On the same day Donald Trump was nominated by the Republican Party to be its presidential candidate in July 2016, the then US Vice President Joe Biden was half a world away, speaking at Sydney's Paddington Town Hall.
Biden, nearing the end of eight years as Barack Obama's deputy, was confident that America's "better angels" would prevail at the ballot box but his more important message was an assurance that no matter what, the US would retain a "laser focus" on Asia-Pacific's future.
