Minds. Lets turn it over to you, tony, and get it started. [applause] abbott walter, thank you. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen for being here. It is always good to be in washington and at the Heritage Foundation in particular. I have a speech which i am going to deliver. I have worked on it. I think it is important that i give you the speech i have written. Thate just begin by saying america is the indispensable country, the only country on earth with the strength and the consistently beat the free world. I like to think that australia is americas indispensable partner. The one country that america can always rely on for help when America Needs it. So with those introductory notes, it is straight to the Heritage Foundation. Back in november of 2014 when australia hosted the annual meeting of the g20, it was by far the most important gathering of leaders ever held in my country. It should have been a diplomatic triumph, but for president obama choosing at that time to give a speech at the university of queensland that was seen as an attack on my government touchy climate policy. At the time of my governments touchy policy. , was pressured to rebuke him but it was the duty of the Prime Minister not to be critical of the leader of the free world. I have to say that on this trip to washington, i have noticed that respect for the office of the president is not so common even here in the United States itself. ,hat is a pity, if i may say so because he is not just your president. As a leader of the free world, which the president inevitably is by virtue of americas singular strength and goodwill, in a sense, he is everyones president , and the road needs him to succeed almost as much as america does. If the president is strong, america is strong. If america is strong, australia is stronger, britain is stronger, canada is stronger. Indeed, all the countries of the free world are stronger. That is why so many people outside of the United States follow each president s triumphs avails almost as closely as if we were ourselves citizens of this republic. Much to the surprise of many given that this may to resident donald trump selection, indeed, somewhat to my own surprise given my view then that mr. Trump was almost uniquely underqualified for such an office, i think he has been quite a success. ,is style sometimes grates but he has been a very good president. Maybe it has just been overtaken by trumpderangement syndrome. But for the first time in years, the main narrative is not one of american decline. For obama, america could not be the worlds policeman on its own, couldnt be the worlds economic locomotive on its own. So it is refreshing actually that trump doesnt talk about what america cant do, but what it can. Thanks to tax cuts and less red tape, American Economic growth has surged. Employment has soared, especially for minorities. The stock market is hitting alltime highs and wages are finally increasing after decades of stagnation. Sure, trump has shown more interest in boosting growth than in restraining spending, to the dismay of fiscal conservatives. But as Ronald Reagan may have said, for the moment at least the deficit seems to be likely enough to take care of itself. For years now, it has been assumed that americas destiny was to be overtaken by china as the Worlds Largest economy. Of course, that may still happen. But actually, it is chinas economy that now seems under pressure in the face of robust american efforts to stop china taking advantage of the free trade that it never practices itself. Besteople who know china cant wait to get their money out, and their kids educated in the west. The people of hong kong, who are risking bloody repression in support of your british heritage, dont trust the goodwill or the longevity of the communist regime. For years, it has been assumed that, globalization underpinned by free trade was both unstoppable and good, even though it was much more obviously good for the rich people of poor countries than for the poor people of rich ones. Yet trumps tariff hikes against china seem to be bringing in more investment dollars home, boosting American Manufacturing jobs, and cutting the trade deficit while shrinking chinas role in americas supply chains should cut the technology theft. For years, it has been assumed that the price of American Global leadership was putting up with unreasonable critics and free riding friends. It was joining global agreements that were against americas best interest, and it was turning the other cheek every time an enemy took advantage of american decency. That is how it was. But that is not how it is under trump. Storming out of meetings is a rough way to make a point, but in refusing to be polite and to play by the old rules, trump has actually improved americas position. He has called china a trade that was destroying american jobs. Mexico, the open backdoor that would have to pay for a wall. N. A. T. O. Allies, freeloaders who needed to get serious about their own defense. And the paris Climate Change con, shackling america in ways that didnt bind other countries. Effective. Crude but whatever you think of trumps personal integrity, he has turned out to have had remarkable political integrity. He has done everything that he promised to do including things that other president s promised but never delivered, like moving the u. S. Embassy to jerusalem. He promised to cut taxes, and he has. He promised to boost the armed forces, and he has. He promised to pull out of a Transpacific Partnership, and he has. He promised to pull out of paris, and he has. He promised to appoint conservatives to the course, and did that to the Court Conservatives to the courts and he did. He promised to bring china to book on trade and he has certainly made a very strong