Trump’s presidency is a gift to Australia: here’s why
This week, Donald Trump will be inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States of America. People are still in disbelief about this. Read your Twitter feed, scan the letters page of your local newspaper, or listen in on a conversation at your next barbecue and you’ll see it and hear it: “I can’t believe he got elected”, “Russia hacked the polling booth results”, “Hilary wuz robbed”, “The guy is a reality TV star with a Fanta tan and a toupee like a dead cat.” (OK, I made that last one up, but you get the gist.)
The reality is, it’s happening. And whether or not the results were hacked, there is no chance of a reprieve for Ms Clinton (ask Al Gore how the Florida re-count worked out for him back in 2000). Like it or lump it, the Trump presidency is coming like a freight train and there’s nothing you, I or Chuck Norris can do to stop it.
But one of the more interesting side-effects of this unstoppable juggernaut is the level of concern from the good people of my home country, Australia. Yes, as a geographically isolated, nominally Western nation with a long-standing alliance with the US of A, we arguably have the right to a keener-than-usual interest in American politics. But the level of despair at Trump’s rise to the throne is surprising, because (whatever your political beliefs) there is a rational argument that a Trump presidency will provide Australia with a rare four-year-plus window of opportunity to re-assert its economic and diplomatic standing in the world.
Simplistic, you might say. Or opportunistic. But I hold the following truths to be self-evident:
- The fear factor is real: To many observers, “Trump” is synonymous with “xenophobia”, and many of his supporters blatantly wear their prejudices on their sleeve. Will Asian and Middle Eastern tourists feel sufficiently motivated to visit a country where they feel their presence is, at best, not wanted or at worst, likely to cause them physical harm? Will they feel more motivated than ever to spend their precious vacation time in a place (any place) other than the United States? You betcha. This presents a massive opportunity for the Australian tourism industry to promote its wares in these territories. The same goes for international students, many of whom were once easily lured by the bright lights of America but now may be seeking a safer destination to invest in their education.
- Protectionism = isolation: To hear Trump tell it, he’ll rip up all of the free trade agreements in the Oval Officer drawer and embark on a mission of reintroducing tariffs, reopening factories for dinosaur industries, reinstating the blue-collar American worker to his rightful place at the top of the food chain, and burning every single trade bridge his predecessors ever built. Maybe American manufacturing will thrive again. Maybe it won’t. But one thing’s for sure: the more Trans-Pacific Partnerships that get poo-pooed, the more containers of cheaply manufactured plastic that get sent back at the port, the more world leaders that get annoyed… the better Australia will be at opening trade doors, and bolstering existing trade relationships, thanks to the diminished presence of America in the international trade ecosystem.
- Looking in the mirror may scare us: Once Australia gets a bird’s eye view of the carnage an alt-right government could cause, we might think twice about our preference for fringe parties and start scrutinising that five-metre-long senate ticket a little more closely. PM Pauline? You might think it’s a good idea now, but a few years of Trump might change your tune. And it might save us from an irreversible decline into insularity, which would be the death knell for Australia’s carefully cultivated world standing.
Do I feel bad for my American compatriots? Yes, of course I do. As one savvy Facebooker recently commented, “The next four years will be like when Scar ruled the Pride Lands” (to use a Disney analogy). I think Trump will send a number of critically important causes (like affordable health care, Black Lives Matter, and China-America relations) back several decades. I think his four-year (plus?) reign will shock America to its very core.
But from a purely non-emotional, practical point of view, I think Australia has much to gain from this political anomaly. It may be time to stop feeling bewildered and start making hay while the Trump shines, lest we look back on this period of history with regret.
