Dutton has also given his first response to the Trump tariffs, and of course it is to Sydney radio 2GB.

Dutton seems to think that the 10% tariff – the lowest that Trump has imposed on any nation – is a “negotiating” position, despite other nations having tariffs three times the size of Australia.

Temu Trump seems to think that he could do better with the actual Trump than the best deal that practically any other nation did, just by having a chat.

Oh, but Dutton isn’t going to back down on the issues that the US has with Australia – like biosecurity, or regulating tech giants, or the PBS. So he has no new negotiating tools, but just by the power of his sparkling personality, Trump will concede.

I think in the end, what we need to be able to do is to sit down with the administration and negotiate hard on our country’s behalf. And I think part of the problem is that the Prime Minister hasn’t been able to get a phone call or a meeting with the President, and there’s been no significant negotiation, leader to leader. So that has been the significant failing, and we need to be strong and to stand up for our country’s interests. And I think at the moment, the Prime Minister sort of flailing about as to what to do and how to respond.

There were at least two phone calls and regular communication at a diplomatic level as well as at a business level. And the response has been pretty clear?

We won’t change our stand on what Trump is upset at, we may go to the WTO (for all the good it would do), we won’t put on tariffs of our own, and we are already looking to further diversify trade.

Dutton’s problem is that the deal isn’t as bad as it could have been and that leaves him with not much of a position. Because he is saying he would take the same stance as Albanese, but also that he would just somehow be better at talking to Trump and that would change things. It would not change things.