Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has arrived at the White House for a private dinner with U.S. President Barack Obama. Joe Biden, the president.
Mr. Albanese and his partner Jodie Haydon arrived at the south door of the White House in a black motorcade on the evening of Oct. 24, which was Wednesday morning in Australia.
Mr. Albanese and Ms. Haydon sat for a photo with President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden on the red carpet before entering the mansion.
“Welcome to the White House,” President Biden was heard saying at the entrance.
The private supper comes ahead of an official state visit and dinner on the White House's south lawn with 100 guests on Oct. 25.
The Middle East, renewable energy, artificial intelligence, AUKUS, internet connection in the Pacific, and innovation are among the subjects that will be tackled during the state visit, according to John Kirby, White House National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications.
“We expect the situation in the Middle East to come up in the conversations with Prime Minister Albanese tomorrow,” Mr. Kirby said.
“The President is looking forward to the state visit. There is an awful lot on the plate with this important ally and key partner in the region
Mr. Kirby said the leaders will be announcing an advanced technology cooperation, “particularly on artificial intelligence.”
“This tech innovation piece will also be highlighting a new space agreement that will allow U.S. companies to launch into space from Australia—so, pretty exciting there,” he said.
Other points of conversation may include “continuing to work on the AUKUS implementation,” “tackling the climate crisis,” “committing to clean energy,” and increasing defense cooperation to “include trilateral cooperation with Japan.”
When asked if Beijing will come up in the leaders' meetings, Mr. Kirby said the Biden administration knows and completely supports Mr. Albanese's visit to China after the United States.
“Well, I think we fully support and understand that the Prime Minister wants to—to meet with President Xi and travel to Beijing,” Mr. Kirby said.
“The—so, conversations with the Chinese and keeping the lines of communication open is really important. The President has said that many, many times. And, of course, Australia is—you know, their relationship with China is incredibly important to them as well, to manage it.”
Mr. Albanese is planning to travel to China early next month, from Nov. 4 to 7.
Mr. Albanese had announced a $2 billion expansion of the vital minerals plant with Australian and US business executives on Oct. 25.
Lithium, magnesium, cobalt, and rare earth elements are critical minerals in Australia. Lithium is a vital component in the batteries of electric vehicles (EVs).
Following the inaugural meeting of the Australia-US taskforce on vital minerals, Mr. Albanese and Resource Minister Madeleine King confirmed the money.
The prime minister said the government is “committed to transforming Australia into a renewable energy superpower.”
“Australia is committed to building sustainable and secure critical minerals supply chains with the United States. This is central to building a clean energy future and delivering economic growth,” Mr. Albanese said.
“The expansion of the Critical Minerals Facility will help to build supply chains with the United States and support our shared clean energy, manufacturing and defence ambitions.”
Resources Minister Madeleine King added that, “The Australia-United States Taskforce on Critical Minerals will be a key part of progressing our work under the compact.”
“This week we agreed on priority areas of work and immediate actions such as joint supply chain mapping and deeper cooperation between our science agencies on critical minerals,” she said.
“The road to net zero runs through Australia’s resources sector.”
