Donald Trump wants Australia at an expanded, delayed G7

Scott Morrison has spoken to senior Trump administration officials about Australia joining the G7 and would welcome a formal invitation.

Australian PM Scott Morrison and US President Donald Trump. Picture: AAP

Australia could get a seat at one of the world’s top decision-making tables after Donald Trump ­declared he wanted to expand the membership of the G7 group of advanced economies.

The US President said he wanted to invite Australia, along with Russia, South Korea and India — but not China — to join the ­exclusive global club.

The call-up, if it goes ahead, would amplify Australia’s international voice, which has been strengthened in recent times by the nation’s world-leading coronavirus response, and Scott Morrison’s successful push for a global COVID-19 inquiry.

Senior Trump administration officials have spoken to Mr Morrison about the President’s G7 plan, with the Prime Minister’s office confirming Australia was ready to join. “The G7 has been a topic of recent high-level exchanges. Australia would welcome an official invitation,” his spokesman said.

“Strengthening international co-operation among like-minded countries is valued at a time of unprecedented global challenges.”

Mr Morrison attended the 2019 G7 summit as a guest of French President Emmanuel Macron, where he lent support to Mr Trump in his trade war with China, declaring the US had “legitimate issues” with Beijing.

President Trump returns to the White House after attending the SpaceX launch in Florida. Picture: AP

Mr Trump announced at the weekend he was postponing the G7 summit, which was scheduled for late June, to September.

He said he wanted to expand the G7 membership, describing it as a “very outdated group of countries”. “I’m postponing it because I don’t feel that as a G7 it properly represents what’s going on in the world,” Mr Trump said.

He said he had not yet set a new date for the meeting, but suggested the gathering could take place in September, around the time of the annual meeting of the UN in New York, or after the US election in November.

Russia was ejected from the G8 political forum in March 2014, following its annexation of Crimea. Mr Trump’s push to have President Vladimir Putin return to the forum could cause difficulties with European members.

Lowy Institute director Michael Fullilove said Australia should seize the opportunity to ­become a member of an expanded G7. “Anybody who thinks Australia has something to offer the world, I think, would welcome the opportunity to belong to such a grouping,” Mr Fullilove said.

He said Australia should take advantage of the close relationship between Mr Morrison and Mr Trump, and the fact Australia’s global stocks were high because of the nation’s coronavirus response.

“There is one reason for caution. And that is everything President Trump touches turns to mud and we have to be careful of that,” Mr Fullilove said.

He said it was also difficult to see the membership criteria being applied by Mr Trump. “If economic weight is important then China must be there. If on the other hand it is a club of democracies, which the G7 is, then neither China nor Russia should be there.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s office said on Saturday she would not attend the meeting unless the course of the coronavirus spread had changed.

Mr Morrison confirmed yesterday he would join Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a virtual summit on Thursday to cement agreements to develop supply chains in strategic sectors. Mr Morrison said that as “like-minded democracies and natural strategic partners”, Australia and India were in firm agreement on the need for a “a more open, prosperous and inclusive Indo-Pacific”.