Washington turns on charm, but the name Rudd is mud

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This was published 13 years ago

Washington turns on charm, but the name Rudd is mud

By Phillip Coorey

Had Kevin Rudd still been prime minister, there is one item on the calendar in Washington this week that would have been uncomfortable for all concerned: the meeting with the US House of Representatives Speaker, John Boehner.

Back in November 2009, when Boehner, a leading Republican, was the House minority leader, he was on the receiving end of a withering spray by Rudd against all those who denied the science of climate change and were working to prevent effective global action.

Welcome to Washington ... Julia Gillard speaks across the table on Sunday with the Australian ambassador and former federal Labor leader Kim Beazley.

Welcome to Washington ... Julia Gillard speaks across the table on Sunday with the Australian ambassador and former federal Labor leader Kim Beazley.Credit: Andrew Meares

Boehner was one of the few foreign figures named in the Lowy Institute speech in which he and his fellow travellers were accused variously by Rudd of ''holding the world to ransom'', ''destroying momentum'', ''playing with our children's future'' and being ''prepared to destroy our children's future''.

Safe to say, neither side is likely to raise that speech when Julia Gillard meets Boehner tomorrow morning in Washington, as scheduled.

The 30-minute meeting will occur on Capitol Hill and is part of the formality before Gillard becomes the fourth Australian prime minister to address a joint sitting of Congress.

She will be the first foreign dignitary to make such an address since the Republicans' success in last year's midterm elections.

''It's a Republican-controlled Congress. [It] wouldn't happen if there was a deep objection to the Prime Minister,'' said a senior official who points out only three world leaders addressed Congress in the last term.

The address has been triggered by Gillard's visit coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the ANZUS treaty. Nonetheless, officials in Washington say the address ''reflects a view about Julia Gillard, Australia and the alliance''.

John Howard famously forged a close personal relationship with Barack Obama's predecessor, George Bush.

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Initial contact points to a similar meeting of minds between Gillard and Obama.

It is apparent Obama is going out of his way to host Gillard, despite grappling with the domestic economy and the crisis in Libya.

Rarely does a president go ''off campus'' with a visiting leader as Obama and Gillard did when they visited a school in Virginia.

A State Department official said it was unusual, more so given Gillard rode with Obama in his limousine as the motorcade roared to and from the school.

This gave them the opportunity to talk further beyond the 40 minutes they had in the Oval Office.

For Gillard, it must have been a friendly reprieve from the hostility at home where Newspoll confirmed she has the fight of her life before her because of the decision to price carbon.

Gillard was unbowed, saying the carbon tax would be a long and tough debate, more so because of Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's ''ferocious scare campaign''.

''But I believe Australians are a confident, creative people. We understand that we need to change, that we need to conquer this challenge of the future,'' she said.

''I will continue to press to price carbon and we will get that done from July 1, 2012.''

Obama, who himself is talking a battering on the domestic front, talked up Gillard, telling reporters that when he first met her last year he ''was immediately charmed, as I'm sure at least a good chunk of the Australian people are''.

Gillard was to tell Obama he had Australia's support to impose a no-fly zone in Libya, but only if it had the approval of the UN Security Council.

So, too, was Australia prepared to offer help in the form of aid, food security, diplomacy and even with establishing an electoral system.

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How far the Gillard-Obama relationship develops depends much on both staying in power when they each face the voters next. It's a tough time to be in government anywhere in the world right now.

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