"He did articulate the resentment of many Americans towards the avalanche of political correctness, under which not only Americans are living but Australians are living. "I can't count the number of times people complain about something but then say, 'but of course I can't say that …' I think political correctness has become a problem in Western societies, we've become far too apologetic about our Western identity and anything that's a sense of some kind of defence of cultural traditionalism or national identity is in many ways frowned upon. "I think the other thing Trump benefited from was the excessive identification of the Democratic Party campaign with what I would call identity politics." Ten years out of office, Mr Howard, whose decade in the top job appeared a paragon of stability compared with what has followed in federal politics, was typically pragmatic and low key in his analysis of the US election. "There is nothing new about people who are economically insecure or dispossessed trying to reach out to some sort of new champion," he said.

He thought Mr Trump would lose to Mrs Clinton, but pointed out the narrowness of the victory and low voter turnout to caution against overstating its significance or imagining a flood of angry populist sentiment overturning the established order. He remained silent on many of the controversies that have dogged Mr Trump, such as his treatment of women or connections with Russia, but said there was one thing about the new President that troubled him. "His declared attitudes on trade liberalisation I disagree with profoundly," Mr Howard said. "It is very much in the interest of the world and the United States and Australia to persevere with the liberal world trading order." Mr Howard said. In a temperature-of-the-times speech, Mr Howard also discussed his views on Brexit ("delighted"), touched on the cracks in the political right, and his ongoing support for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. On Brexit:

"I was delighted with the result of the Brexit referendum, I think the British people made the right decision," he said. "I saw that very much as a cry for national sovereignty and control of their own affairs … Obviously there was a fear of uncontrolled immigration … but that wasn't in my view a fundamental reason." On Malcolm Turnbull: "I hope the government continues for the full Parliament's term. You would not expect me to do otherwise." If that sounded a little tepid, he added: "I also express my continuing support for the PM and my continuing respect for his ability and tenacity and his high intelligence." And Mr Howard offered an oblique explanation for the fragmentation of the political right, typified by the resurgence of One Nation and the defection of South Australian senator Cory Bernardi.

"Fragmentation on the flanks" was partly caused by the party machinery putting up "unrepresentative" candidates, he said. "The Liberal party is seen increasingly as a bit of a closed shop when it comes to a choice of candidates and, in that sense, we're following what the Labor Party has done for a lot of years. I hate to use a pejorative industrial relations term, but I think it is relevant." He added that he thought up to 40 per cent of voters today could be swinging voters. And his listeners were left to their dessert.