By Shannon Tiezzi
While in the United States, Australia’s PM focused mostly on the anti-ISIS campaign.
Australian President Malcolm Turnbull is in the United States, his first visit to the major Australian ally since taking office in September 2015. He began his visit on Monday, meeting U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter at the Pentagon. On Tuesday, he headed to the White House for talks with President Barack Obama in the morning, followed by discussions with members of Congress in the afternoon.
Much of the discussions with U.S. leaders focused on Australian-American cooperation in the fight against Islamic State. Under previous Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Australia joined in U.S.-led airstrikes against Islamic State in both Iraq and Syria. But, when Turnbull replaced Abbott in a Liberal Party leadership spill, there were questions as to whether the new prime minister would have the same appetite for military operations in the Middle East.
Less than a week ago, Australia declined the United States’ request for all countries in the campaign against Islamic State to step up their efforts. Marise Payne, a spokesperson for Australia’s Defense Ministry*, said Canberra made the decision “in light of the substantial contributions we are already making to train Iraqi security forces and to the air campaign.”
The United States took care to recognize those contributions, with the White House saying it “deeply appreciates Australia’s tremendous support to the Counter-ISIL Coalition.” As Obama noted in remarks with Turnbull, “[I]n our fight against ISIL, Australia is the second largest contributor of troops on the ground after the United States.”
Read the full story at The Diplomat
* PacificSentinel Note: Marise Payne is NOT "a spokesperson for Australia’s Defense Ministry", she is the Minister for Defence