A government source in Canberra told The Australian Financial Review that Mr Trump personally assured Mr Turnbull that his administration would accept Australia's refugees. There have been growing doubts since the November US election that Mr Trump would stick to the deal.

The assurance is a major win for Mr Turnbull given any refusal by Mr Trump to grant Australia such a clear exemption would have unleashed a domestic political firestorm for the prime minister.

The call to Mr Turnbull was conducted from the oval office in the White House in the presence of the President's chief strategist Stephen Bannon and national security adviser Mike Flynn.

It was the last of a series of calls in a global diplomacy blitz that also took in Russian President Vladimir Putin, France's Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten gives an opening speech at the Chinese New Year Melbourne Festival at Federation Square on Saturday. Meredith O'Shea

The 45-minute call to Mr Abe is the most important from Australia's point of view, as it suggests Mr Trump has opened the door to growing concerns within Japan about the direction of US policy following the collapse of the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal last week.

Mr Abe and Mr Trump agreed to speak face to face in Washington on February 10, while the new President is also dispatching his Defence Secretary James Mattis to Asia.

A government source said Mr Turnbull congratulated Mr Trump and Vice-President Mike Pence on their inauguration, before both sides underscored the "longstanding strength of the US-Aus relationship". Both said they were committed to making it "even stronger".


"The ongoing shared objective to defeat ISIL was discussed and both leaders committed to continuing to work together to improve global instability, including in the Asia-Pacific," the source said.

"The leaders acknowledged a common interest in preventing irregular and illegal migration."

The remarks on confronting global instability have been interpreted as a direct reference to China, and jitters over Bejing's growing economic dominance in the region as well as its aggressive geopolitical expansionism into the South China Sea.

The diplomatic win for Mr Turnbull comes at the start of a week that traditionally marks the end of the summer "silly season," with both the Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and Prime Minister scheduled to deliver landmark addresses at the National Press Club in Canberra.

Mr Shorten intends to use his speech on Tuesday to hammer home Labor's growing focus on skills and training as a way of revitalising the moribund labour market.

He will use an emphasis on shaking up low wages growth and concern about the future of work as a contrast to the Coalition's focus on trade deals, which Labor says are flawed and failing.

Mr Turnbull, who speaks on Wednesday, faces a crucial test to win control over the government's agenda for 2017 after a patchy start to the year, which has been marked by expenses scandal, the loss of a senior cabinet minister, and controversy over the handling of a crackdown on welfare overpayments.

Languishing in the polls at levels that were used to justify former prime minister Tony Abbott's ouster in September 2015, Mr Turnbull is under considerable internal pressure to reset the government's narrative.


While Mr Trump's assurance on Australia's refugee swap deal was widely welcomed by refugee advocates, they said there were still major questions about the details.

Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek accused the government of "dropping the ball" on third country resettlement.

"We have a government that says that it has a deal with the United States. That deal is shrouded in secrecy. We don't know any of the details.

"It's up to this government to find a solution quickly to take people off Manus Island and Nauru, where they have been for too long, much too long," she said.

Both Labor and the Greens called on the government to rule out any plans to follow Trump-style bans on certain classes of people.

"For 40 years Australia has had a non-discriminatory immigration policy, and our Australian government needs to be crystal clear that that will continue in Australia," Ms Plibersek said.

Greens leader Richard Di Natale said Mr Turnbull must take a stand against Mr Trump's immigration decision.

"We have got to make a choice: we are either a lap dog to the US and fall in behind them no matter what they do ... or we take a stand and we recognise there has to be a line drawn around what are moral issues," Senator Di Natale told Sky News.