As Australia slept, the Quad summit fell apart

When Anthony Albanese went to sleep on Tuesday night, he felt confident everything was on track for next week’s Quad leaders meeting.

The prime minister’s press office had put out a statement that afternoon, embargoed for 10.30pm, announcing that Biden would address a joint sitting of Parliament next Tuesday. Albanese said he would also be delighted to host Biden, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for a Quad leaders meeting at the Sydney Opera House the following day.

US President Joe Biden’s last-minute cancellation means the Quad summit is no longer in Sydney.Credit: AP

Biden had thrown his trip into doubt the previous week when he said he may not be able to leave Washington as negotiations to raise the debt ceiling reach a crunch point.

Albanese’s statement seemingly confirmed what officials had insisted privately: despite Biden’s doubtful comments, preparations for the visit were in full swing, and they expected him to make the first trip to Australia by a US President since 2014.

They weren’t lying. An American C-17 Globemaster jet had already arrived at Sydney Airport, bringing with it Marine One, the presidential helicopter that would have transported Biden from Canberra to Sydney.

An advance team of at least 50 members of Biden’s security detail had also landed in Australia for meetings with the Australian Federal Police to plan logistics, including the route the heavily armoured presidential limousine, known as “The Beast”, would take to the Opera House.

As well as supplies of Biden’s blood type, the so-called safest car in the world is hermetically sealed against chemical attacks and can lay down an oil slick to prevent vehicles chasing it. Whenever possible, the president travels with an identical decoy car for added protection.

When combined with Kishida and Modi’s travelling teams, Biden’s entourage of over 1000 people ruled out Canberra as the host of the Quad summit because the capital doesn’t have enough suitable accommodation for three world leaders with heightened security requirements.

The NSW government had already made detailed plans to close roads in Sydney’s central business district, as well as altering city bus routes.

Albanese’s optimism was shattered around 4.30am on Wednesday when his phone started buzzing. Phone calls at such a time rarely bring good news, and so it was here.

It had become clear to Biden he wasn’t nearly close enough to a breakthrough debt ceiling deal to stay out of the country for so long, meaning he would have to cut his travel plans short and cancel the Quad trip.

American media outlets had already published stories, based on briefings from senior officials, that Biden would travel to the G7 summit in Japan this week but not onwards to Papua New Guinea and Australia.

US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby all but made it official when he told reporters around 5am AEST that the White House was “reevaluating” the second part of Biden’s trip.

By 6am Biden and Albanese had spoken, with the president conveying his regret that he would not be able to travel to Australia. According to Albanese, Biden made clear in the call that he was “very disappointed at some of the actions of some members of Congress and the US Senate”. That is to say, Republicans who were playing hardball in their negotiations about raising the debt ceiling.

An official announcement was released 40 minutes later confirming that Biden’s trip was off, and Albanese quickly hopped onto breakfast radio to control the narrative. While he was disappointed, he said he understood Biden’s need to stay focussed to avoid the dire economic consequences of the US defaulting on its debt – not just for America, but countries like Australia too.

At this stage, it was unclear if the Quad summit could still take place. Perhaps Biden could send another official to represent him. But no, that wouldn’t do. By the time of Albanese’s 11am press conference at Tweed Heeds, the entire event had been kiboshed. No Opera House, no summit. At least Modi was still coming for his bilateral visit.

After months of meticulous planning, Australia’s most significant geopolitical gathering since the 2014 Brisbane G20 summit was over before it started. Sydney’s commuters should have no trouble getting to work on time next Wednesday.

Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis from Jacqueline Maley. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter here.