Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has met with the leaders of the United States, India and Japan for the Quad Summit in the US state of Delaware. In the final meeting to be hosted by the US President Joe Biden, the leaders agreed to deepen cooperation on regional security, public health and climate change.
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00:00Joe Biden has put a number of personal touches on this Quad meeting, hosting leaders, including
00:08the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, at his old school in Delaware, and having them over
00:14to his personal residence in Wilmington, which isn't far from here.
00:18In the final months of his presidency, Joe Biden is trying to emphasise the importance
00:25he has placed on this Quad grouping, which also includes India and Japan.
00:31It was elevated to the leader-to-leader level in the early days of his White House, and
00:37was really seen as part of US efforts to try to counter China's expanding influence in
00:44the Indo-Pacific region.
00:46Now there is some uncertainty ahead for the Quad.
00:49Joe Biden's decision not to seek re-election in November means he will finish up his term
00:56in January, when whoever wins that election takes over.
01:00The Japanese Prime Minister has also announced that he's stepping down, and Anthony Albanese
01:06will face a federal election expected to happen before May next year.
01:11Despite the questions that that has prompted over the future of this partnership, both
01:17the President and the Prime Minister argued that it would endure.
01:23While challenges will come, the world will change, because the Quad is here to stay,
01:29I believe.
01:30Unlike some international forums, the Quad doesn't have a long history.
01:38That means it's not defined by tradition, but it also means it's not confined by it.
01:44It means that as it develops, it can evolve.
01:49And that is, I believe, what is happening.
01:52Now one of the announcements made by the Quad leaders was again quite personal to Joe Biden.
01:58It relates to a US program called Cancer Moonshot that tries to reduce the number of deaths
02:04caused by cancer, and the President has been involved since he was Vice President in the
02:10wake of the death of his son Beau Biden from brain cancer.
02:14The Quad leaders have announced their own initiative as part of that program in an effort
02:20to try to roll out more HPV vaccines across the Indo-Pacific to reduce rates of cervical
02:28cancer.
02:29There were also announcements around increased maritime cooperation, particularly when it
02:34comes to combating illegal fishing in the region.
02:39Now Anthony Albanese sat down obviously with Joe Biden at his personal home yesterday.
02:44He met one-on-one with Japan's Prime Minister earlier today, but he was asked why he hadn't
02:50done the same with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
02:55He said that he would be having a quick discussion with him after these announcements had wrapped
03:00up.
03:01The Prime Minister had previously said that he would likely be raising Australia's decision
03:06to expel alleged Indian spies from the country in recent years, but he played down any suggestion
03:14that there was some tension there in the relationship between Australia and India.
03:19The relations between India and Australia have never been stronger.
03:23They're very important relationships.
03:25I've been to India, I've hosted Prime Minister Modi, and it's just a matter of logistics.
03:32Now this was a fleeting visit to the United States for Anthony Albanese.
03:36Once the leaders wrap up a dinner here on the school grounds, he'll be headed straight
03:40back home to Australia.