Senator Corker says turned down position as ambassador to Australia

By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump offered Senator Bob Corker the chance to be the U.S. ambassador to Australia, but the Republican lawmaker, currently chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on Monday he turned the position down. "At the end of the day, I just felt like it wasn't the right fit and I still had work to do in the Senate," Corker told Reuters in a telephone interview. The United States has not had an ambassador to Australia, a key U.S. ally in the Pacific, since September 2016. The country is an important U.S. partner on issues ranging from dealings with China's military expansionism and North Korea's nuclear program to the conflicts in Syria and Afghanistan. Trump in February picked U.S. Pacific Commander Admiral Harry Harris to fill the position, but instead nominated Harris earlier this month to be ambassador to South Korea, another long-vacant post. Corker had already announced his intention to retire from the Senate when his second six-year term ends in December. He said he feels he still has work to do in the Senate. "Right now we're kind of sprinting toward the finish line, if you will," Corker said. "There may be some other task that needs to be done down the road, and certainly I have always honored public service and we'll see what happens." He said Trump had offered him the position three or four weeks ago. Corker also said he has never been to Australia, but added: "Everything I know about it is spectacular," and praised Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, with whom he has worked. (Reporting by Patricia Zengerle, editing by G Crosse)