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Anthony Albanese speaks to the media during a press conference in Sydney with the Opera House in the background
Joe Biden will travel to Sydney for the Quad meeting, announced by Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, on Wednesday. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP
Joe Biden will travel to Sydney for the Quad meeting, announced by Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, on Wednesday. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP

Joe Biden to visit Australia in May as Sydney hosts 2023 Quad leaders’ summit

This article is more than 10 months old

Meeting will bring together leaders of the US, India, Japan and Australia at the Sydney Opera House

The Sydney Opera House will be the focus of a major security operation when the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, welcomes the US president, Joe Biden and the prime ministers of India and Japan for a key diplomatic event.

Albanese said on Wednesday that “Australia’s most recognisable building” would be the venue for the Quad leaders’ summit on 24 May.

It will be Biden’s first visit to Australia as US president and while in the country he is also expected to address a joint sitting of the Australian parliament.

India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, last visited Australia in 2014 when he addressed parliament and a crowd of more than 20,000 people at Sydney Olympic Park.

The other attender, Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, visited Perth late last year to deepen security ties with Australia.

The logistical challenges surrounding the event are immense, given the need for strict security arrangements for hosting the leaders.

It will cost Australia an eye-popping $23m to host the summit, including nearly $5m for the Australian federal police to help secure the event, according to the budget announced last October.

The Quad, a previously informal diplomatic group that has become more active over the last few years, brings together Australia, the US, Japan and India for talks focusing on security and other issues across the Indo-Pacific region.

The Quad is viewed warily by Beijing which denounces the initiative as a means to contain China’s rise.

One of Albanese’s first acts as prime minister was to travel to Tokyo for the previous Quad leaders’ summit, held just days after the May 2022 election.

“Quad partners are deeply invested in the success of the Indo-Pacific,” Albanese said on Wednesday.

“Leveraging our collective strengths helps Australia advance its interests and more effectively respond to the region’s needs.

“We are always better off when we act together with our close friends and partners.”

Albanese said the leaders would use the occasion to discuss the global economic environment and security challenges.

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“We know that we live in a more insecure world with strategic competition in our region, with the ongoing impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” he said.

Albanese said the meeting was a chance to “showcase this beautiful city and this wonderful country to the entire world” and would have “spin off” benefits.

The premier of New South Wales, Chris Minns, welcomed the announcement, saying it was “fitting the first Quad leaders’ summit on Australian soil will take place in our global city”.

“Our businesses have trading ties that extend across the globe,” Minns said.

“My government and our agencies have been working hard to ensure the success of this significant event over many months.”

Minns said NSW government agencies, including NSW Police and Transport, were in talks with the federal government and would attempt to “minimise disruption to the Sydney community”.

Biden and Kishida will be travelling to Australia after the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, on 19-21 May, an event that Albanese will also attend.

Asked on Wednesday about Biden’s decision to seek re-election in 2024, Albanese said he regarded the president as a friend but would not comment on US politics.

“President Biden will be a very welcome visitor here in Australia,” Albanese said.

The prime minister also confirmed he would attend the Apec meeting in San Francisco later in the year, and was working on a schedule for a bilateral visit to the US.

Albanese and Biden last met in March in San Diego. The pair joined the UK’s Rishi Sunak to announce the multi-decade plans for Australia to acquire nuclear-powered submarines project under the Aukus deal.

This will be the first time Australia has hosted a Quad leaders’ summit, although the foreign ministers of the four countries met in Melbourne in February 2022.

– with Australian Associated Press

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