Opinion - Barnaby Joyce MP

Barnaby Joyce MP

28th Jan 2025

President Trump had only one vote in the US election, it was the other 77,284,117 that changed the US and the direction of the world. It is those votes that is the reason that there are the executive powers to get out of 2050 net zero. Likewise on immigration, gender politics and the 180 degree turnaround on fossil fuel usage.
The people of the United States made their cost of living plan quite clear and the person they have directed to deliver on the cost of living plan is Donald Trump. How the rest of the world manages their other cost of living plans is up to them, and to be frank, not of a great concern to the United States.
President Trump said he would make massive changes and the moment he found a pen on his desk at the Oval Office he did precisely that. It may annoy many but he is going to look after his people first and the nation which binds them together. It appears that the politics of the United Nations has lost all sway in the new administration of the United States.
How does this change affect Australia? Massively, from both direct effects and the global rewriting of the rule book which the largest economy in the world can do. Australia is the surfer but the US and China are the waves. You may wish the wave was different but the wave is what it is and if you are blind to the wave you get dumped.
As our election comes up in the first half of this year it is the economy of the Pacific which will manifestly determine our destiny. Europe’s gravitational pull on Australia is vastly less than in times past, even the recent past. Likewise, the politics of Europe is vastly less relevant to both our security and economic future than the politics and policy of the US and China. This is further exemplified by the crucial relationships we additionally have with Japan, India, Indonesia and our near islands neighbours.
In Australian politics there will be, I believe, some recent recollections of what happened in the US at our coming election. There is an appeal apparent for politics that focuses on core domestic needs of Australians rather than the politics on issues of a global or peripheral variety.
If the Teals believe that they will win votes locally in a cost of living crisis by being the champions of global issues, then my radar says that they won’t be smashed but they will be surprisingly disappointed in how the mood has changed. My father had a saying that remains with me, “as poverty walks in the door love flies out the window”. You can have all sorts of wonderful feelings about marvellous things, but if you can’t pay for power, food and your rent those marvellous feelings will be little solace in your destitution.
Barnaby Joyce MP

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Opinion - Barnaby Joyce MP

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