Scott Morrison is on his way to Washington with a jam-packed agenda of critical talks but isn’t expected to budge on one key policy.
The peace and freedom of the Indo-Pacific region will be at the top of Scott Morrison’s agenda as he jets off to Washington for four days of talks set to be dominated by regional security.
Speaking ahead of his departure on Monday, the prime minister said the talks were about keeping Australia safe in an “increasingly uncertain world”.
“This is all about keeping Australians safe. This is all about, always about ensuring that Australia’s sovereign interests will be put first to ensure that Australians here can live peacefully with the many others in our region, because that’s what we desire as a peaceful and free nation,” he told reporters.
“The peace and freedom of all of those who live across the Indo-Pacific. So I look forward to having these engagements.
“They’re very important, as we follow on from the significant announcement we made last week with our American and British friends.”
The whirlwind trip will see the Mr Morrison meet with US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
The week will culminate with the first in-person meeting of the Quad leaders on Friday.
The regional grouping of Australia, the US, India and Japan, who met virtually in March, are expected to announce partnerships in vaccine production and supply.
Quad leaders are also expected to agree on further areas of co-operation to be worked on over the coming year.
Climate change, trade deals, vaccines and China’s rise in the Indo-Pacific region are expected to be the driving forces behind the week of meetings.
Mr Morrison is set to meet with Mr Biden early on Wednesday morning Australian time. It’s understood the prime minister will float the prospect of the US rejoining the Trans Pacific Partnership during the meeting. A meeting with Mr Johnson is expected to follow.
It comes days after Australia signed a landmark security pact between the US and UK to build eight nuclear-powered submarines.
While climate change will be on the agenda, it’s not expected Mr Morrison will make any announcements on climate policy despite repeated efforts by the US and UK to pressure Australia to adopt more robust targets.
Mr Morrison will also address the United Nations General Assembly via a prerecorded virtual speech.