He's not always mentioned by name but Donald Trump has become a looming presence in politics around the world — and Australia is no exception.
When , there was no mention of the United States president in the budget papers.
But there was a reference to his impact.
"There is heightened uncertainty in the global economy, including from trade tensions and conflict in the Middle East and Europe," the papers noted, referring to tensions spurred by , including Australia, and the and.
The government's budget warned that the escalation of trade tensions had "significantly magnified volatility" in global markets and could disrupt global and domestic trade, pushing up prices. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas
We live in the greatest country on Earth, and we do not need to copy from any other nation to make Australia even better and stronger.
When asked whether he was suggesting rival Liberal leader Peter Dutton was copying ideas from Trump, Albanese responded: "People will make their own judgements, of course, but people will have a look at the mass sackings of public servants."
Dutton says he will , a move that appears to mirror Trump's .
Dutton dismissed the comments, saying: "The sledge-a-thon is on by the prime minister because he doesn't have a good story to tell about his three years in government."
Since Trump regained the US presidency, he has once again become a ubiquitous figure on the world stage.
Zareh Ghazarian, a political scientist from Monash University, said: "The presence of Donald Trump transcends boundaries."
He's a figure of such interest in politics and international relations that I can't imagine a liberal democracy or a country in which he's not talked about.
Trump's controversial statements and policies are even affecting election contests in other countries.
In Canada, Liberal leader and Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a, saying he needed a strong mandate to deal with the threat posed by Trump, who says Canada should be the 51st US state.
Trump's threats to impose a dizzying array of tariffs on Canadian goods also threaten to plunge the country into a recession.
Polls suggest the Liberals, who have been in power since 2015 but were badly trailing the rival Conservative Party at the start of the year, are now slightly ahead.
While Trump's threatened tariffs on Australia are not expected to have as big an impact on Australia's election, there are still traces of the 'Trump effect'.
Trump is setting the political agenda
Jill Sheppard, an expert in politics and international relations at the Australian National University, said there are two areas in particular where Trump's rhetoric could influence the federal election.
US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on auto tariffs at the White House on 26 March. Source: AAP / Francis Chung/POLITICO/Sipa USA
"I think all of these huge countries are showing more willingness to try to meddle in policies right before an election."
The other Trump influence could stem from Trump's willingness to attack his country's own institutions. While Sheppard said this is not historically a common political tactic in Australia, we could see that begin to shift.
We're used to seeing very traditionalist politicians [in Australia] — whether they're right wing or left wing — who support the institutions.
"There's not much appetite for attacking institutions here [but] Trump has certainly put that [option] on the table [for those in power]," Sheppard said.
She points to the example of Dutton's during the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum last year, but notes it was "slapped down pretty quickly" and has not been repeated since.
She said it's also important to understand that Dutton's background as a long-time parliamentarian makes him a "man of the institution" — in contrast to Trump.
But Sheppard said Trump is changing how political debate in Australia is framed.
"The number of times that Peter Dutton says something that sounds like [former prime minister] John Howard, but it gets reported as sounding very Trumpian, is growing by the day," she said.
"In terms of setting the political agenda, Trump is having a massive impact."
Embracing Trump's tactics could be 'politically dangerous'
According to Ghazarian, Trump has made certain debates — for example, buying Australia-made goods — that were previously fringe concerns much more mainstream and explicit.
This has also been helped by the experience of voters during the COVID-19 pandemic, which made people understand the value of producing items in Australia and reducing dependence on other countries.
"[These trade issues are] often talked about in terms of economics and they're often talked about in terms of being very sceptical of what free trade may mean for the nation," Ghazarian said.
Discussions about the role and extent of foreign aid, gender and identity have also been influenced by Trump's rhetoric, he said.
"[They] are potentially being picked up by those who have similar sorts of feelings in Australia."
But Ghazarian doesn't think these issues will gain much traction in Australia as the political system is not reliant on energising people to vote because it's already compulsory, unlike in the US.
He said Australian leaders have to connect with and address a wide range of issues affecting voters across capital cities, rural regional areas and in different states.