start. He promised to pull america out of the endless wars of the and with far fewer u. S. Soldiers killed on his less, america is liked no but feared much more. Above all else, he promised to make America Great again. And i think he is largely succeeding, fundamentally because his main instincts are sound and supreme selfconfidence means that he is never afraid of acting upon them. First and foremost, trump is an american patriot. Merica made him so he loves his country as he loves himself. Now, inevitably, there have been some questionable calls. Pulling out of the Transpacific Partnership was one, if only because for once it enabled china, with its rival freetrade deal, the original comprehensive economic partnership, to look more like a credible global han america. Pulling out of syria could have been an abandonment of the kurds, who had been americas most reliable muslim allies in the middle east. But he more or less reversed that decision 36 hours later and more American Forces streamed in. Then there was the dronekilling of irans top general. In my view, it was an error not to respond more vigorously to irans downing of an american an error not to respond more vigorously to irans downing of an american drone and the refineries. Audi oil proportionately to strikes that might have made america look weak but had no actual casualties. But once iran and its proxies had attacked americans come ,rump did what no one expected he killed the very spearhead of irans attempts to export its islamic revolution. Now, this could still have dire consequences yet, unmistakably it shows but you dont mess with america. That might not be a recipe to success on mainstream, middle america, but as we know, in the people are, gentle taken advantage of while fierce alone. E left there is a world of difference between a fight with iran, that trump is of is he ready to pick, that trumpn iran shows not the slightest inclination to wage. Between attacking iranian ,acilities and inventing iran from getting a Nuclear Weapon that america could well be up for, and a Ground Invasion to try to bring about regime change, that should really be the business of the iranian people. Un perhaps, but real enough, there is an emerging trump doctrine, to use American Economic strength against regimes and to use military force to avenge in the attacks. To the trump haters, the Soleimani Killing was more evidence of wild oscillations between isolationism and interventionism. But more likely, it just shows trumps determination to hurt addicas enemies but not to to americas responsibilities. Again,ar, let us be fair it does seem unpresident ial to threaten other countries with hellfire, and personal to mock political foes as pocahontas or sleepy joe. This name is just a modern american version of the verbal battles that are routine in other countries arguments. I am sure it is unprecedented for the leader of the free world, in a situation where words can be weapons, to compulsively tweet against anything he doesnt like. On the other hand, given official tendency to fudge, may be an unfiltered president is exactly what the world needs right now. In russia, a new sultan in istanbul and a new emperor in beijing, more power jockeying than in many years, perhaps it is just as well that there is another rough rider in the white house. Even though russian and turkish meddling in syria or libya will not turn out any better for them powers. Has for western and china will not be strengthened by accumulating client states in the third world any more than other countries have. Use firstould america is economic strength with its military muscle in reserve in order to bring about geopolitical objectives . What matters is that america and other western countries should renovate their economies, rally their people, believe more in themselves, and act where the need to, always weighing what will do more good than harm in order to protect the citizens, defend their interests, and advance their valleys. Values. Ce their in america, Great Britain and australia, this is happening. Minister, it was my view that it was presumptuous that australia should demand that other countries be just like us. In the middle east, for instance, the most we could expect and demand was governments that did not practice genocide against their own people, nor forbid terrorism against hours, in other words, punish bad behavior, reward Good Behavior and work with anyone where it is in our interests to do so. Flew time, Australia Military jets through chinas selfproclaimed air defense identification zone, yet worked with china as we led the search for missing aircraft in which mh370. We did deals with our trading partners to give the same access to their markets as they did to ours. We were determined to bring back 70r dead from the mh3 atrocity, forcefully if necessary. We joined the fight against the caliphate that on the understanding that we could not do more for the iraqis than they were more willing to do for themselves. And while we worked with the indonesian government to stop peoplesmuggling, when they failed to prevent illegal wouldbe migrant boa ts from leaving their country for hours, we turned around and we sent them back. While i never thought that the prospect of a slightly warmer climate in some decades time was the worlds biggest threat, never thought that i was prepared to sign up to Emissions Reductions targets in paris provided other countries did likewise, and on the advice that cuts could be achieved without loss in jobs and without the taxes. And as Prime Minister, i tried to make it easier for president obama by ensuring that australia was always there to help. I am not sure whether these policies were liberal conservativest, pragmatists or realist. Frankly, i never cared for tags anyway, provided the