Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong has spent the morning dodging awkward questions about US President Donald Trump’s declaration that the US government will now only recognise ‘two genders’.
Ms Wong, along with ‘s US Ambassador Kevin Rudd, attended Mr Trump’s inauguration in Washington DC in the early hours of Tuesday, when the new US president said only ‘male and female’ would be officially recognised under his rule.
Facing the Seven’s Sunrise program on Tuesday, Ms Wong was asked by interviewer Natalie Barr what she had learned of Mr Trump’s announcement on gender.
‘One of the interesting things he also said, “That from this day forth there will be two genders in America, male and female” – what did you make of that,’ Barr asked Wong.
‘Look, I think there will be a lot of things – domestic politics, which as foreign minister I’m not going to be commenting on,’ Ms Wong said.
‘There’s going to be a lot of change in this administration, I’m certainly not going to be providing rolling commentary.
‘What I would say is that my job, on your behalf, and the government’s job is to advocate for ‘s interests, our economic interests, our national security interests, and we’ll be doing that.’
Ms Wong was asked an almost identical question and gave a similar answer on Tuesday morning on ABC Radio National’s breakfast program.
However, ABC interviewer Sally Sara pressed Ms Wong over the issue.
‘If President Trump is talking about rolling back diversity, equity and inclusion programs and only recognising two sexes, male and female, what will that mean for members and representatives of the n government and public servants that will be working directly with the administration?’ Sara asked.
‘Will you be seeking guarantees about their treatment?’
‘I think you are working very hard to ask me to comment on a domestic policy announcement the President made just a few hours ago,’ Ms Wong replied.
‘And as I said to you I don’t intend to do that. I have a job to do here in Washington and that is to advocate for ’s interests our security interests and our economic interests and that is what I intend to do.’
Ms Wong was also cagey when asked about Dr Rudd’s relations with Mr Trump following a history of acrimony between the pair.
Sunrise host Matt Shirvington asked Ms Wong if she thought Kevin Rudd and Donald have repaired their relationship as well as whether she would meet with the administration this week.
Ms Wong only answered the second question listing a number of officials she would be talking to including the Secretary of the Treasury and the incoming Secretary of State.
‘This has been a really good opportunity on behalf of the country to engage with key people in the new administration with whom we want to have a very strong and open relationship,’ she said.
Dr Rudd previously called Trump a ‘traitor to the West’, a ‘village idiot’ and described him as the ‘most destructive president in history’.
In response, Trump said that Rudd was ‘nasty’ and he would not last long in the role if he returned to the White House.
Earlier Ms Wong revealed Dr Rudd had been talking to Mr Trump before the inauguration.
‘I understand Mr Rudd, Ambassador Rudd, did have an opportunity to chat to the then President-Elect and he was honoured to attend the inauguration with me today and also to attend the various events associated with the inauguration,’ Ms Wong said.
‘It’s really quite an extraordinary event and I again want to say, my congratulations to President Trump and his team.
‘This is a big day for them but it’s also a big day for the country and for the world. The changing of an American president is obviously Moment of real significance here and throughout the world.
Ms Wong was also cagey on Mr Trump’s proposed stricter taxes and tariffs on imports into the US and how that would impact ..
‘President Trump has made clear his agenda would be about putting America first, so this is not a new position, it’s not a surprising position,’ she said.
‘When it comes to -US economic relations, in terms of trade, that the US has had a surplus with since President Truman (mid 1900s).
‘Even of those exports from that go to the US, about half of them go into US supply chains.
‘In terms of adding value to the American economy, certainly does and that will be my message on behalf of to the Secretary of State and we will continue to put this view that the economic relationship is in America’s favor.’
During Mr Trump’s speech, he said his administration would put an end to trying ‘to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life’.
‘We will forge a society that is colour blind and merit-based,’ he said.
‘As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders: male and female.’