The United States ambassador to Australia, Caroline Kennedy, does not expect the election of Donald Trump to have any great impact on the already strong Australia-United States Alliance.
"I think it was a really clear win for President Trump and so that's the direction people have chosen," she said of Trump's landslide win for the Republican Party.
"The Australian alliance is so strong and so powerful that all the work that goes on here will continue. There will obviously be some changes but I think that people should know that the United States is here. Australia and the US are such strong allies and partners and friends that not that much I don't think will change here for Australia."
Ms Kennedy's almost three-year tenure will officially come to an end in January with the inauguration of Trump as the 47th US president. She has been in the role in Australia since July, 2022.
She was appointed ambassador to Australia by the Democratic Party's President Joe Biden for the period of his term in the Oval Office.
Ms Kennedy, the daughter of the 35th president, John F. Kennedy and part of Democrats royalty, said she did hope for unity in the United States in the wake of the election of President Trump.
"I hope so, I hope so. He said that yesterday. So I think, as an American, I think people will come together over a shared sense of patriotism and try to build a future together," she said.
Even if the Democrats' Kamala Harris had won the presidential election, Ambassador Kennedy would still be heading home in January.
"You're appointed by the president as his personal representative for the life of his term but I would love to come back to Australia as much as I possibly can. I've had just a wonderful, wonderful time. So much progress has been made in this relationship," she said.
In one of her last official duties in Canberra, Ambassador Kennedy visited the Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health and Community Services in Narrabundah on Thursday.
She announced a $US50,000 ($AU75,499) grant from the US embassy to provide books to local children from birth to five years old through the Dolly Parton's Imagination Library of Australia.
American singer and philanthropist Dolly Parton started the program, which delivers free books to young children.
Each month, enrolled children receive an age-appropriate book in the mail, free of charge. Children receive books from birth to age five.
Globally, 3 million books were sent out each month. In Australia, there were 47,000 children enrolled in the program.
Leo Krikman, from Dolly Parton's Imagination Library of Australia, said it was a common misconception that the books were paid for by Ms Parton, but the program was self-funded by independent sources, such as community clubs, local councils and governments.
"Dolly started it because her father was illiterate and wanted to do something for the local children in her county," he said.
"And it's just grown and grown and grown. She's very much engaged in it and she now says, after putting out 300 million books to children, 'I'd rather be known for my books than my looks'."
Mr Krikman said the reading program was already showing results.
"The president of the NSW Law Society has nominated this charity as the charity of choice for this year and the reason for that is because it sees so many kids through the judicial system with a poor literacy skills background," he said.
"So if we can change it at the beginning rather than governments trying to put in millions of dollars after the event, trying to fix it, that's what we're trying to do. It's exciting to see the change.
"In Tamworth, for example, one community that has been in the program for six years, they've got 3800 children in the program. Teachers are telling us the cohort that is now coming to school who have all been in the program, they've had to change the cirriculum because the children are all so far advanced in their comprehension, their levels of understanding and their communication because of them being in this program.
"It's incredible because so many teachers are telling us that so many children are starting school and they don't even know how to hold a book."
The grant from the US Embassy was very much appreciated, providing a steady stream of books to the children of Winnunga.
On Thursday, Ms Kennedy read a book to children and presented an inscribed copy of her favourite book of children's poems, A Family of Poems, to Winnunga.
"I think reading books was the best gift that my parents gave me and it's changed my life," she told the children.
She said Winnunga was an incredible organisation that had warmly welcomed her.
"I'm so happy to share this great program, the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, to children here in Canberra and it's a wonderful chance for the embassy to be part of the community and, hopefully, forge connections that will last over time," Ms Kennedy said.
