Australian action wins US respect

AUSTRALIA’S ambassador to the United States says the Trump administration is “impressed” with how his home country has handled the coronavirus.

Australia is already in a position to start easing COVID-19 restrictions with few new cases reported on a daily basis and the death toll relatively low at 93.

In contrast, US President Donald Trump hopes virus-related fatalities in the US will remain below 100,000.

Arthur Sinodinos, who took over from Joe Hockey as ambassador earlier this year, said everyone he talked to in the US Government was impressed by how Australia had gone through the pandemic.

“I think they are impressed at the fact that we started to close borders early, the fact that we took early action on social distancing and lockdowns and all the rest of it,” he told Sky News yesterday.

“They feel that as a country we have got it together.”