Malcolm Turnbull meets Barack Obama in Washington

Barack Obama has praised Australia’s military effort to destroy Islamic State as he met Malcolm Turnbull today.

Malcolm Turnbull with US President Barack Obama in the Oval office at the White House. Picture: Nathan Edwards

US President Barack Obama has strongly praised the Australian military effort to destroy Islamic State as he met Malcolm Turnbull to discuss the next stage of the united fight against terrorism.

Mr Obama voiced his “extraordinary gratitude” for the alliance between Australia and the United States after welcoming the Prime Minister to the White House for talks on security, the global economy and trade.

Amid a debate over whether to send more Australian troops to Iraq, the US President talked of stronger action between the two countries and said he wanted to discuss Mr Turnbull’s visit to Iraq and Afghanistan last weekend.

“Those are just two places where we see the value of Australia’s armed forces and the remarkable contribution they have made and the sacrifices that they make consistently,” Mr Obama said.

“Keep in mind that in our fight against ISIL, Australia is the second largest contributor on the ground after the United States.

“They have been a consistent and extraordinarily effective member of the Coalition that has helped to deliver an opportunity to the Afghan people to govern themselves, to build up their security forces.”

Mr Obama referred to Islamic State as a “parent tumour” in global terrorism, noting the threat in South East Asia demonstrated by the attack in Jakarta last week.

The President made the remarks in the first minutes of a formal bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister on Tuesday morning, Washington DC time, or in the early hours of Wednesday morning AEST in Australia.

The meeting in the oval office of the White House was due to run for about 90 minutes with a working lunch scheduled afterwards in the cabinet room, giving the two leaders almost two hours for private talks.

US Secretary of State John Kerry was also in the meeting, along with US ambassador to Australia John Berry and Australian officials including Mr Turnbull’s international adviser Frances Adamson and the first assistant secretary in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Lynette Wood.

Amid a domestic political debate in Australia about whether the country should send more troops to Iraq, Mr Obama signalled no disagreement with Mr Turnbull and praised the level of the current contribution.

The President noted that Australia had been attacked in the past by terrorists, heightening the need to confront Islamic State.

“So we’ll talk about how we can strengthen our co-operation both in Syria and Iraq, the state of affairs in Afghanistan but also countering violent extremism globally and Australia will be a very important partner in that process,” Mr Obama said.

Mr Turnbull responded by singling out the importance of the US and Australian soldiers who trained the Iraqi troops who regained the city of Ramadi from Islamic State.

He called that an “absolute adrenaline shot” for the Iraqi government.

“It was a great combination of our service men and women working with the Iraqis,” Mr Turnbull said to Mr Obama.

The Prime Minister emphasised the importance of his talks with the US intelligence community during his visit to Washington DC, signalling his hopes for closer work with the US to fight terrorist recruiters online.

“We have to constantly lift our game in the way we engage with and tackle these extremists, particularly ISIL but there are many others, as they operate in cyberspace,” Mr Turnbull said.

“Archaic and barbaric though they may be, their use regrettably of the internet is very sophisticated, so I’m pleased that we’re going to be working on even closer co-operation there.”

Mr Turnbull also added his support to Mr Obama’s diplomatic agreement with Iran to scale back its nuclear program, despite fierce criticism from US Republicans to the deal.

“That was a formidable effort, a great example of leadership on the part of the United States,” Mr Turnbull said, adding it would be an important step in ensuring stability in the Middle East.

Amid tensions over the rise of China, Mr Obama said the US “rebalance” towards the region had been successful in part due to the Australian alliance and the regular posting of US Marines to a base in Darwin.

Mr Obama made no direct reference to China’s territorial claims over the South China Sea and the construction of military bases near major seaways, but he highlighted the need for “rules of the road” in the region.

“Our marines in Australia, the joint exercises that we do, the work to confirm the international order and the rules of the road in respect of issues like maritime law — all are critical for the continued expansion of commerce and the sustained peaceful conditions that are allow our economies to thrive,” he said.

While Australia has not joined the US in sending a naval vessel past the new bases to counter China’s claims, it has flown at least one RAAF aircraft through the region in a flight detected by the BBC last year.

On trade, both leaders made strong statements of support for the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deals across the region in a clear signal to members of the US Congress who do not want to ratify the deal.

“It is going to be good for our economy, it is going to be good for our workers and our businesses,” Mr Obama said of the TPP.

“And it reaffirms that in order for us to thrive in the 21st century, particularly economies that are respectful of rule of law and concerned about labour rights and environmental rights, it’s important for us to be making the rules in this region and that’s exactly what the TPP does.”

Earlier, Mr Turnbull used a speech in the US capital to urge Americans to support the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal that breaks down trade barriers across more than a dozen countries.

Amid the impasse on the TPP in the Congress, Mr Turnbull said he would use his meetings with legislators in Washington to urge them to ratify the deal agreed by Mr Obama and leaders from around the region including Australia.

“It sets a very high bar, it encourages countries to reform,” Mr Turnbull said of the trade deal.

Mr Turnbull countered economists who argued the TPP only added a small amount of growth to each country.

“Well, without being unduly critical of economists, often they miss the things that are hardest to measure,” the Prime Minister said in a speech to the US Chamber of Commerce.

“The US Pax Americana has underwritten that growth and every country in the region …. has benefited from that. That needs to continue to be worked on and the TPP is a critically important part of that.”

Americans should not be afraid of the risks of free trade given the nation had thrived from free trade in the past and had created globalisation.

“When I’m speaking to some of your legislators later today I’ll be encouraging them to support the TPP,” Mr Turnbull said.

“The big picture is the rules based international order which America has underwritten for generations, which has underwritten the economic growth from which we’ve all benefited.”