Latest news with #QuadMeeting
Sky News AU
03-07-2025
- Business
- Sky News AU
'I'm looking forward to that': Efforts underway to arrange a meeting between Trump and Albanese
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has confirmed that Washington is keen to reschedule a face-to-face meeting between Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and President Donald Trump, after the President abruptly cancelled their planned talks during last month's G7 summit. Wong, speaking exclusively to Sky News Australia in Washington DC during a diplomatic visit, said she received assurances from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that the administration regrets the cancellation and is committed to making the meeting happen. 'I had a really good meeting yesterday with Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, and he obviously expressed regret for the meeting having to be rescheduled between the President and the Prime Minister,' Senator Wong said. 'We agreed to work together on rescheduling the meeting, so I'm looking forward to that happening.' The Albanese-Trump meeting was initially meant to take place on the sidelines of the G7 but President Trump cut his attendance short, returning to Washington amid surging conflict in the Middle East - a move that left several bilateral discussions on ice. Despite concerns about the optics of the cancellation, Wong emphasised that Australia remains flexible. 'As the Prime Minister has said, you know, we're obviously very flexible about those arrangements but the President is a very, very busy man,' she said. 'But I was pleased that Secretary Rubio made clear that… they want to reschedule it. It was disappointing, as he said, that they had to reschedule because the President had to return as a consequence of what was occurring in the Middle East.' The Foreign Minister is in Washington for high-level talks with US officials and to attend the latest Quad Meeting alongside counterparts from India and Japan. Discussions have focused on Indo-Pacific security, critical minerals, defence capability and the future of the AUKUS pact. Wong also addressed strategic cooperation on critical minerals, indicating that Australia's resource wealth is increasingly vital to its relationship with Washington. 'Australia has a great many of the world's critical minerals. We have a capacity not just to mine them but also process them. We're already doing that, and we can do more,' she said. 'We see the strategic benefit in critical minerals… assuring those supply chains is important for Australia, it's important for the US, its allies and partners.' She downplayed speculation that the alliance between Canberra and Washington has cooled under the Trump presidency and the relationship is the most distant it has ever been. 'This is my second time in Washington in six months. We've had two Quad meetings here. Richard (Marles) has been here. Jim Chalmers, the Treasurer, has been here. The Prime Minister's had three very constructive conversations with the President,' Wong said. 'I don't agree with your characterisation (that the alliance is distant).' Nonetheless, she acknowledged that President Trump has a markedly different foreign policy outlook. 'There's no doubt that President Trump envisages a very different role for America in the world. I've been upfront about that and we respect that. That's what the American people voted for,' she said. With the AUKUS pact due for a major review in 2025 - and Australia not expected to receive its first Virginia-class submarine until the 2030s - Wong said it was reasonable for future US administrations to revisit aspects of the deal. 'It's quite rational that a new administration would review this arrangement just as the British did,' she said. 'This is a multi-decade task… governments, foreign ministers, defence ministers, prime ministers, presidents… of all colours over many decades will have to deliver this, and we're going to have to work together.'
The Australian
01-07-2025
- Business
- The Australian
Politics news: Albanese to meet Trump ‘in coming months'; Penny Wong meets Rudd
Penny Wong has landed in Washington DC for the Quad foreign ministers meeting, as Anthony Albanese says he's not embarrassed by his failure to secure an early meeting with the US President. Welcome to The Australian's rolling coverage of news from Canberra and around the country. Technology CyberCX executive director Katherine Mansted says small to medium enterprises are most at risk from 'hackitivists'. Politics Resources Minister Madeleine King denies a union and local business claim that Australia is breaking an international treaty by sending the oil platform to Denmark for decommissioning.
