Plan B Forum

Julia Gillard has arrived in the United States on her first Prime Ministerial visit, where she will meet with president Barack Obama and address congress.

She touched down at Andrews Air Force base outside Washington and will split her week between the capital and New York.

Ms Gillard was briefed after arriving by former Labor leader and now US ambassador Kim Beazley, and will be briefed again on Monday (Australian time) before starting her busy schedule.

She will meet with Mr Obama on Tuesday (Australian time) and address congress on Thursday.

Ms Gillard will become the first foreign dignitary to address the new US congress and only the fourth Australian prime minister to ever do so.

Her speech is expected to commemorate 60 years of the ANZUS alliance.

The other big moment will be a meeting with Mr Obama, where the exit strategy for the Afghan war and the global economic recovery will be likely topics.

But Ms Gillard has already indicated she will steer clear of difficult territory, including Australian WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

She will also discuss global security during talks with other senior administration figures, including secretary of state Hillary Clinton and the CIA director.

The global economy will dominate discussions with Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke and the head of the World Bank.

There will also be lunch with News Corp boss Rupert Murdoch and talks with UN chief Ban Ki-moon.


http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011 ... tion=world

Gillard to announce Vietnam memorial funding


Prime Minister Julia Gillard will use her first public event in the US to announce funding for a new Vietnam War memorial.

Ms Gillard was expected to make a brief appearance outside Blair House this morning but rain kept her inside, where she is being briefed by Australia's US ambassador, Kim Beazley.

There are no official engagements until tomorrow, when Ms Gillard will pledge $3.3 million towards an Australian-themed contribution to a new Vietnam war memorial.

The Australian money will fund displays specifically honouring Australia's involvement in the war, which claimed 521 Australian lives.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011 ... 156540.htm

There will also be lunch with News Corp boss Rupert Murdoch

US president Barack Obama and Prime Minister Julia Gillard discussed the war in Afghanistan and "being great mates" when they met overnight in Washington.

The meeting was the first between the two leaders since Ms Gillard arrived in Washington for a five-day visit.

The pair spent 45 minutes in the Oval Office discussing strong ties between the United States and Australia and shared political interests.

"We've been talking today about the friendship between our two countries - about being great mates," Mr Obama said afterwards.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011 ... ion=justin

Voter support for the Federal Government has plummeted in the first opinion poll taken since Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced her carbon tax plan.

The survey, published in the Australian newspaper, shows Labor's primary vote has fallen six points to 30 per cent, below the 31 per cent record low when Paul Keating was prime minister in 1993.

The Coalition rose four points to 45 per cent.

Labor also trails the Coalition 46 per cent to 54 per cent after preferences, after tying with the Coalition at 50 per cent a fortnight ago.

Ms Gillard's personal popularity has also plunged.

Her lead over Opposition Leader Tony Abbott as preferred Prime Minister has halved from 22 points to 11 points.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011 ... 157611.htm