Elon Musk's war with the Albanese government could be waged from the White House
The world's richest person is in a long-running spat with Australia, and the US presidential election result has just handed him more power.
Billionaire Elon Musk’s pushback on Australia’s social media crackdown could now be directed from the White House, with the owner of X — formerly Twitter — set to play a key role in Donald Trump’s second administration.
Less than 24 hours after Trump’s election victory, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Communications Minister Michelle Rowland held a press conference in Parliament House announcing their planned ban on social media would extend to children below the age of 16.
Trump has teased a role in his administration for Musk, who labelled Albanese’s government “fascists” in September and has launched legal challenges against its attempts to regulate social media giants.
Arthur Sinodinos, who dealt with both the Trump and Biden administrations as Australia's ambassador to the US between 2020 and 2023, told Capital Brief that Australia needed to continue to make its own decisions as a "sovereign nation” but that the influence of Musk and other “broligarchs” could be profound. He said it could upend "business-government relationships" in Washington DC.
