US President Joe Biden’s political woes were also the hot topic of debate on the sidelines of the Australian American Leadership Dialogue in Washington this week, attended by Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, Assistant Defence Minister Matt Thistlethwaite, and opposition home affairs minister James Paterson.
Speaking shortly after he arrived in Washington this week, Marles threw his support behind Biden, praising the global alliances forged under his administration and the focus he has placed on the Indo-Pacific.
“We could not be more pleased with that, and we’re certainly very pleased about the focus that the Biden administration has placed on the Indo-Pacific, and on the issues which are front and centre for Australia,” he said.
“We are seeing strong leadership by America … and that is absolutely critical in terms of the challenges that the world faces today.”
On the sidelines of the dialogue, Thistlethwaite acknowledged that the debate around the president’s viability as a candidate was something “you can’t avoid” in the US, but added, “That’s a matter for the American people.
“The strength of our alliances has always been based on bipartisanship and working with any government of respective stripes that occupies the White House,” he told this masthead. “That tradition will continue.”
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles meets US President Joe Biden at the NATO summit in Washington, DC.Credit: @RichardMarlesMP
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