Biden inauguration: US-Australia alliance more important than ever says Scott Morrison
PM vows to work with Biden administration to combat climate change and regional security challenges in the Indo-Pacific.
Scott Morrison has vowed to work with the Biden administration to combat climate change and regional security challenges in the Indo-Pacific, saying the alliance between the two countries was “more important than ever”.
The Prime Minister joined world leaders in congratulating US President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris after they were sworn into office, with Mr Biden using his inauguration speech to reiterate his message of unity and hope.
He also pledged to recommit the US to its global alliances.
Mr Morrison said the two countries faced a multitude of challenges in their own alliance and in multilateral forums.
“There’s a lot of work for us together, whether it’s on climate, on energy, on international security and, importantly, regional security here in the Indo-Pacific,” he said in regional Queensland on Thursday where he was on a four-day tour.
“This relationship is more important today than ever before — certainly at any time since the end of the Second World War.”
He said he appreciated the “very warm sentiment” the government had already received from the Biden administration.
Mr Morrison described Ms Harris’s inauguration as the first female vice-president and person of black and Indian descent to hold the position as a “historic moment … It’s one that as a father of daughters, you can only celebrate”.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said Ms Harris’s inauguration was an appointment that would “echo through the ages”.
Global leaders sent Mr Biden’s new administration well wishes and expressed hope for developing stronger ties with the US.
“We are together. We will be stronger to face the challenges of our time. Stronger to build our future. Stronger to protect our planet. Welcome back to the Paris Agreement!” French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on Twitter.
On his first day in office, Mr Biden signed a range of executive orders, including recommitting the US to the 2015 international accord committing all nations to cut carbon emissions to limit global warming. The US under Donald Trump formally quit the agreement in November.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who faced criticism over his close relationship with Mr Trump, said he was looking forward to working with Mr Biden.
“America’s leadership is vital on the issues that matter to us all, from climate change to COVID,” he tweeted.
Labor said the new administration signalled an opportunity for the country to strengthen its ties with the US to ensure a stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific region in the wake of recent trade tensions with China.
Anthony Albanese and opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong said the inauguration of the Biden administrated signalled a “triumph of hope over fear, and common purpose over division”.
The Opposition Leader said Mr Biden had a “difficult task ahead” in uniting a divided US and leading the country’s recovery from a pandemic that has killed more than 400,000 Americans.
Mr Albanese has accused Mr Morrison of pandering to Mr Trump during his presidency and eroding Australia’s relationship with the US.
He also criticised Mr Morrison for not directly calling out Mr Trump for inciting the violence at congress this month.
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