CANBERRA - Australia’s new centre-left Prime Minister Anthony Albanese took office Monday a few hours before flying out to attend an international summit in Tokyo. Albanese, who says Australia is willing to engage with the world on climate change, will join a summit Tuesday with the US, Japanese and Indian leaders, known as the Quad.
The 59-year-old new prime minister was sworn in at a brief ceremony in Government House, Canberra. Other members of his team to take office included Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who will join Albanese at the Quad summit, Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Finance Minister Katy Gallagher. New Australian PM heads to Tokyo with climate message
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese took the oath of office Monday and immediately flew to a Tokyo summit with a “message to the world” that his country is ready to engage on climate change.
The 59-year-old centre-left Labor Party leader was sworn in during a brief televised ceremony at Government House in Canberra.
In a hurried post-election schedule, he flew out of the country shortly afterwards to join a Tokyo summit with the US, Japanese and Indian leaders, known as the Quad.
Albanese said he would meet one-on-one with each leader in Japan.
But he singled out the United States as Australia’s “most important partner” and noted that President Joe Biden called him the previous evening for a “fruitful” conversation.
The Tokyo talks will be “a good way to send a message to the world that there’s a new government in Australia”, Albanese said in his first news conference as prime minister.