WA news LIVE: Cook unveils new-look cabinet; Penny Wong tells Perth crowd ‘Dutton hasn’t done the work’

We’re here at Crown Perth this morning, where Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong has laid bare how the government’s battle with the United States for a tariff exemption was lost while rubbishing Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s claims he could strike a deal.

During a business breakfast on Tuesday, Wong told attendees the government had highlighted the two-to-one trade surplus the US had enjoyed with Australia and the fact the country was a top 10 investor in its discussions with the world power.

But that wasn’t enough to stave off a hardening of the US’s position in favour of tariffs, with not a single one of the 36 nations that benefited from exemptions in the first Trump administration securing one.

“Indeed, the administration has been very clear and explicit that the exemptions granted in their first term were a mistake,” she said.

The senator said the government’s response had been clear — that the measure was entirely unjustified and against the spirit of the relationship between the two nations.

She vowed to continue to advocate for the existing economy-wide access commitments to be maintained while expressing concern about Dutton’s claim he was confident he could negotiate a deal, fearing that would be done at “any cost”.

“Unlike Mr Dutton, we are not going to give away the farm, and we don’t have to,” she said.

“We’ve always put this interest of Australian industries and workers.”

Wong dismissed suggestions the country should place a reciprocal tariff on the US, telling attendees it would have drive up costs for consumers and add to the cost of doing business.

The senator went on to emphasise the importance of diversifying the nation’s export markets, including by deepening its economic engagement with South East Asia.