Premier David Crisafulli will travel to Washington in his bid to attract the Quad Leaders’ Summit to Queensland, with a trip to the US capital being planned for the first half of the year.
Crisafulli will announce his trip to lobby the White House during an address at the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday – the first such address from a Queensland leader since Anna Bligh in 2009.
The US trip will round out visits to all Quad member countries since Crisafulli became premier, following his trips to Japan and India last year.
The Quad loomed large over those trips too, with this masthead revealing the extent of Crisafulli’s international lobbying late last year.
The premier first publicly floated the idea of hosting the summit last July at an American Independence Day business lunch in Brisbane.
Before his speech in Canberra, he said hosting the meeting would put the world’s spotlight on Queensland.
“Queensland’s the place to host the Quad, and we’re taking our bid to the US,” Crisafulli said.
“Events like the Quad are the key to unlocking economic opportunities in mining, defence, and business.
“This is about letting the world know Queensland is open for business, and we’re ready for them.”
The summit brings together governmental leaders from Australia, India, Japan and the United States, and it aims, in part, to contain communist China’s influence in the region.
Previous Quad summits have been held in Washington, Tokyo, Hiroshima and Wilmington, Delaware. The next is due to be held in New Delhi, which would leave Australia as the only member yet to host.
Unlike leaders’ summits such as the G20, which Brisbane hosted in 2014, Quad summit host cities are decided by agreement among the four leaders – currently Australian Prime Minister Albanese, US President Donald Trump, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi.
Albanese has already voiced his support for Crisafulli’s campaign.
“In the lead-up to Brisbane 2032, it is an opportunity to showcase this great global city to the world,” he said in August.
“I’ll work constructively with the premier to make sure that that happens.”
Trump has not visited Australia during either of his terms as president.
His then-vice president, Mike Pence, stayed in Cairns during the 2018 APEC summit, which was held in Port Moresby, after Trump chose not to attend.
