Scott Morrison and Joe Biden meet for the first time in New York and hail ‘partnership’
Scott Morrison and Joe Biden have met for the first time amid the controversial French nuclear submarine deal.
Scott Morrison and Joe Biden have met in person for the first time as world leaders converge to address the UN General Assembly in New York.
The prime minister and US president did not comment on the diplomatic row with France over a scuppered submarine deal when they appeared briefly before the media at the start of their meeting on Tuesday.
Mr Morrison, however, praised Mr Biden for understanding the complexities of the situation in the Indo-Pacific.
“There’s no doubt you get it,” the prime minister told Mr Biden.
Mr Biden told the PM the “United States has no closer and more reliable ally” than Australia and reiterated that both countries were committed to a “free and open Indo-Pacific”.
“Our nations have stood together for a long, long time, and we can rely on one another, and that’s really reassuring,” Mr Biden said as he opened the meeting.
“And we’re grateful for our partnership and what we’ve accomplished together over 70 years”.
The president highlighted that it was not an exclusive relationship and that US-Australian values are shared with “so many others”. He added that they had “a lot of work to do”.
The US president, who earlier told the United Nations that Washington is focusing on alliance building and diplomacy after ending the failed 20-year war in Afghanistan, said the geopolitical situation requires watching carefully.
Mr Biden said Australia was working “in lock-step” with the US on challenges including Covid-19, climate change, and defending democracy.
“Democracy and setting the rules of the road for the 21st century – I mean what I said: we are at an inflection point,” he said. “Things are changing.”
The pair avoided specifically mentioning China despite increasing efforts to contain its rising power in the Indo-Pacific.
The leaders will meet again on Friday in the White House at the first in-person session of leaders from the Quad group – Australia, India, Japan and the US.
“It’s a historic meeting and I think we’re all looking forward to it,” Mr Biden said.
PM ‘CONFIDENT’ CONFLICT WITH CHINA CAN BE AVOIDED
After the meeting Mr Morrison reiterated the point of engaging with our “like-minded friends”.
“Today’s meeting with President Biden was incredibly important. We’re able to reinform the partnership we were able to announce last week together. But more importantly, to affirm the ANZUS alliance that this month we mark 70 years of us working together in a way, and more than a century of us standing together in so many challenging times,” he said.
“And they’re challenging times we’re facing now. And the partnerships and alliances that we have, the many countries we work with, we share this view, and that is the Indo-Pacific will be a region that will challenge the world and will determine the future of so many all around the world.
“And together with the United States, we want to ensure that those in Europe and around the world can join us in focusing on addressing those challenges.”
He also addressed the conflict with China as tensions grow between Australia and Beijing.
“I am confident that we can avoid the conflict that we all want to avoid,” he told reporters.
“I believe that includes not only Australia and the many countries in our region, and our friends across ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), but I believe it extends to our partners in the QUAD, Japan and India … and no doubt China.”
The French government has been reeling since last week, when Australia abandoned a major deal to buy conventional submarines from France.
Instead, the US and UK announced they would help Australia acquire nuclear-powered submarines as part of a new security pact called AUKUS.
The move has opened a new issue in the Western alliance and sparked growing public criticism from other European officials.
It also triggered France’s ambassadors to be recalled from Australia and the US.
Speaking only hours after arriving in the US on Tuesday, Mr Morrison said Australia couldn’t have been more transparent with the French about its plans without potentially derailing the highly sensitive plan to acquire the US and UK’s nuclear-powered submarine technology.
“We have made it very clear, I have made it very clear that a conventional submarine would no longer be meeting our strategic interests and what we needed those boats to do,” he said.
“That has been communicated very clearly months ago. To suggest that somehow this decision could have been taken without causing his disappointment, I think would be very naive.
“At the end of the day you have to do things that are in Australia's national interest and a security interest and that has to be paramount.”
In a boost to Australia, Austria is set to sign a bilateral strategic agreement with Australia.
According to The Australian, the partnership commits Austria to co-operate in working with Australia on the EU-FTA negotiations among a raft of trade, industry, education and security agreements.
It comes amid a campaign by the French to persuade fellow EU members to “reconsider” the EU-Australia FTA – which has been in negotiations for three years.
BORIS JOHNSON SLAMS CHINA; GERMANY SIDES WITH FRANCE
France had earlier slammed Australia for breaking the 2016 agreement worth $90 billion that would have seen France build the country 12 conventional submarines.
Instead by joining AUKUS, Australia will acquire at least eight nuclear-powered submarines, most likely from the US.
However, Mr Morrison said the French should have known Australia had “deep and grave” concerns around the submarines and that Australia was prepared to pull out of a deal made in 2016.
UK PM Boris Johnson called China ‘ridiculous’ for its angry response to the new military alliance.
“I think that’s ridiculous. And there’s no need whatsoever for anybody to construe this as adversarial towards them. This is about technology transfer,” he told the Today show in the UK.
Germany backed France, telling reporters at the UN: “I can understand our French friends’ anger”.
“What was decided, and the manner in which it was decided, was irritating and disappointing, and not only for France,” he added.
The PM’s visit to the US follows a landmark agreement between the US, UK and Australia, which was announced last week, to share military technology and boost combined military strength in the Asia-Pacific region, where China has become increasingly aggressive.
Victor Gao, who was once communist leader Deng Xiaoping‘s translator, made a thinly-veiled threat last week following the announcement saying it was a ‘gross violation of international law’ that will have ‘profound consequences’ for ‘brainless’ Aussies.
“Armed with nuclear submarines, Australia itself will be a target for possible nuclear attacks in the future,” he said.
“You do not need to know whom it will be. The watershed moment will be if Australia will be armed with nuclear submarines to be locally produced in Australia.
“That will mean Australia will lose that privilege of not being targeted by nuclear weapons to other countries and that should be a wake up call for all Australians.
“Do you really want to be a target in a possible nuclear war or do you want to be free from nuclear menace?”
Mr Morrison will meet European leaders on his US trip despite pressure by the French government on its European neighbours to ignore Australia.
France has recalled its ambassadors from Australia and the US, furious at being excluded from the AUKUS discussions and losing a $90bn contract to supply Australia with submarines.
The new submarine deal introduced as part of AUKUS means Australia will become just the seventh nation in the world to operate nuclear-powered submarines.
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Originally published as Scott Morrison and Joe Biden meet for the first time in New York and hail ‘partnership’
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