By political reporters Henry Belot and Francis Keany
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has vowed to make Australia’s national security and strategic interests in the Asia-Pacific region known to a Donald Trump administration “very early on”, as defence analysts warn there could be serious ramifications.
Republican Donald Trump stunned the world by defeating Hillary Clinton in the race for the White House, bringing to a close eight years of Democratic rule under Barack Obama.
Security experts have warned that Mr Trump’s election and isolationist policies may lead to instability in the Asia-Pacific region and leave Mr Obama’s foreign policy pivot to the region in ruin.
Ms Bishop said the Federal Government had prepared for a Trump victory and urged the president-elect to maintain its role in the Asia-Pacific.
“Australia is considered a strong and reliable ally of the United States and I expect that a Trump presidency would continue to regard Australia in that light,” she said.
“We acknowledge that the United States has been the guarantor of peace and security and stability in our region and we would certainly appeal to any incoming administration for the United States to maintain that role.”
Mr Trump has suggested that Japan and North Korea should acquire nuclear weapons and has described Mr Obama’s foreign policy as a “complete and total disaster”.
Associate Professor Peter Dean, senior fellow at the Australian National University’s (ANU) Strategic Defence Studies Centre, warned Mr Trump could threaten or “radically reshape” Australia’s strategic relationship with the United States.
Australia to weather ‘four bad years’
Professor Rory Medcalf from the ANU’s National Security College warned Australia would have to “weather four bad years” and that the Federal Government would have to consider formulating its own national security strategy that relies more on Australia’s own capabilities.
“Australia now has to focus not on panicking but on being more resilient and more capable as a security actor,” Professor Medcalf said.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told 7.30 he was confident the United States would stand by its commitments in the region and vowed to work constructively with Mr Trump.
“The fact is that when an administration takes office, when a president takes office, he is confronted with the realities of the national interests of the United States,” he said.
“The nation’s enduring interests continue and the alliance between Australia and the United States is set in the enduring national interests of both countries.”
Labor senator Penny Wong said there was bipartisan support for the United States to remain engaged in the Asia-Pacific and not retreat into isolationism.
“We think that’s in Australia’s interest,” she said. “We think that is in America’s interest and it’s in the world’s interest.
“United States engagement in the region has been a key factor in security in this region, stability in this region, which has been a platform for the economic growth we have seen over many years in this region.”
This post originally appeared on ABC News.
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