Anthony Albanese to attend Pope’s inauguration, seeks EU trade deal

Anthony Albanese will kickstart new trade negotiations with Europe on the sidelines of the Pope’s inaugural mass at the Vatican on Sunday.

Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass in the Vatican Grotto, underneath St Peter's Basilica, on Sunday. Picture: Vatican Media via AP

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Anthony Albanese will attend Pope Leo XIV’s inauguration at the Vatican on Sunday, using the event to kickstart new trade ­negotiations with Europe and talk tactics with key counterparts on dealing with Donald Trump.

The Prime Minister revealed on Monday he would fly to Rome later this week after a short visit to Jakarta for meetings with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto. The Pope’s inaugural mass in St Peter’s Square is shaping as a diplomatic opportunity for global leaders whose economies have been up-ended by the US President tariff agenda.

Mr Albanese said the government was already fielding calls on behalf of key international counterparts seeking meetings on the sidelines of the event.

“It will be an opportunity to have bilateral discussions with a range of world leaders who will be there, people I haven’t met before face-to-face, including Mark Carney, the Prime Minister of Canada, (who) has confirmed he will be there,” he said. “Leaders are reaching out and organising meetings on the side, if you like, given people will be in Rome.”

It’s unclear if Mr Trump will attend the mass, given his recent attendance at Pope Francis’ ­funeral. If he did, it’s likely Australia would seek an initial meeting ahead of Mr Albanese’s upcoming trip to Washington DC, expected next month.

Mr Albanese indicated he would discuss “trade and tariff ­issues” with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, and noted French President Emmanuel Macron would also attend the inaugural mass.

“We tried to have a free-trade agreement with Europe and it will be good to have a discussion further about whether that can be advanced,” he said.

“We chose not to conclude that because it wasn’t in Australia’s national interest, but quite clearly in today’s uncertain world, with tariffs and trade issues being so central, no doubt there will be discussions.”

As revealed by The Australian, the government is offering to axe the $5.2bn luxury car tax to secure a free-trade agreement with the European Union.

Trade Minister Don Farrell said he was confident “the mood has changed” since 2023, when Australia rejected the EU’s final FTA offer because it failed to provide sufficient market access for Australian farmers.

Mr Albanese, a self-described “flawed Catholic”, recently returned to the church, attributing the move to his late mother’s faith and the “modernist” social justice agenda of Pope Francis.

He said attending Pope Leo’s inaugural mass would be “an ­incredible honour”.

“It was Mother’s Day yesterday and … my mum would be ­pretty chuffed at the idea that her son will be going as Prime Minister to see the inauguration of a pope in the Vatican City,” Mr ­Albanese said.

Mr Trump used Pope Francis’ funeral a fortnight ago to reset his relationship with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

While the government is ­determined to fast-track the EU deal and another with India, it has opted not to rush an agreement with the Trump administration, which is scrambling to strike trade deals with dozens of countries following the President’s “liberation day” tariffs.

It is instead watching to see where the US lands in its talks with major trading partners, including China, which faces an unworkable 145 per cent duty on all of its exports to the US.

Both sides said progress had been made during weekend meetings, after Mr Trump said he believed an “80 per cent tariff on China seems right”. In an ominous development for Australia, the US has retained its baseline 10 per cent tariff with the UK in a new framework agreement.