result was a stronger australia and a better world. It is said that with trump you should take them seriously but not literally. But actually, i believe there is a pattern to it. He talks loudly to make a point, but talks softly when he is carrying a big stick. When he is taking out a general, for instance, or forcing a trade concession. Sometimes he makes speeches that stand comparison even with reagans. His recent speech to the u. N. For instance. Patriotism over globalism. To decent values of ideology. He was highly critical of some governments but respectful of countries, and generous to peoples and to cultures. If you want freedom, he said, take pride in your country. If you want democracy, he said, hold on to your sovereignty. You see, trump is the first major leader in the western world to have worked out that poor people have become more conservative just as richer people have become more progressive. Have a recast centerright Politics Around the country we can take pride in and a community we have a place in as well as an economy we can make the most of. Least in the englishspeaking countries, centerright politics has never been very ideological or even especially philosophical, it has been about coming to grips with the troubles of the times in ways that correspond with peoples best instincts. Era,e eisenhowermacmillan it was spreading prosperity through homeownership and higher wages. In the reaganthatcher era, it was more economic dynamism through lower taxes and less regulation. Now, in the trumpjohnson era, it is still that, but with an added stress on pride in country, at a time when so many of our citizens feel that everyones interest come first but their own. D, at the heart of the centerright project has been care for those who are working hard but not necessarily getting ahead. My partysen people, founder called them. They are the people of the flyover states for trump, and the brexiteers for boris johnson. Just as they were once the reagan democrats, or the bluecollar tories. To theime of pitching public seems to have given trump an instinctive feel for what i would call social fabric conservatism. And unlike the left where what matters is prescribing too politically correct beliefs, for the centerright what matters is attending to peoples real concerns. Trumps people cheered, draining the swamp. , thehe washington class westminster clique, the establishment, if you like, on both sides have become more concerned with who is in power than what is actually being done with it. Politics has become an insiders game detached from the voters and their concerns. Mannow, trump is their running the government, not washingtons man running them. Who would have thought for years ago that the reality tv capitalist, addicted to tweeting, would turn out to be a more effective president than the Political Insider who had preceded him, blessed with soaring rhetoric and symbolizing the countrys ability to heal . That is what the impeachment upset sore losers impeachmentobsessed sore losers who dominate the Democrat Party still dont get. Yes, everywhere, our politics is becoming more fragmented and more polarized. The right is more right and the left is more left, and there is a tendency to retreat into echo chambers, but all of us are still citizens of particular countries, and we still need the governments of our countries to succeed. So rather than demonize everyone we disagree with, is that better to give our leaders, for the time being at least some grudging respect . Back, had i been an american, i would have been a reluctant trump voter. But not now. He might sometimes seem crass or intemperate, but that does not mean he is not the best possible president for america at this time. After all, when it comes to electing the president , people are not choosing a safe or even a role model, they are seeking a leader. And the one thing you can say of trump is that he has been shy to cannot say thing you of trump is that he has been shy to lead. In my country, if you have a go, you deserve to get a go. That is how i feel about the presidency right now, which i guess makes me a supporter of keeping America Great. And overseas supporter of keeping America Great, but lets face it, it is a great country. And all of us have a stake in keeping it that way. [applause] host thank you very much. One of the things i didnt say in introducing you, that i should have, is that you are a keen observer of american politics. I think you know american politics as well as any american. I should have mentioned that. I wanted to start with a question that is more political and may be more focused on australia off the bat. Years, 10 or 15 years ago, the general think on the connection between conservatives here in the u. S. And conservatives or liberals in australia was that they are different. That in america, we are economic conservatives focused on economic freedom, but we have this social element. In australia, they dont have that. In some ways, the impression was conservatives are cool in australia because they dont care about social issues, they just care about low taxes and all the rest. I wonder if you could tell us about the way that conservatism in australia is evolving. It seems to have evolved substantially in the last 10 or 15 years. Pm. Abbott thanks. I should offer this opening conservatism is not an ideology. To evenuld be reluctant call it a philosophy. State of mind as much as anything else. It is a set of instincts. Ultimately, it is respect for what is and a reluctance to change what works other than where it is obvious that theres something that would be better. Invariably, that something that would be better is more of a restoration than a reform. It is going back to something timesbetter suits these than that which had perhaps corrupted