Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is aiming for more than a selfie with President Trump. Photo: Instagram.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese returned from his week off on Sunday and immediately jetted off to Washington, DC, for a third attempt at his previously cancelled meetings with US President Donald Trump.
This visit was organised on the sidelines of last month’s UN General Assembly in New York, and comes after two previous attempts for the leaders to meet were thwarted for various reasons.
The first planned meeting at June’s G7 conference in Canada was abandoned after the President returned to Washington earlier than expected to deal with Iran and the Gaza crisis.
He had given no notice to any of the other leaders that he would be leaving early; it was only revealed in a social media post later that night.
Hope that the two would get together at the UN also came to naught, with the President’s schedule leaving no room for any formal bilateral engagement. But the two did briefly cross paths at an evening social event, and the obligatory Albo selfie was taken as evidence.
The Federal Opposition has roundly criticised Mr Albanese for his inability to get a meeting with Mr Trump, especially in the face of issues such as tariffs, tensions with China, Israel’s attacks on Gaza, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The PM and several senior ministers countered the Opposition’s criticism by describing the failure to meet at the G7 as “completely understandable” given the tensions in the Middle East at the time.
But the UN “snub”, as some have described it, was less easy to explain, with some interpreting it as being in response to Australia’s formal recognition of Palestine’s statehood.
There’s no doubt the two leaders have much to discuss. The AUKUS construct between Australia, the UK and the US is at a very delicate point, with the results of an ongoing review by the US into plans to sell Australia at least three Virginia-class nuclear submarines from 2032 still unknown.
Some analysts have described the future of the AUKUS Pillar 1 plan as “perilous” because of the US’s ongoing inability to ramp up submarine production to sufficient quantities for its own needs, let alone for those of Australia, despite Australia already investing some $2 billion into the US’s industrial shipbuilding base.
The supply of rare earth metals is also front and centre, with China threatening to stop exports of these materials to the US.
Rare earths are required for high-tech equipment such as lithium batteries, silicon chips and other sensitive and advanced electronics, and China currently mines, processes and supplies more than 75 per cent of all of the globe’s rare earths.
Trump has warned of plans to add 100 per cent tariffs to all goods imported into the US from China in response to its threats, but seems to have walked that back in recent days.
But Australia also has vast untapped reserves of rare earths, and this may be a card Mr Albanese could play to gain favour with the President and perhaps leverage to get things moving on AUKUS, and to have a more favourable hearing on other issues like tariffs on Australian goods such as pharmaceuticals and steel.
Mr Albanese’s visit will be his seventh to the US as Prime Minister, but his first official visit with President Trump. He will be accompanied by Minister for Resources and Minister for Northern Australia Madeleine King, and Minister for Industry and Innovation and Minister for Science Tim Ayres. Treasurer Jim Chalmers is also in the US at the moment, as is Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy.
“Australia and the United States have stood shoulder-to-shoulder in every major conflict for over a century,” Mr Albanese said in a statement, citing a well-worn trope.
“Our meeting is an important opportunity to consolidate and strengthen the Australia-United States relationship.”
On Monday morning (20 October), Assistant Minister for Immigration Matt Thistlethwaite wouldn’t be drawn as to the expected substance of any discussions between the two leaders.
“I’m not going to pre-empt what the discussion topics will be, but I think you’ll find that our Prime Minister will continue to advocate for Australian businesses and exporters that have been affected by the United States’ tariff regime,” he told Channel 9’s Today program.
“I think that there’s good congressional support for AUKUS in the discussions that I’ve had with both Republican and Democratic congressional representatives.
“I think that Australia is in a good position, because we do have those many deposits of rare earths,” he said, adding that the Government would “welcome capital investment” from the US.
Speaking to CNBC on Sunday, Dr Chalmers said Australia was concerned about the US’s tariffs.
“We have raised our concern over the course of recent months about the impact on the global economy,” he said.
“The global economy is obviously going through a period of great uncertainty. The tariffs are part of that, but not the only source of that uncertainty.”
On the issue of China and its threats over rare earth exports, Dr Chalmers said the whole global economy is watching very closely what’s happening.
“It’s our view that nobody wins from a trade war, that tariffs are ultimately self‑defeating,” he said.
“But clearly, we’re monitoring what’s happening. And I think it’s noteworthy that in a week where we saw a very substantial de‑escalation in the Middle East, we saw an escalation of trade tensions between the US and China, and that’s obviously of great concern to everyone gathered here in DC.”
It should be an interesting week.
