Candid Canberra

Senior political correspondent Karen Middleton takes a look at national politics. @KarenMMiddleton

Another week, another summit

20 November 2010, 13:56 PM | Source: SBS - Karen Middleton

Another week, another summit. This time, it's Lisbon. Subject, Afghanistan.

Another week, another summit

Another week, another summit

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This summit makes it five for Prime Minister Julia Gillard in just six weeks. She's come a long way (literally).
 
The Prime Minister is looking more at home and a lot less nervous than on her first official overseas trip to the Asia-Europe meeting in Brussels last month.
 
And whatever you do, don't mention that unfortunate faux pas about preferring to be home listening to school children read than hob-nobbing with the world's most powerful leaders. She may not have changed her mind but she certainly won't put it like that again. Not ever, if she can help it.
 
This meeting has all the hallmarks of your average summit - giant media centre, angry local proprietors who find themselves stranded without clientele thanks to police blockades and an impressive array of the globally powerful, rich and somewhat controversial.
 
(Italian President Silvio Berlusconi sauntered down the steps of his plane with his expensive and probably-cashmere coat slung around his shoulders looking for all the world like Count Yorga, the Godfather and Hugh Hefner rolled into one. Oh, and despite living just next door, he was late.)
 
Australia is an interloper here, though, only invited because of our troop contribution in Afghanistan.
 
The agenda for the NATO summit overall is much broader - a bureaucratic overhaul of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation itself and an attempt to re-start moves towards a European-based missile defence system, coupled with moves to restore relations with Russia.
 
The Russians were a bit upset about the missile defence plans previously and not that keen about NATO's association with the republic of Georgia either.
 
It remains to be seen whether all is forgiven. Russian President Dmitri Medvedev drops by tomorrow afternoon.
 
But for Gillard, it's all about Afghanistan. Australia fought for greater political access to the decisionmaking process on Afghanistan and is determined to make its little voice heard, even if its influence is small.
 
So even though she's had to fly 55 hours, round trip, to spend 18 hours on the ground in Lisbon and only three hours around the NATO summit table, she's insisting it's worth it.
We'll ask her again once she's landed back in Canberra in time for Question Time on Monday.

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enjoy the company

phw - from canberra, 7 months ago

No doubt JG is following good advice to stand a safe distance away from Silvio and will revel in the company of the world's top terrorists (Nort Atlanctic Terror Organisation).