US President Joe Biden has already expressed his ‘deep appreciation’ to new Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese ahead of their first face-to-face meeting.
Biden reached out to Albanese on Sunday (May 22) to commend him on his win and becoming the 31st Prime Minister of Australia.
The two leaders will meet at a Quad group summit meeting in Tokyo, along with other members of the alliance, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
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They will discuss a number of issues related to the Indo-Pacific region, significantly including China’s influence.
The White House released a statement about what Biden said to Albanese: “President Biden reaffirmed the United States’ steadfast commitment to the US-Australia alliance and his intent to work closely with the new government to make it stronger still.
“President Biden expressed deep appreciation for the prime minister-designate’s own early commitment to the alliance, reflected in his decision to travel almost immediately to Tokyo to attend the Quad Summit.”
Albanese issued a statement on Twitter confirming he and Biden had got on the phone to kick off relations.
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Albanese said: “Good to speak with POTUS today and reaffirm the long-standing alliance between our two countries.
“I look forward to continuing our conversation in Tokyo on Tuesday.”
Looks like we could have a budding political relationship on our hands.
The Quad summit is a group made up of Australia, the United States, India and Japan, and was established in response to China’s increasing military and trade presence.
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Both India and Japan’s leaders also congratulated the Labor leader on his win over the weekend.
Japan’s Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida tweeted: “I express my heartfelt congratulation to Anthony Albanese on your election as Prime Minister of Australia.
While Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted: “Congratulations Anthony Albanese for the victory of the Australian Labor Party, and your election as the Prime Minister.
“I look forward to working towards further strengthening our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, and for shared priorities in the Indo-Pacific region.”
Many of the world’s leaders lent their congratulations to the new Prime Minister over the weekend, with messages coming in from the likes of United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
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Meanwhile, the French government was quite blunt in taking a final dig at Scott Morrison after their relationship turned sour over the axing of the French submarine program.
French outgoing Foreign Affairs Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian admitted at a ceremony in Paris: “I can’t stop myself from saying that the defeat of Morrison suits me very well.”
He continued: “The actions taken at the moment when they were taken were of such brutality and cynicism, and I would even be tempted to say of unequivocal incompetence.”
You have to love the French.
Jayden Collins