Prime Minister Scott Morrison has denied Donald Trump put pressure on him during a phone call requesting Australia's help with a US investigation into the origins of the Mueller probe into Russian meddling.
In his first interview since the phone call was revealed by the New York Times on Tuesday morning, downplayed the conversation's significance, saying it was a "fairly uneventful" conversation.
Mr Morrison told Sky News Australia he had already agreed to provide assistance to US Attorney-General William Barr, who is gathering evidence to review the Mueller probe, and Mr Trump was seeking a "point of contact".
Scott Morrison says it would be more surprising if Australia did not cooperate with a request from Donald Trump. Source: AAP
"The president, in a fairly brief phone call, followed up on this," Mr Morrison said.
"It would have been quite extraordinary for us to deny such cooperation. On what possible basis would we do that?
"We've got certainly nothing to hide, we're not the subject of this investigation, nor are a party to it."
The prime minister has been under pressure to detail the call amid concerns Australia was being dragged into US domestic political disputes.
Mr Trump is facing an impeachment inquiry over his alleged threat to pull US aid to the Ukraine unless they helped investigate his political rival Joe Biden.
Mr Morrison said he did not recall Mr Trump using the word "favour" during their conversation that occurred a few weeks before the pair met during a US state visit.
"It's not one I'd characterise as being ladled with pressure it was a fairly polite request for something the Australian Government had already made pretty clear that we were quite happy to do."
Unclear what information US is seeking
Pressed by Sky News' David Speers about what information Australian officials would provide to the US Justice Department, Mr Morrison did not rule out handing over diplomatic cables, but said it would be a "very unusual thing to do".
Australia would never do anything that would prejudice our national interest.
Alexander Downer met George Papadopoulos at a London wine bar in May, 2016. Source: AAP
He also did not rule out providing access to Australia's former higher commissioner to the United Kingdom, Alexander Downer, who helped trigger the Mueller probe.
"We're just going to work with the requests that come."
In 2016, Mr Downer met with George Papadopoulos, a Trump campaign adviser, who told him about damaging Russian information about rival Hillary Clinton.
Details of the conversation were relayed to the Australian government and United States authorities.
However, the Trump campaign aid disputes this version of events.
Earlier, Labor Leader Anthony Albanese accused Mr Morrison of prioritising boosting Mr Trump's re-election chances rather than advancing Australia's interests.
"These revelations, I think, are of concern," Mr Albanese told reporters on Wednesday.
"The prime minister needs to just be straight with the Australian people about what's going on here."
He stopped short of saying the prime minister should not have offered help and declined to say how he would have handled the request.
"Well, I'm not in the same position," he said.
