Albanese to set to be guest of honour at a White House state dinner by the end of the year
Plans are now afoot for Anthony Albanese to receive a rare US state welcome from Joe Biden after the AUKUS announcement.
Anthony Albanese is set to officially visit the US before the end of the year, including a likely state dinner hosted by US President Joe Biden for the Prime Minister in the White House.
Informed political sources have told The Australian that plans are now afoot to follow last week’s AUKUS announcement with Mr Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in San Diego with a full state visit for Albanese, as part of moves to underline the closeness of Australia-US ties on the international stage in the wake of the nuclear submarines deal.
A full US presidential state dinner for the Prime Minister would be a rare honour and a huge event for Australian media.
It would potentially be the first such dinner hosted by a US president for an Australian prime minister in four years, and only the third this century.
Scott Morrison was famously guest of honour in 2019 at a dinner hosted by Donald and Melania Trump in the Rose Garden of the White House, featuring luminaries from both countries including the likes of Henry Kissinger, Greg Norman and mining billionaire Andrew Forrest.
Before that, John Howard was guest of honour at another state dinner at the White House in May 2006 hosted by George W. Bush, who later bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Mr Howard after his term as prime minister ended.
At this point, the most likely scenario for Mr Albanese would be to tack his state visit and dinner onto the start or end of this year’s APEC meeting, which will be held in San Francisco in November, and attended by the Prime Minister and Mr Biden.
But there is also some talk that Mr Albanese could embark on a separate US trip before the APEC meeting.
Mr Albanese is seemingly on the road to giving Kevin Rudd a run for his money for sheer volume of international travel in his first year of office, having already visited 13 countries including two trips to Japan, Indonesia and Fiji.
On top of the recent flying visits to India and the US, the Prime Minister has set a cracking pace internationally, in trips to Spain, France, Britain, the United Arab Emirates, Ukraine, Cambodia, Thailand and Papua New Guinea.
More Coverage
Free market path to lift Indigenous
Labor has handed its new tsar for Aboriginal business extraordinary powers that could make remote-community residents the owners of defence infrastructure and the funders of energy projects.
Call for origin labels on imported timber
About a quarter of timber tested in Australia last year had incorrect species or origin labels. The industry wants new laws to prevent it happening and to support Australian producers.