Coalition warned political point-scoring on Kevin Rudd’s US appointment not in national interest

Richardson noted the remarks were prompted by former British conservative politician Nigel Farage quoting some of Rudd’s past uncomplimentary assessments of the former president during an interview with Trump for GB News.

Brandis praised Rudd’s appointment and his work in securing bipartisan congressional support for the Aukus submarine deal.

He said the government needed to “keep an eye” on the situation but that Trump was “infamous for making rather wild and off-the-cuff claims that don’t, in the end, mean very much”.

The manager of opposition business, Paul Fletcher, quoted a selection of Rudd’s criticisms of Trump, made while based in New York City with the Asia Society, in which he described the now presumptive Republican presidential nominee as “a destructive president” and “a traitor to the West”.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, derided Fletcher’s question as “a cheap shot” that reflected poorly on the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, whom he noted had praised Rudd’s appointment when it was made, and since.

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