'Sad moment' Turnbull says of final meeting with Obama

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has had a 50 minute bilateral meeting with outgoing US President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the APEC leaders' summit.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull taking a selfie with US President Barack Obama

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull taking a selfie with US President Barack Obama Source: Twitter

There was a lot of genuine affection as President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had their final face to face meeting, on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in Lima, Peru.

SBS News Chief Political Correspondent Daniela Ritorto was the only Australian journalist in the room.

President Barack Obama has assured Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull he will do all he can to ensure Australia has continuity with the Trump administration in the new year.
The pair held a meeting that lasted 50 minutes on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Lima, Peru.

It's Obama's last before he waves goodbye to the international stage.

"The Prime Minister has already reached out to President-elect Trump and his team and I indicated to him my confidence that the US-Australia alliance will remain as robust as ever because it transcends party politics," Mr Obama told reporters.

"It’s not often that I have a meeting and I’ve got nothing to disagree with, usually there’s something to keep us busy but there’s a strong aligning of interests between the united states and Australia."

For his part, Mr Turnbull told the President it was a sad moment to be saying goodbye to him.

"It's a great moment but a sad moment in our last meeting in your capacity as President of the United States," Mr Turnbull told Mr Obama in front of reporters.

"The leadership you've shown your country and the world over eight years, our alliance has gotten stronger than ever to work together in freedom's cause."
The pair discussed the fight against so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, which both countries are supporting with missile strikes and training of local forces.

"Australia has been our most stalwart ally when it comes to troop deployments," Mr Obama said.

Mr Turnbull mentioned the deal that he struck with President Obama for the United States to take hundreds of refugees on Manus Island and Nauru.

"I want to thank you very much for your cooperation with us on so many issues, on humanitarian issues on resettlement issues in our own region, thank you for that," Mr Turnbull told Mr Obama.

US Homeland Security officials are in Australia and will shortly fly to Nauru to begin assessments.

It's a deal they have been working on since a meeting at the White House in January, but there are still very few details on how many people will be resettled or when, or even if Mr Trump will honour it.

The two also talked about the future of the seemingly-doomed Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal, and regional strategic issues including the South China Sea maritime dispute.

Obama reaffirms TPP support

Mr Obama reaffirmed his support for a controversial trade agreement strongly criticised by his successor.

President-elect Donald Trump has called the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, trade deal negotiated by the Obama administration a "job killer" and a "disaster" pushed by special interests.
In a news conference at the closing of the APEC summit in Peru, Obama said the US should not retreat from global trade, but seek to "do trade right" so that workers are protected and environmental standards are upheld.

Obama argued it's time for the US to reaffirm its support for the TPP trade deal.

He said other world leaders at the summit made clear they want to move ahead with the agreement, and without the US it will be a weaker deal.

The US would lose an opportunity to shape the rules of global trade "in a way that reflects our values," Obama said.

-With AFP



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4 min read
Published 21 November 2016 3:34am
Updated 21 November 2016 11:55am
By Daniela Ritorto


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