A Q&A panel of politicians and pundits have tackled the tricky question of what Australia can learn from a pair of allies that are starting to look "a bit chaotic and fragile".

The conversation started with a question from an audience member who pointed out that US President Donald Trump seemed to be facing a scandal after scandal — and surviving.

US politicians are investigating whether former FBI chief James Comey's firing was Mr Trump's attempt to stop the probe into possible Russian interference in the 2016 election.

"The Trump White House seems to survive scandal after scandal by attacking many of the institutions that make democracies work — the legal system, the free press, even law enforcement. Is there a danger to democracy itself if this kind of political strategy seems to be working somewhere else?"

Political strategist Grahame Morris responded by saying while he hoped the "Trump experiment" would work, the success — or failure — of Mr Trump would have an effect on Australia.

"[The problem] with his antics, and also one of the problems with the UK Prime Minister, is that our two best mates are losing some of their authority," he said.

"I think it is awkward for us, because our two best mates — for a long time — are starting to look a bit chaotic and a bit fragile."

Trump, Brexit 'demonstrate power of populism'

The question came just hours after Theresa May finally secured a deal with a small Northern Irish Protestant party to prop up her government, after two weeks of discussions following the snap election on June 8.

Alastair Campbell, who served as press secretary for former British prime minister Tony Blair, warned that Australia should not dismiss "America and Britain becoming weaker".

"America and Britain, our traditional role in geopolitics has been to be the powers that stick together and face up to big threats like Russia," he said.

"Now you've got Trump who's basically saying, 'Come on in!', and May who's fundamentally weakened. So, I don't think you should dismiss it."

Pollster and commentator Anna Greenberg suggested the "Trump factor" demonstrated the power of populism, and the power of the people.

"I'm not saying it's the answer. But populism is not just emotion. People are hurting," she said.

"There is compelling analysis showing that, since the rise of Trump in his election, people against that kind of populism are doing better.

"Even though Trump is disheartening in and it of itself, the reaction to him around the world and the leadership Europe has taken is actually pretty heartening."

Sorry, this video has expired Alastair Campbell and Anna Greenberg discuss Emmanuel Macron's rise

'Government doing well with Hansons, Xenophons'

Another question from the audience drew on the popularity of leaders like Mr Trump in the US and Labour's Jeremy Corbyn in the UK, asking:

"Given the recent backlash against the two major political parties in France, and the rise and election and popularity of characters like Trump and Corbyn, can it be the reality that the political landscape in Australia will change as dramatically?"

Speaking from the local perspective, Defence Minister Christopher Pyne dismissed the idea that Australia's political scene was also changing.

"I've been told the political landscape is changing about a thousand times over the last quarter of a century," he said.

"[The voters] know how the system works and they tend to know that, 'if I put Labor ahead of Christopher, they get the vote, so, I won't, I'll just show my unhappiness by voting for everybody else'."

Labor's justice spokeswoman Clare O'Neil posited that Australia could take a lesson from the changing political landscape in the US about the functioning of its own parliament.

"We have a parliament that I think is atrophied, that has a model of decision-making that I think belongs well in the past," she said.

"I think there's a lot of things we can do to change the way the parliament works to make it more inclusive and allow the many people in this country who are interested in politics to engage with politicians more freely."

Sorry, this video has expired Australian politicians discuss the changing political landscape

Mr Morris — while also maintaining Australia had a strong two-party system — said it was fracturing under the "Nick Xenophons and Pauline Hansons".

"The electorate has given us a Senate at the moment, which is quite a difficult Senate to work with," he said.

"You can have a whole degustation of policies and whatnot that you think are fantastic, but have still got to be washed through. In fact, both Senator Xenophon and Senator Hanson have to agree to anything before it becomes law.

"So far, the Government has done extremely well with those people.

"And God bless those independents at the moment, because things are being done."

"Bless them," echoed Mr Pyne, laughing.

Mr Pyne went on to field questions about comments he made on Friday night about same-sex marriage and his support for Malcolm Turnbull during Tony Abbott's leadership, saying the two were "no secret".