Australia needs distance from Trump's policies, says ex-PM
- Published
Trump and Obama play nice, but it wasn't always so
Former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating says his nation should "cut the tag" with US foreign policies after Donald Trump's election victory.
Mr Trump has called China a currency manipulator and compared its trade policies in the US to "rape".
America has been Australia's main ally in the Pacific since World War II.
Mr Keating argues Australia should find prosperity and security in South East Asia, independent of US policy goals.
He also said Australia was a superior society to the US.
"The foreign policy of Australia is basically we have tag-along rights to the US," Mr Keating told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
"It's time to cut the tag. It's time to get out of it."
He made stinging criticisms of the United States in comparing it to Australia on policies including healthcare and gun control.
"This society of ours is a better society than the United States," he said.
"It's more even, it's more fair... we don't shoot our children in schools and if they were to be shot we'd take the guns off the people who shot them. The Americans do not do this."
Mr Keating's comments were shared rapidly on social media.
Mr Keating made the comments in an Australian television interview
During his term of office from 1991 to 1996, Mr Keating pursued the "three Rs" - reconciliation with Indigenous Australians, the push to become a republic, and greater economic and cultural ties with Asia-Pacific region.
Mr Keating used his TV appearance to call for Australia to pursue an independent foreign policy focusing on South East Asia.
However, the former Labor Party leader conceded Mr Trump had some worthy policy ideas.
"Trump says, 'Can't we have a better relationship with Russia?' Not a bad idea," Mr Keating said.
"He says, 'Can't we get along better with China?' Not a bad idea. There's two reasonable ideas there."
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