Obama to visit Australia next month
US President Barack Obama and his family will visit Australia in late March, the White House has confirmed. Mr Obama, who has referred to himself as "America's first Pacific president" because of his birth in Hawaii and his years in Indonesia, will also visit Indonesia during the trip, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says he and Mr Obama will discuss defence, security and intelligence matters as well as the global economic recovery. Mr Gibbs said the President was looking forward to commemorating the 70th anniversary of Australia-US relations and discussing issues including "global economic recovery, clean energy and climate change, nonproliferation and Afghanistan." Mr Rudd initially invited Mr Obama to Australia when he was last in Washington in late November. "We have a whole truckload of areas of military cooperation and to work out where we go in the future together but secondly, the economy," he said. "This is the largest economy in the world. The recovery of the US economy is critical to us all and I'm all for boosting the US-Australia economic relationship." US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was on her way to Australia last month but postponed her visit after the Haiti earthquake. The President will also visit his childhood home of Indonesia during his trip. Mr Gibbs says Mr Obama will use the visit to Indonesia to launch a US-Indonesian partnership aimed at broadening and strengthening ties between both countries By North America correspondent via ABC NEWS. http://bigcapital.wordpress.com/
