A number of the world leaders who came to Australia for the Brisbane G20 stayed on afterwards for formal Guest of Government visits, taking in several different states, including Tasmania. I suspect by the end of this week Australians, and particularly Canberrans, were getting pretty blasé about having Presidents and Prime Ministers in town.
In the course of this week I attended addresses to Parliament by President Xi of China and Prime Minister Modi of India. Between them they represented around a third of the world’s population. The speeches were both powerful and significant, though the styles of delivery were somewhat different. President Xi spoke in Chinese, he talked about the strategic environment in the region and the business links with Australia. China takes a third of Australia’s exports, so the new Free Trade Agreement he announced with PM Abbott will have a big impact.
PM Modi talked about Indian and Australians’ shared love of cricket. Having worked closely with the No 10 speechwriters on David Cameron’s address to Parliament the previous week, I took a close interest in how these important speeches were crafted. PM Modi had a very good joke – suggesting that by inviting so many foreign leaders to address the Parliament (three in the space of a week) – PM Abbott was “shirtfronting” his own MPs.
I also attended a State Dinner for President Xi in the Grand Hall at Parliament and a State Lunch for President Hollande, which took place in the National Gallery, reflecting – as PM Abbott said – France’s contribution to world culture. Meanwhile Chancellor Merkel address a large audience in Sydney, hosted by the Lowy Institute, Australia’s leading foreign policy think tank.
I am sure all the leaders will have gone home with great impressions from the warmth of the Australian welcome.