President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull address interests…
President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull underlined their share commitments to fair trade, strong economies, national security, and strong bilateral relationship during a bulk of their joint press conference Friday.
“There is no closer friendship,” Trump opened. “Today’s strengthened by our common values and history, we’re working together to promote our mutual interests.”
One of those mutual interests is hardened borders. Trump praised Australia’s point-based immigration system — implemented in 2016 — as one that must be mirrored by the United States. As Australia’s law stands, migrant workers wishing to emigrate are tested on “skills, attributes, and suitability for employment.”
Then, they must pass a test that awards points to different skill sets such as English literacy, experience, past occupations, etc, according to the Australian visa bureau.
“My friends from Congress listening to that?” Trump said. “Merit-based. We want to do merit-based immigration… In that sense, we’re going to hopefully follow in your footprints.”
And the feelings of appreciation were mutual.
Turnbull stressed that recent economic gains under Trump, including higher wages, and lower corporate tax rates, and the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, were victories that many countries including Australia should strive toward.
“We have been inspired by your success in securing the passage of the tax reforms through the Congress,” said Turnbull. “The economic stimulus that your reforms have delivered here in the United States is one of the most powerful arguments that we are deploying to persuade our legislature to support reducing business tax.”
Turnbull marked Trump’s entrepreneurial spirit as shared core value between the nations, further underscoring a theme carried throughout the joint remarks: “a hundred years of mateship.” Turnbull continued to showcase the nations’ mutual priorities on the international stage, most notably on closing North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
Offering support of the newly released sanctions against the DPRK, Turnbull stressed that Australia would echo similar restrictions against Kim Jong-un’s regime while enforcing existing United Nations sanctions.
Both world leaders fielded questions from the press on ISIS, arming educators, security clearances within the White House, and Australia’s famous assault weapons ban in 1990. Turnbull and Trump together spiked down any possible correlation between gun violence in Australia and in the U. S.
“They’re very different countries with very different sets of problems,” Trump said.
Turnbull agreed, adding that the U. S. has “a very, very different history.”
Neither remarked substantially on the White House’s recently unveiled infrastructure plan. Members of Trump’s own cabinet, including Vice President Mike Pence, have pointed toward Australia’s infrastructure plan — especially their asset recycling program — as one that could be adopted and implemented on American shores.
And still, both Trump and Turnbull both hammered home that the relationship between Australia and the United States can only grow exponentially.
“Our relationship with Australia will always be a very powerful and very successful relationship,” said Trump. “It’s been incredible and it’s only getting better.”
