Australia's ambassador to the US heaps praise on 'dignified bloke' Joe Biden's inauguration and makes a dig at 'tired and exhausting' Trump politics - as he hints at a new trade agreement

Australia's ambassador to the US has heaped praise on Joe Biden as he was sworn in as the 46th president. 

Arthur Sinodinos appeared on Sunrise on Thursday morning as Biden made his grand entrance into the White House.

Mr Sinodinos told the breakfast show hosts, Samantha Armytage and David Koch, that Biden's inauguration was 'a calm, dignified, uplifting ceremony'.

'The combination of prayer, poetry, song, Lady Gaga. It was just great, uplifting,' he said.

'Almost like people saying, "let's turn the page and get on with it".

'That is the feeling that came across the audience and I think that is the feeling across the US.

'With all respect to the former president, people have moved on. There is a new commander-in-chief in the US and people are looking to the future.'

Mr Sinodinos said a lot of Americans are 'tired and exhausted' by the coronavirus pandemic, economic contraction and last year's race riots. 

'They want to come together. This is a bloke who can do that, I think,' he said.

From an Australian perspective, Mr Sinodinos said 'we had a pretty good run under the previous administration'.

Joe Biden delivers a speech after being sworn in as the 46th president of the United States during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the US Capitol in Washington DC on January 20

'Australians are well regarded in Washington,' he continued. 

'We want that to continue, both administrations, the people we have spoken to want the alliance to be as strong as ever.'

Armytage said trade was a 'major issue' for Australia amid escalating tensions with China and asked if the US would return to the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Mr Sinodinos said they are putting 'building blocks' in place and have started preliminary discussions around a new digital trade agreement. 

Arthur Sinodinos appeared on Sunrise on Thursday morning as Biden made his grand entrance into the White House. Mr Sinodinos told hosts Samantha Armytage and David Koch that Biden's inauguration was 'a calm, dignified, uplifting ceremony'

'Obviously this administration is very keen to get the domestic economy going before they do other trade agreements,' he said.

'But ultimately, they have to come back into the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

'At the moment, that partnership is a bit like Hamlet without the prince. It's got 11 big Asia-Pacific economies, it needs the US to set the rules and the standards in the region.' 

The Trans-Pacific Partnership was a proposed trade agreement signed in February 2016, but Trump withdrew the US in 2017.

Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington DC on January 20. 

Mr Sinodinos said a lot of Americans are 'tired and exhausted' by the coronavirus pandemic, economic contraction and last year's race riots. 'They want to come together. This is a bloke who can do that, I think,' he said