Prime Minister Scott Morrison meets US President Joe Biden for first time alongside UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson

The Prime Minister has met US President Joe Biden for the first time – but there was a surprise third person at the meeting on the G7 sidelines.

The Prime Minister’s first meeting with US President Joe Biden turned surprisingly into a trilateral discussion with UK Prime Minister and G7 host Boris Johnson joining in.

Although the meeting had been billed beforehand as a one-on-one, Mr Johnson joined Scott Morrison and Mr Biden at the closed-door affair at the seaside resort town of Carbis Bay, near Cornwall.

Asked afterwards why he didn’t meet alone with Mr Biden, Mr Morrison said: “It was an opportunity that presented because we’re all here and so it was mutual.”

“But we were particularly keen to have the discussion with both parties,” he continued.

Nikki Sava, a journalist at the Australian newspaper and a former adviser to Liberal prime minister John Howard, told ABC’s Insiders program it seemed Mr Johnson was needed as an “intermediary” between Mr Morrison and Mr Biden.

“This seemed to me like it was Boris Johnson stepping in what seemed like it might be a little awkward meeting, given Morrison’s full-on support for (former US president Donald) Trump and negative globalism, a much smoother introduction and lead-in into what will be very important discussions,” she said.

Former Liberal opposition leader John Hewson had a different theory, suggesting Mr Johnson was there to smooth over differences over climate change.

“Our media tying itself in knots today trying to spin Biden/Morrison meeting being replaced by a trilateral including Johnson,” he tweeted.

“Could it be Biden not prepared to extend Morrison the privilege given his indefensible irresponsibility and stubbornness on climate?”

Our media tying itself in knots today trying to spin Biden/Morrison meeting being replaced by a trilateral including Johnson. Could it be Biden not prepared to extend Morrison the privilege given his indefensible irresponsibility and stubbornness on climate?

— John Hewson (@JohnRHewson) June 12, 2021

Mr Morrison said after the meeting that climate change didn’t come up.

“Oh, we’ve had those discussions before. Those weren’t the subject of our discussions this afternoon,” Mr Morrison said after the meeting.

“But they are the subject of tomorrow’s sessions at the G7 Plus. And we look forward to participating in those and setting out once again, Australia’s position and our performance and our achievement in reducing emissions.”

Australia has set far less ambitious climate goals than many other countries and Mr Biden has previously sought to pressure countries to take decisive action to slow global warming.

Unlike many other world leaders, Mr Morrison has refused to commit to a goal of net zero emissions by 2050, saying instead Australia will aim to reach that milestone “as soon as possible”.

Mr Morrison said the 40-minute chat was “important” opportunity for Australia. to strengthen bonds with “the leaders of the largest advanced economies and liberal democracies around the world.”

Though reporters were not present at the meeting and the details of the discussions unclear, the three leaders released a joint statement afterwards that hinted that China would have been one of the topics of conversation.

“They discussed a number of issues of mutual concern, including the Indo-Pacific region,” the statement said.

“They agreed that the strategic context in the Indo-Pacific was changing and that there was a strong rationale for deepening co-operation between the three governments.

“They welcomed the forthcoming visits and exercises in the Indo-Pacific by the Carrier Strike Group, led by HMS Queen Elizabeth.”

Asked by a reporter how many times China came up, Mr Morrison responded: “Well, you wouldn’t expect me to go into any detail about the specific discussions.

“What we had the opportunity today was to discuss the Indo-Pacific situation more broadly. Australia has no greater friends than the United States and the United Kingdom.

“And we’ve been working together on our respective security issues for a very long time. And so we had a good opportunity to talk about those today and look to see how we can further co-operate in the future.”

US President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison had a meeting during the G7 summit. Picture: Adam Taylor/PMO

Australia is not one of the Group of Seven, or G7, a political forum consisting of the UK, US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan.

But Mr Morrison was one of several non-G7 leaders invited to the summit as a guest.

Prior to the meeting with Mr Biden, Mr Morrison said he expected the topics of the coronavirus pandemic, defence strategy and economic co-operation to be broached.

Based on his comments afterwards, it appeared those issues did come up during the meeting.

“I would say it was a meeting of great friends and allies who share a view on the world,” Mr Morrison said.

“It was a great opportunity for my first meeting, of course, with the president, I mean I’ve known Boris for many years.

“And there was a very easy understanding among the three of us and as liberal democracies with a great history of friendship and partnership and a shared view on the world and its challenges and strategic challenges at that. And we‘re very conscious of the environment we face. But whatever that environment is, we’ll always face it together.”