US President Donald Trump asked Prime Minister Scott Morrison for Australia's help investigating the grounds for the Mueller investigation during a recent phone call.
The Australian Government has confirmed Mr Trump requested Mr Morrison assist Attorney-General William Barr who has been tasked by the President to run a counter investigation to the Mueller probe.
"The Australian Government has always been ready to assist and cooperate with efforts that help shed further light on the matters under investigation," the government spokesperson said.
"The PM confirmed this readiness once again in conversation with the President."
The call reportedly happened in the first week in September, before the Prime Minister travelled to the United States for his state visit with President Trump.
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese has called on Prime Minister Morrison to front up to questions over the call.
“This is a very serious issue. It's one that's attracted the world's focus,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
Mr Albanese is urging Mr Morrison to assure the Australian people he was not getting involved in a “very controversial” domestic issue in the United States.
“Scott Morrison needs to be very clear about the circumstances around this phone call, what was said and whether any agreement was reached in terms of assistance.”
“What [he] can't do here is ... dismiss questions which are legitimate from the media as just gossip or as just being in the bubble.”
The New York Times first revealed the call, citing two US officials saying Mr Trump initiated the call with the direct purpose of requesting Australia’s help in the Justice Department review of the Russia investigation.
A White House source has also confirmed the nature of the call to the ABC.
The Justice Department inquiry is part of Mr Trump's attempt to discredit the probe into Russia's alleged meddling in the United State's 2016 election.
The revelation about Mr Trump and Mr Morrison's phone conversation comes as the US President faces accusations of using a call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to push his personal political interests.
This phone call has become the centre of an impeachment inquiry launched by the Democrats against President Trump.
The conversation with Mr Morrison could be seen in the US as another example of Mr Trump allegedly using high-level diplomacy for his own political gain.
Downer-Papadopoulos meeting
US Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe into links between the Trump campaign and Russia, was spurred by a 2016 meeting between Australia's then high commissioner to the UK Alexander Downer and then-Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos.
Alexander Downer this morning told RN Breakfast he had no knowledge of any conversations Mr Morrison had with President Trump over the matter.
“I have got nothing to say about it beyond I have ever said,” he said.
“So I don’t know anything at all about conversations Scott Morrison has had with Donald Trump. That, I’m afraid, these days it’s not the sort of thing I’m privy to.”
After Mr Downer's meeting with George Papadopoulos in a London pub in May 2016, he advised the Australian government of information he had been told by the then Trump campaign adviser including damaging Russian information about rival Hilary Clinton.
These details were only passed onto the US government after the FBI began investigating Russia's alleged election meddling.
"I mean I had a conversation with this guy, I passed on the conversation or that one element of the conversation to the Americans and there’s just nothing more to it."
Mr Papadopoulos, who disputes Mr Downer's account of their meeting, served a 14-day prison sentence last year for lying to the FBI.
In response to the New York Times report about Mr Trump's phone call to Mr Morrison, Mr Papadopoulos tweeted that he had been "right about Downer from the beginning".
In a letter dated 28 May 2019, Australia’s ambassador to the United States Joe Hockey wrote to Attorney General William Barr saying Australia was committed to assisting in the investigation over the “origins" of the probe into "Russian links" in the 2016 US election.
The pledge came after President Trump criticised Australia for playing a part in starting the Mueller investigation.
“I note that the President referred to Australia, the United Kingdom, and the Ukraine as potential stakeholders. Moreover, I note that he has declassified intelligence material to support your investigation,” the letter reads.
“The Australian government will use its best endeavours to support your efforts in this matter."