Thanks to compulsory voting ... the task for the [Australian] leader is to appeal to a really wide range [of voters] and not to speak to a very specific group of voters.
"[There's commentary that would suggest] we should probably be preparing for a Donald Trump style campaign, but I think ... it would be potentially politically dangerous for an Australian leader to do so," Ghazarian said.
Polling done by think tank The Australia Institute of 2,009 people in February found 51 per cent of Australians think Trump's election was a bad thing for the world, only 25 per cent think it was a good thing.
Peter Dutton sounds very 'Trumpian'
Some political parties are already trying to leverage concern around Trump into votes.
A Climate 200 Facebook advertisement distributed in November last year featured a composite photo of Dutton and Trump's faces and warned extremists in the Coalition wanted to "import Trump style politics into Australia".
The group says on its fundraising page that Dutton had already threatened to abandon the Paris Agreement and that Coalition "extremists" were pushing to undermine Australia's commitment to reproductive rights.
A Climate 200 ad showing a composite image of Peter Dutton and Donald Trump's faces. Source: Supplied / Charis Chang
Dutton has also said he will honour the Paris Agreement to address climate change, , but it's unclear whether he would set an emissions reduction target for 2035 if elected.
Environmental lobby group Climate 200 said a strong, independent crossbench is needed to stop Dutton from importing the worst of Trump-style politics into Australia, and to hold the government to account.
"Peter Dutton's relentless Trumpist negativity is only enhancing the attractiveness of community independents and driving voters away from the major parties," a spokesperson told SBS News.
The Greens have also warned of the risk of a "Trump-style gutting of public schools" under a Dutton government, pointing to its plan to cut public servant roles.
Greens senator Penny Allman-Payne said: "[Coalition education spokesperson Sarah Henderson] has seen what Trump is doing to public education in America and would love nothing more than to import that ideology into Australia."
Sheppard said anything controversial that Dutton does is likely to be viewed as something Trump would do, although it may not always be a fair comparison.
When I look at Dutton, I see a fairly long tradition of conservative leaders in Australia.
"There is an Australian tradition of cutting the public service, of being tough on immigration and national security," Sheppard said.
"These aren't necessarily American things but because Trump is such a large world figure — he's someone we can't avoid in the news — it makes sense to organise our understanding of Australian politics right now around Trump, even though at times I think we can look much closer to home for the same kind of comparison."
She believes the comparisons to Trump likely do Dutton a "little bit of harm", although it would make no difference to a lot of Liberal voters.
"If you are someone that doesn't like Trump, you probably don't really like Peter Dutton either."
But other parties, such as Clive Palmer's newly launched Trumpet of Patriots, have said they would adopt many of Trump's policies and would "drain the swamp in Canberra".
"Australia needs Trump-like policies, which only Trumpet of Patriots can deliver," Palmer says in a statement on his website.
Dr Jill Sheppard, an expert in politics and international relations at the Australian National University, says comparisons with Donald Trump may harm Peter Dutton slightly, though it likely won't affect many Liberal voters. Source: AAP / Jono Searle
Leaders will be judged on how they deal with Trump
Sheppard said she doesn't expect the Labor Party to change its policies to embrace 'Trumpism', but not having a better relationship with the US administration could leave the party at a slight disadvantage.
"I don't think they want to be at all aligned with the people in office in the US at the moment, but it does mean that you can't get on the phone necessarily and talk about tariffs," she said.
Dutton has said Albanese was not able to get Trump on the phone to talk about the US tariffs, although Albanese says he's had two calls with Trump since his inauguration.
Ghazarian said Australian leaders will likely be judged on how they respond to Trump's decisions and how they advance their own agendas.
While it feels like Trump is a dominant figure in world politics, Ghazarian said other historical figures like [former US president] Ronald Reagan and former UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher were also influential in shaping the economy, reducing the size of government and making things more efficient.
"The test is going to be not just what a US president can do while they're in government but what that lasting legacy will be four years ... 20 years after they have left."
With additional reporting by Reuters news agency and Agence France-Presse