what had well suited earlier times. Notonservatism is certainly a systematic philosophy based on a particular idea in the way that liberalism might be, or socialism might be, for communism might be or communism might be. That is the first point i would make. Conservatism tends to be what people who regard themselves as conservatives think and do any particular time. The greatest contemporary conservative in australia obviously was john howard, our 25th Prime Minister. The longestserving prime menzi, other than bob the founder of the liberalhowarl position of the liberal party is to be economically liberal and socially conservative. What he meant by that was that we tended to support the market in economics, but we tended to be traditionalists when it came to other things. Think conservatism in australia is no less conservative on social issues , not in defending traditional values, but i think it is becoming less liberal on economic issues. Hink conservative is him conservatism is becoming less liberal on economic issues. President trump is not a free marketeer in the way that president reagan was. Prime minister johnson is not a free marketeer in the way that market Margaret Thatcher was. Wereer reagan nor thatcher uniformly market oriented. Days, and lets face it, we were reacting against the statism of the 1950s in the 1960s and the 1970s, the sclerosis of the 70s in particular. In those days, there was a great deal of enthusiasm for markets. I think today, while we all accept that markets are the best engine of wealth generation, i think we also accept that wealth generation is not the only thing that we should be on about and that the social fabric is incredibly important as well as the will of our country. This is a bit of a longwinded discourse. But another but nevertheless, takes onk conservatism the temper of the times. The days of back in the clinton election, there was that phrase the economy is stupid. I think these days, the quote would be to say society is stupid. We are more conscious of the importance of the bonds of solidarity today than we might have been 20 or 30 years ago. Walter terrific. Thank you. Now i wanted to turn to a question more international. It gets right to the topic of your talk, what is next after america . What is the answer to that question . What, if not america leading, especially globally, what other choice do we have . Pm abbott its interesting. I chose a topic and then i wrote a speech on this beach did not fit the topic, im sorry about that. [laughter] pm abbott thats what happens. You think, lets talk about something and then as you start to think about it and write about it, you decide there is something more interesting and more urgent. So you go off in another direction. There is no doubt that challenges to american prestige and strength, economic and military, today than for quite a few decades. But, the interesting thing is that under trump, america doesnt appear to be daunted by those challenges in a way that i think it had been before trump. Well, weost trump, dont know what the post trump arrow will look like because we have not gotten to that yet. But the singular feature of donald trump is that he has supreme selfconfidence in himself and in his country. And that, frankly, was the missing ingredient in the previous presidency. And frankly, there has been a for muche to the west of the postwar period. Our confidence waxed under reagan and thatcher, it waned under their successors. I think again, it is starting to wax under people like trump and boris johnson, and that is a good thing. Walter great. Thank you. I want to take some questions from the audience. There is quite a bit in the news, im sure there are questions out here. Yes, right here, the yellow shirt. Please identify yourself. You mentioned the free world a number of times. Is there an unfree world and if so, what should australians relations be with it . Arebbott obviously, there lots of important countries which dont enjoy freedom in the inse that we enjoy freedom britain, america, australia and western europe. China is not a free country as the people of hong kong are only too well aware. I dont think turkey is becoming more democratic, i think it is plainly becoming less democratic. Periodseems to have a of anarchic freedom that plainly, that is not the case under president putin. So yeah, there are lots of countries that dont enjoy the sort of freedom that we take for granted. Shouldntying that we work with those countries. And certainly, i was i was too happy to work with china where it was in our mutual interests to do so. But i think it is also important if a country is not free, it is not free. Thoset to gloss over differences. I think for a long time, there was this rosy assumption on the part of many of us, myself included perhaps, that china and the west were on converging paths. But i dont think anyone would say that is the case now. And i think it has been obvious, at least for the last few years, that that is not the case. Look, the world comprises some 190 different countries, big and small, similar and dissimilar, free and not free, and the important thing is for those of us that are free to do what we can to nudge the world in the right direction, always excepting that it will never be perfect. And we can easily end up doing more harm than good, if we blunder into situations where angels would fear to tread. Walter the trickiest one of those is the chinese. Because china, as you say, is far from free. But it is essentially to the australian economy. Is the future of australias relationship with china given that dynamic . It is at ok, well, good question. There will be lots of business in australia that would urge the Australian Government to avoid doing anything that might upset the chinese government. To for