A report has called for new public service approaches for Australian government dealings with the United States, suggesting traditional bureaucratic practices and diplomatic traditions will prove ineffective with the Trump White House.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Sydney University's United States Studies Centre has called for personal engagement with key Trump Administration figures and senior members of Congress to be prioritised over traditional diplomatic overtures by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, as "bureaucratic dysfunction" sets in at the US State Department because of staff vacancies and political turf wars.
Researcher Dougal Robinson said working-level engagement between Australian bureaucrats and their peers in Washington DC "counts for less than it did in the past" as President Donald Trump shakes up or ignores ways bilateral relationships have previously functioned.
The report released on Tuesday says Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull should visit the White House and meet with senior members of the US Congress at least once a year, including again before the end of 2017.
It says inter-agency process, including those established with DFAT, are absent and action by Australian public servants and diplomats will be less effective because key American personnel are not in place or are holdovers from the Obama administration and not respected by Trump appointees.
DFAT actions through embassies in Canberra or Washington are less likely to filter up the chain to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson when necessary, made worse by Mr Trump's delay in naming an ambassador to Canberra and a politically weakened State Department.
"Australian bureaucrats have been hampered in engaging their American counterparts by the lack of appointments to senior Trump administration roles, a weak State Department and an inter-agency process that has limited influence over the president's decisions," the report said.
"Working-level meetings between Australian and US bureaucrats are occurring, and are useful for managing day-to-day issues in the bilateral relationship. But for high priority or politically difficult issues like US Asia strategy, bilateral trade or the refugee deal, the Trump administration's modus operandi does not reward deep bureaucratic engagement by foreign officials.
"Australian political leaders therefore need to step up and conduct a greater proportion of engagement at the cabinet level."
A busy program of meetings for political leaders in Washington including should include calls on members of Congress, Trump cabinet secretaries and White House advisers, including President Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner.
A congressional Friends of Australia Congressional Caucus, established during the Howard government, has been re-established by Australia's Ambassador, Joe Hockey, following an acrimonious phone call between Mr Trump and Mr Turnbull in January.
The pair clashed over the refugee processing deal signed with the Obama White House.
The report says the secretaries of DFAT and the Department of Defence, as well as other senior Canberra public servants, should make time in Washington in coming months for meetings with staff directors on the foreign relations and armed services committees.
"For Australia, diminished official-level communication with State, coupled with its bureaucratic impotence, means less visibility and influence in Washington," the report said.
