00:00Anthony Albanese spent 90 minutes with U.S. President Joe Biden at one of his private
00:07residences in his home state of Delaware.
00:10It's the first time a foreign leader has been invited into his private home, and that personal
00:15touch reflects the nature of the meeting that the two leaders had, which clearly looked
00:20back at the time that Joe Biden has had in public life, and Anthony Albanese making it
00:26clear he's learnt a lot from Joe Biden over the years and the meetings that they've had
00:30together.
00:31The discussions were more wide-ranging than that.
00:34They covered a range of global events, Ukraine, the Middle East, also went to key economic
00:40issues facing both countries, how to process critical minerals, how to tackle climate change.
00:45So this broad meeting covered a lot of ground, but ultimately it was very much about the
00:50relationship between Joe Biden and Anthony Albanese.
00:54Well, it was an opportunity for me to express my support and congratulations for the role
01:03that President Biden has played.
01:06He has been a good friend of Australia, but he's also been an advocate for the rule of law.
01:14The other thing about President Biden as well is he's someone who is optimistic and someone
01:21who speaks about hope.
01:24Hope's always better than fear.
01:27Now the big meeting will be tomorrow when the leaders of the Quad Nations, so that's
01:31the US, Australia, Japan and India, will meet again, this time at Joe Biden's old school,
01:38so again another personal touch.
01:40Now we know that primarily they'll be focused on regional security, what's happening with
01:45China, particularly in the South China Sea, and of course the regime in North Korea, a
01:50key issue for the Quad to deal with.
01:53But their remit is certainly growing.
01:55We know they're going to be making announcements on maritime issues, looking to have joint
01:59exercises with Coast Guards in the Pacific.
02:03They're also going to be joint announcements on health funding around cancer prevention.
02:07So the Quad is certainly engaging in a very broad brief of issues and that's notable because
02:13there had been some concern that when we come to the November US presidential election,
02:18if Donald Trump were to be elected, it wasn't clear what his commitment to the Quad and
02:23other bodies of regional cooperation might be.
02:27But Anthony Albanese today has made it clear that with his discussions, not just with the
02:32White House but with other members of Congress, that he's confident that the American support
02:37for the Quad negotiations and American support for AUKUS in particular, for the Australia,
02:43the UK and US arrangements, will remain strong regardless of who enters the White House in November.
02:50I know from my own experience, one-on-one discussions I've had across the Congress and
02:56across the Senate, how deep the support for AUKUS is.
03:02And there is no question in my mind that AUKUS will continue to have the support of any future
03:12US administration.
03:14And with the latest escalation of tensions in the Middle East, that too was on the agenda
03:19for Anthony Albanese and Joe Biden.
03:22They didn't go into a great deal of detail about precisely what they discussed, but Anthony
03:26Albanese took the opportunity in speaking to the media afterwards to reiterate his concerns
03:32about the cost the conflict has had on Palestinian lives, on Israeli lives, and his concerns
03:39that that could escalate into broader conflict in the Middle East.
03:43And he urged Australians who are in Lebanon, who have the ability to leave and come home
03:48to do so immediately, warning that if things were to escalate, that this may be their best
03:54chance to get out safely.
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