After having to forgo a planned trip to Australia amid the debt ceiling standoff in Washington earlier this year, President Joe Biden will welcome Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to the White House for an official visit and state dinner this fall.
During the October meeting, the pair will discuss the “two nations’ shared commitment to supporting an open, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement announcing the visit late Wednesday. The state dinner is set to take place on Oct. 25.
In May, Biden was scheduled to visit Japan, Papua New Guinea and Australia at the same time the U.S. was barreling toward defaulting on its debt.
After attending to the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima, Japan, Biden returned to Washington to continue negotiations with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., over raising the debt ceiling – scrapping his other two planned stops in Papua New Guinea and Australia.
The so-called Quad nations – the U.S., Australia, Japan and India – were supposed to meet in Sydney during Biden’s Asia-Pacific trip, but convened on the sidelines of the G7 instead so Biden could return to Washington.
The U.S. has emphasized the Quad partnership and its relationship with Australia as it seeks to counter China’s buildout and influence across the Indo-Pacific.
“President Biden and Prime Minister Albanese will discuss strengthening collaboration on critical issues for both nations in order to ensure the Alliance is well equipped to respond to ever-evolving regional and global challenges,” Jean-Pierre said in the statement announcing the visit.
