Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he is ‘very conscious’ of limiting international travel and criticism

Anthony Albanese will discuss concerns about the continuing rise of China’s influence and how to achieve stability in Australia’s region with US President Joe Biden and the leaders of Japan and India.

The Prime Minister said Saturday’s Quad leaders meeting would focus on security, stability and opportunity in the Indo-Pacific, with formal talks and an intimate dinner in Delaware.

Ahead of the meeting, he underscored his view that “peace and security don’t just happen”.

“You’ve got to work on it. You’ve got to work for stability, and that is what the Quad focus will be over the next couple of days,” he told reporters in Philadelphia late on Thursday night (local time).

China’s military last week released footage of a dangerous 2022 incident in which a Chinese fighter jet released flares and chaff near an Australian surveillance aircraft that was conducting routine patrols in international airspace.

In the video, a Chinese pilot refers to the Australian aircraft as the “enemy”. Defence has declined to say whether it believes the footage is authentic.

Earlier in the week, a White House spokesman said China would be “high on the agenda” for the Quad leaders’ talks.

But Mr Albanese said it would not be the only focus.

“We know that in our region there is strategic competition, and of course that’s a factor when we look at the way that our region is operating, the relations between the rise of China with nations in our region,” he said.

“This is a focus on our four nations (and) the security and stability that democracies can provide.”

He repeated his mantra in dealing with China, that the two nations should cooperate where they could and disagree where they must, noting that it had led to an improvement in the relationship with Australia over recent years.

“That doesn’t mean there are differences there – there are and we talk about them and we discuss them in appropriate forums, and we discuss them very directly,” he said.

After dining together at the White House last year, on this visit, Mr Biden will host Mr Albanese at his personal residence in Wilmington, Delaware.

The President will then host his Quad partners on Saturday at Archmere Academy, the high school that he attended, as did his sons Beau and Hunter and daughter Ashley.

White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said Mr Biden “wants to have a personal moment with the leaders” at this, his final Quad summit.

But the White House has also foreshadowed announcements by the leaders to effectively future-proof the Quad dialogue.

Mr Biden’s presidency will end in January after he decided to step aside as the Democratic candidate, making way for his Vice-President Kamala Harris to run against Donald Trump.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is also retiring, announcing in August he would not recontest his party’s leadership elections later this month.

Mr Albanese said he was not concerned about the future of the Quad and alliance with the US should Mr Trump win November’s presidential election.

“No, this is a relationship between our two great nations that was forged during World War II,” he said.

“What I’m very confident of is that our relations with our friends here in the United States is a relationship between nations, based upon our common values that we have and that it is not just a relationship between individuals – strong as my relationship with President Biden has been.”

The Prime Minister also flagged he intended to raise the issue of the Indian nest of spies expelled from Australia in 2020, reported earlier this year, with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi when they met.

Mr Albanese touched down in the US after spending the week embroiled in a battle with the Greens over Labor’s housing policies – stopping en-route in Cairns to launch a new social housing project at a disused drive-in to drive home his point.

But he will not extend his stay to attend next week’s UN General Assembly in New York alongside other world leaders.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong will represent Australia at the event instead.

Mr Albanese said he was prioritising overseas trips that “I have to make” while remaining conscious of his domestic responsibilities.

His international travel will ramp up in coming months as the world enters summit season, with trips to Laos for ASEAN, Samoa for CHOGM, Brazil for the G20 and Peru for APEC all booked in.

Mr Albanese will also host King Charles and Queen Camilla on their visit to Australia in October.