arguments sake support american navigation exercises in the south china sea. Not to protest about what to maybe, in the offing in hong kong, not to meet with the dalai lama and so on. I certainly dont think we should be gratuitously offensive. O anyone certainly we should not be good to his lee offensive to china, given its significance to us and the wider world. But, i think we have also got to appreciate that china does not do deals with us because it is benevolent, china doesnt trade with us because it is doing a favor, china trades with us because we are a very good trading partner. It gets good products at a good price. It would actually be against chinas longterm selfinterest, it would be cutting off its nose, if china were to change try toding patterns to punish australia for arguments sake for being a reliable Strategic Partner of the United States. As always, these things are balancing acts. You have in the end, got to have your own last thingt, and the you should do is sell your soul for a shortterm financial gain. Walter i can say, watching the debates in australia from afar, that is a perspective that sometimes is lost in australia. You talked a lot about confidence in the United States. To from afar and out an outsider, sometimes it doesnt seem like australians dont have enough confidence in their own country and their assets and the value it brings to the table when dealing with china. It is all china as they deem on door and australia as the respondent to the situations. Other questions right here . Leah from voice of america. The phase oneut trade deal between the United States and china. You think President Trump has made a very strong start. Im wondering, can you talk a little bit about the impact this phase one trade deal between the u. S. And china has only has on australia . The second question, australia is part of the trump administrations indopacific strategy. From australias point of view, do you think this strategy has been effective in balance in china, if not containing china . Thank you. Pm abbott the first point to make i suppose is it is absolutely in australias interest, and it is absolutely in the interests of the indopacific region that america retain a very strong involvement. I dont think there is any country in asia other than china itself that wants america to quit its positions in the indopacific. So that is the first point to make. Second point to make is there is absolutely no doubt that china has taken advantage of a globalized economy. And look, all credit to the Chinese People and government for the extraordinary advances in human world being. Liftingng the result, half a billion people from the third world to the middleclass in over a generation is one of the most remarkably if not the most remarkable advanced in Material World being in the whole of history. All credit to the chinese for this. Remains, that china system is very, very different from ours. A world dominated by china would be very different from a world we have known for the last century or so. I think it would be a worse world in almost every respect. And the fact that the Chinese People who can and want to get their money out of china, want to get their kids educated in the west, want to see if they can acquire property in the last and passports in western countries, says all you need to know about the real nature of the current chinese government. Does this reflect badly on the Chinese People . No, it doesnt because if you look at singapore, if you look at taiwan, if you look at hong kong, if you look at the way Chinese People live in countries such as australia and america, there is no kind of authoritarian gene in the Chinese People as we have seen looking at taiwan and hong kong and Chinese People who are living in countries like this. Phase one trade deal, lets see how it works out. At the moment, it is really an aspiration. It is a commitment. It is not something that has been delivered upon. If china goes ahead and buys billions and billions more from the United States, that is all well and good. That that will not have a huge impact on australias exports. Are main exports to china are things like coal, iron ore, natural gas, and boutique foodstuff. It seems to me that it is more commodity foodstuff that america is going to be exploiting to china. I dont think australia is in that market to the same extent. Hi. Would youyou have said the bushfires in australia are getting a lot of attention, the front pages of the paper, people main have not known that you are fighting the fires on the front line. In many publications, australia is being held up as an example of what will happen if the world does not take action on reducing carbon emissions, as kind of a poster child for a lack of action on Climate Change. What is your reaction to that . And also, i was wondering if you have if you think the prime thester his reactions to fires, has he made any mistakes . He took the holiday to hawaii when that was happening cared was that a mistake . What do you think of the way he has handled it . Pm abbott well, i dont think anyone could fault the extraordinary effort at the Prime Minister has put in to responding to the starting to receive bushfire emergency. In terms of money, in terms of time, and in terms of commitment of the armed forces, it has been quite unprecedented. So all credit to Scott Morrison for what he has done there. Just on the subject of Climate Change, look, i had, if you like, a standard response whenever i was asked about Climate Change. I said climate does change, mankind does make a difference, and we should do what we reasonably can to limit emissions. Of course we should. We should rest lightly on the planet. But i would always say we shouldnt damage our economy in the pursuit of environmental objectives, particularly