what the national interest calls for.
SPEERS: Does it make it hard though to work with a Donald Trump President given your leader Bill Shorten has described him as barking mad?
WONG: Well I would make the point that this has been a very unusual election campaign. There have been comments made by leading Republicans. Prime Minister Turnbull has described some of Mr Trumps comments as loathsome. Minister Frydenberg described him as a dropkick some time ago.
But look theres a lot of things said in the light and heat of this particular election campaign. I think what is important after the result is clear, certainly from the Australian perspective, is for both parties to work together, put that light and heat behind us and to focus on what we need to do in the context of the US Alliance. We need to continue to assert Australias national interest. We need to encourage Mr Trump, should he become President, to stay engaged in our region. US engagement in the Asia-Pacific has underpinned security, stability and economic growth in the post-war period and it is in our interests for both parties of government to continue to encourage that engagement in our region.
SPEERS: Penny Wong let me ask you this, knowing your positions on these things, and then looking at Donald Trump, whether it is on climate change, whether it is on Muslim immigration, whether it is on attitudes towards women, the list goes on and on. Is there anything you can tell me that you agree with Donald Trump on?
WONG: Well look Bob Hawke worked very closely with the Reagan Administration. Weve had governments, for example a Coalition Government that has been in power for some of the time that President Obama, a Democrat, has been in power. So I dont think political differences, particularly around domestic policy, are the issue here. Obviously in terms of international policy, international engagement we will continue to assert, as the alternative party of government, and as the Labor Party, the things in which not only we believe but which we think are in the national interest. But I have consistently said in the lead up to this campaign when asked I think by you and many others
SPEERS: I appreciate all that but I just want to come back to this. Is there anything on domestic policy or foreign policy indeed that you would agree with Donald Trump on?
WONG: I am not going to engage in who is right or who is wrong on particular aspects of policy. I think it is pretty obvious on a range of things you said climate change the views of the Labor Party and the views of some Republicans are different. But we are not talking about a contest of domestic policy David, we are talking about an Alliance which is strong and enduring, that has been a key aspect of Australias foreign policy on a bipartisan basis for decades and will continue to be so regardless of who is President. That is consistent with the position I have articulated in the lead-up to today.
SPEERS: Just finally can I ask, Kim Beazley as you well know has suggested that should Donald Trump become President, we do need to question the Alliance, reconsider the Alliance. He is not alone in suggesting that. What is your view, is it a point at which we should be reviewing this Alliance and the weight that we give it compared to other powerful players in our region or not?
WONG: As I said, the Alliance is strong and enduring regardless of who is President. That does not mean, within that context, that Australia should not continue to assert our national interest. We should continue to encourage the US, for example, to be engaged in the region. We have a view about what the world should be doing on climate change, for example. We should continue to assert the things that we think are in our national interest, but our national interest remains served by the US alliance as one of the pillars of Australian foreign policy.
SPEERS: Shadow Foreign Minister Penny Wong I do appreciate your time this afternoon as this story still unfolds here in the United States.