Personal letter to Anthony Albanese ahead of Oval Office meet with Donald Trump
The PM has revealed Donald Trump’s warm gesture ahead of his long-awaited meeting with the president in the US.
Anthony Albanese has spruiked his relationship with US President Donald Trump after he received a personal invitation for a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office later this month.
The PM said he had “really warm discussions” with President Trump ahead of the much anticipated meeting, reaffirming the US as Australia’s “most important ally”.
“I received a quite lovely letter, I’ve got to say, of invitation to attend the White House,” he told the Today show.
“Australia and the United States have such an important relationship. They’re our most important ally.”
Asked whether he was nervous ahead of the face-to-face, given the unpredictable nature of previous bilateral talks hosted by the renegade US President, the PM replied “not at all”.
“They’re major investors here in Australia. America enjoys a trade surplus with Australia,” he said.
“When I was in the US at the UN, I was able to engage with President Trump, but also with people like Scott Bessent, the Secretary of the Treasury, as well, about our important economic relationship, security relationship and people to people relationship as well.”
Trump previously ambushed South African President Cyril Ramaphosa with claims of a “white genocide”, while Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky clashed with the President in a fiery exchange over US backing in his nation’s war against Russia.
Despite the PM’s assurances that it was smooth sailing for the Australian-US relationship, the pair have split significantly on important issues like climate change and the Israel-Gaza conflict.
The bilateral meeting is pencilled for October 20, more than 250 days after Trump took office, compared to an average of 82 days for previous prime ministers.
Though the PM refused to divulge the details of what would be discusses at the long-awaited meeting, it is likely talks over access to Australia’s critical minerals and a 100 per cent tariff lodged on Australia’s pharmaceuticals will form part of the pair’s discussions.
The government has previously sought to do a deal with the US on critical minerals to secure an exemption from Trump’s tariffs.
NEW LAWS CHANGES
Labor will move to change the law so it can list a wing of Iran’s government as a terror organisation after the group was linked to multiple anti-Semitic attacks in Australia.
Changes to terror laws allowing the listing of foreign state entities as “state sponsors of terrorism” and a crackdown on telcos responsible for the triple-0 service are among the suite of bills the federal government plans to introduce when parliament resumes on Tuesday.
The government last month expelled Iran’s ambassador to Australia and announced it would list Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terror organisation after intelligence agencies confirmed the state group directed firebombing of a Melbourne synagogue and Sydney delicatessen.
The new bill, which will be referred to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security for consideration, would allow this to occur and also introduce a series of offences criminalising engagement in, or support for, terrorist acts involving listed state entities.
Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said the safety of all Australians was the government’s main priority.
“Threats to the community, wherever and however they emerge, will not be tolerated,” she said.
“Every Australian, no matter their race or religion, should be able to enjoy their life in any Australian community, without prejudice or discrimination.”
Ms Rowland said the new laws would make it “more difficult, more risky, and more costly for malicious foreign actors to seek to cause Australia and our community harm”.
Labor will also put forward new laws to boost oversight of the triple-0 weeks after an Optus outage impacting the service was then linked to three deaths.
Under the changes the Triple Zero custodian would be able to demand information from telcos so it can monitor performance of the service and respond more quickly to outages.
Communications Minister Anika Wells said the law in Australia was “clear”.
“If an outage occurs, telcos must make sure that triple-0 calls still connect by being redirected to alternate mobile towers – that responsibility rests with them,” she said.
Ms Wells said granting the custodian better oversight of the triple-0 system would ensure things were “working as they should” and “improvements are continually made”.
“We know Australians’ confidence in triple-0 has been shaken, and its vital that it’s rebuilt,” she said.
When parliament resumes on Tuesday, Opposition leader Sussan Ley and her attorney-general spokesman Julian Leeser will call for the introduction of mandatory minimum sentencing for Commonwealth child exploitation offences.
The Coalition push follows a Victorian case in which a father convicted of sexually abusing his five-year-old daughter on multiple occasions was given a non-parole period of only two and a half years.
Ms Ley said such a sentence was “not justice”.
“It is a betrayal,” she said.
More Coverage
Originally published as Personal letter to Anthony Albanese ahead of Oval Office meet with Donald Trump