when it might turn out to be counterproductive. We all know that stronger economies are much better at managing the environment than weaker ones. You only have to look at the United States on the one hand and the countries of africa on the other hand. Everything associated with an extreme weather event these days is taken as proof of Climate Change. Change,s prove climate floods prove Climate Change, Superstorm Sandy i think proved Climate Change, whether it is extraordinarily cold or extraordinarily hot, whether it is extraordinarily dry or extraordinarily wet, it all proves Climate Change because if you think Climate Change is the most important thing, everything can be turned to proof. Any, it has almost a religious aspect to it. I think the Prime Minister is right. He said that Climate Change may droughtng a role in the which triggered the bushfires. But we have got to remember that bushfires are hardly unknown in australia. And while the current bushfires are probably the worst that New South Wales has experienced, and the current bushfire season has been very extensive, the duration may be unprecedented. Burning out to large parts of the country, no, not unprecedented. In terms of death, no, not unprecedented. The black saturday bushfires in victoria killed 173 people. The Ash Wednesday bushfires of 1983 killed 75 people. The 1974 fire season, that burned out more than 100 million hectares compared to 6 million hectares so far this season. People who of those sees the current bushfires as confirmation of all we have ever feared about the change in climate. I see the current bushfires as the sort of thing that we are always going to be prone to in a country such as ours. Land of droughts and flooding rains, as ive said all those years back. That said, obviously we do have to take sensible measures to reduce emissions. The great thing about australia is while we are not perhaps the of thethusiastic members climate squad, we are actually meeting our paris targets in a way that very few other countries do. I think we should get more credit for actually keeping our commitments when it comes to reducing emissions. Walter right in the center here. In the purple. Thank you very much for the wonderful speech. With hong kong television. My question is how is australia going to balance the australia and atna relationship, the same time that australia and the u. S. Relationship . And do you think china and australia will keep deepening their relationship as trading partners in the future . What might affect their largest trading partners right now . Thank you. Pm abbott ok, well look, john howard had a way of putting it. He said australia doesnt have to choose between how our geography. Our i had my own way of putting it when i was per minister. I said you dont make new friends by losing old ones. Than possiblemore for australia to have an extremely intimate Strategic Partnership with the United States. While at the same time, to have a strong and grounding economic relationship with china. Think there are some things that china and australia are always going to disagree about. As long as China Remains a communist all tiger fee and australia remains a liberal democracy. But that is life. People dont always agree. Countries dont always agree. The important thing is to manage the disagreements and so far we have managed to do it well. Thank you. Katie wong with ntd tv. The u. S. Has this free open indopacific from your point of view, what can the u. S. On australia do together more in this field to promote the values here . Pm abbott well look, i think australia and america are doing a lot. I cant think of anything where we have not done as much as is reasonably possible. So look, i think the important statess for the united instay very closely engaged the indopacific region. You might be hinting at what should the western response to things like the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank be . Are, i think we need to be careful about anything which creates a debt trap for other countries. Potentiallainly is a measuresf the sorts of that are happening under the socalled belton road initiative. Belt and road initiative. Not good for the recipient and in the long run, not good for the donor or. The United States development aid, the Australian Development aid is invariably directed to strengthening the recipient as opposed to establishing a relationship of the tenancy between the dough or and the recipient. And i certainly dont think in response to belt and road initiatives, we should engage in that kind of activity ourselves. A hotteraybe even topic than that is the issue of Telecommunications Technology and where australia is going without, where everyone is going in regards to 5g. Can you comment on that . Pm abbott well look, the position of my government was see we didnt want to deeply embedded in our telecommunications infrastructure. It was in fact a decision of the former government, which my government maintained, to exclude huawei from the National Broadband network. It was a decision of the government to exclude huawei from our 5g telecommunication systems. A correctk that was decision. I do think there are issues i china, innd china, there is a degree of government involvement in business and a degree of government direction of business that is completely unknown in countries such as ours. I do think that we have to be very careful about too much inolvement by china strategic supply chains. And i think President Trump is very much aligned to that. And i think what we are seeing thosee unbundling of supply chains, at least in respect of america and china. And i dont think that is a bad thing. Walter right here in the center. Im going to get a couple here because this will probably be the last round. Gerald