Former Australian ambassador to the US Kim Beazley reckons a victory by Donald Trump would spell the immediate end of the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal.
Mr Beazley, former Labor leader, said a Trump presidency would mean Australia could no longer rely on assumptions about US forward policy and require a rewrite of the just released Defence White Paper.
As well, US Relations with China would go from competitive to adversarial and relations with Japan and Korea would be instantly complicated, he wrote on the Australian Strategic Policy Institute blog.
"If Trump happens, DWP (Defence White Paper) 2016 will need a rewrite early next year and the strategic sections will look very different. We won't be able to make assumptions about American forward policy," he said.
Mr Trump is set to take the Republican nomination for the upcoming presidential election, likely competing with Hillary Clinton, a former secretary of state.
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Mr Beazley said a Clinton victory would mean the thrust of American policy would be sustained but if Trump was elected, the future was problematic.
But much won't change.
Mr Beazley said Australia would still remain deeply embedded in the US intelligence community, military and arms industry and bilateral investment would continue to surge.
