Abbott prepares to host Abe, Netanyahu

TONY Abbott is gearing up to play host to historic visits by leaders from Japan and Israel before the G20 summit.

FRESH from his travels to see world leaders in Asia, Europe and North America, Tony Abbott is gearing up to play host to historic visits by leaders from Japan and ­Israel before welcoming a powerful collection of foreign guests for the G20 summit in November.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is set to arrive in Australia on July 7 for a four-day visit during which he will deliver an address to federal parliament on July 8 or 9.

While that is the first sitting week for the new Senate, the House of Representatives is not scheduled to be in session and it will be recalled for a special ­ceremonial sitting.

During the visit, Mr Abe and Mr Abbott will sign a free-trade agreement and discuss regional security and much closer defence co-­operation between Japan and Australia.

The formal program, which is still being finalised, is expected to have some personal touches added by the Prime Minister to ­reflect the warmth he felt during his visit to Japan in April.

In Tokyo last week, Mr Abe asked Foreign Minister Julie ­Bishop to thank Mr Abbott for ­visiting.

He described the visit as a great success and a landmark event in strengthening the Australia-Japan relationship.

During a rare private dinner, Mr Abbott had given Mr Abe an album of 32 photos of his grandfather, former prime minister ­Nobusuke Kishi, from a visit to Canberra in 1957.

Mr Abe’s visit may be almost immediately followed by the arrival of Benjamin Netanyahu, who will become the first serving Israeli Prime Minister to visit Australia, if his trip goes ahead. Last night there was some doubt about his ­arrival. The details are yet to be confirmed, but one option is for Mr Netanyahu to arrive on July 13 and visit Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney before leaving about July 16. Other possible dates are also being explored. Mr Netanyahu would not give an address to parliament, but would be honoured at a formal ­reception.

British Prime Minister David Cameron and China’s President Xi Jinping are tipped to be invited to address parliament when they travel to Australia in November on official visits as part of their attendance at the G20 leaders summit in Brisbane.

Other world leaders expected to attend the Brisbane summit include India’s new Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, and the winner of next month’s Indonesia’s presidential election.

US President Barack Obama told Mr Abbott in their meeting at the White House last week that he was looking forward to visiting Brisbane for the G20.

It would be Mr Obama’s second trip to Australia as President.