chandler. Could you make some remarks about changing australian attitudes toward immigration, perception of refugees, and republicanism . Walter and then down here with a blue shirt. Hi. Do you share former Prime Minister kevin roads belief that china in the u. S. Can cooperate in a prolonged sense instead of just temporary, and they can exist the world order can exist together . Walter anyone else . Yes, right here. You talked about walter could you identify yourself . Npr. You talked about americas singular strength and goodwill which i agree with. But i feel americans recently have so much less goodwill toward each other and i feel there is this tendency to care less unless about People Living in horrible conditions with atrocity committing regimes, and less concerns by americans about the human rights of people around the world and more feeling sorry for ourselves, especially obviously on the left. I wondered if you have a sense of americans changing in that direction . Walter three questions and whatever else you would like to wind up with, sir. Pm abbott ok. Look, thank you. Immigration. Australia, like america, is an immigrant country. The fact that people can come to australia from anywhere in the world and build a great life for themselves and be firstclass wonderfuls adds a humane and even heroic dimension to our country. It is almost impossible to be in australia and be antiimmigrant. But just because you are proimmigrant, doesnt mean that you necessarily support any particular level of immigration. And i think there are issues very high levels of immigration to australia because at the record levels we have seen over the last decade or so, i think there is downward pressure on wages, i think there is upward pressure on housing prices, i think there a lot of pressure on infrastructure. I think you can certainly make a case for returning immigration levels more to the longterm average than they have been in the last decade or so. Be look, that is not to antiimmigrant. To be antiimmigrant is almost to be antiaustralian. On becoming a republic, well, look, america is a wonderful republic. Britain and other countries are wonderful constitutional monarchies. I think american system of government is a product of americas system. Our system of government as a product of our history. You cant change the history and you should be reluctant to change the system unless you are absolutely confident that the alternative is an improvement. And i do not think there are any problems in australia that becoming a republic would fix. Failing for the monarchy waxes and wanes. Universal there is admiration and respect for the queen. I think there is considerable enthusiasm for many other members of the royal family. From time to time, the human factor in all families is something that we might, i suppose, cheer or not as the case may be. But in the end, it is the system, nothing individuals that we support. It is the office, not a officeholders that in the end counts. The personal that stuff that we have been reading about over the last few weeks is going to make any longterm difference to this wonderful institution. Look, i thinkica, there is absolutely no doubt that we are in an era of great power competition. The question is where does it lead . We have to accept the fact that war between modern countries wayd be cataclysmic in a that no previous war has been destructive. All wars have been. So i think we just have to have faith in the good sense of the leaders of these countries to manage things effectively. The United States and the soviet union manage conflict and tension, not perfectly, but sufficiently well to avoid allout war for 50 odd years. And im sure the same thing can take place between the United States and china. And look, the last point that was raised, it is interesting, there is a sense in which we have never been better off materially, and yet also we feel that we have rarely been worse off spiritually than we are now. This is quite a problem in the modern world, particularly in the modern west. And expresses itself in so many different ways. , are is a bad temper faithance to accept good today which is more pronounced than a generation ago. For our a tendency disagreements to be less unless civil, even in countries with a long tradition of civil discourse such as ours. I really dislike the fact that these days, if you disagree with someone, they are not just mistaken or misguided, they are morally wrong. Because lets face it, no one has a monopoly on wisdom. No one has a monopoly on truth. There are few people in few arguments that we can learn from in some ways. Dismay at aspects of our contemporary conversation. Is try in our do own way to be up lifters rather than draggers down. Easy,not always particularly in the heat of argument. And wetimes go too far impugn peoples motives rather than simply criticizing a particular position. Whenever that happens, i think we should do our best to make amends and resolve to lift our game, and probably most of us at the moment could lift our gain. Walter thank you so much for those remarks, tony. Im so glad we could work this out today and have you here. Thanks again. [applause] pm abbott thank you so much. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2020] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [indiscernible chatter] announcer right now on capitol hill, the Senate Impeachment trial of President Trump will begin in a couple of minutes. You can watch our live coverage of the trial when it gets underway on cspan 2 today. There will be debate and vote on proposed rules for the trial by mitch mcconnell. We also expect a Summit Senate democrats to offer amendments that would allow for witness testimony and additional documents. 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