Deep in the 9/11 museum, beneath where the World Trade Centre's once stood, Malcolm Turnbull has had a chance encounter with an aspiring young Australian.
Elena Saxton, a 23-year-old guide, couldn't help but greet Mr Turnbull and his wife Lucy during their New York visit on Saturday.
Ms Saxton will return to Sydney University in March where she will be studying her masters in public policy.
"I'm actually really interested in counter-terrorism," she told Mr Turnbull when he asked about her interests.
"It's a very challenging area," he replied.
"What we saw here was an elaborate planned attack. It took months and months."
Now the world is dealing with defending those sort of attacks as well as lone wolves, he said.
"It's a hard thing to manage," she agreed.
Mr Turnbull pointed her in the direction of his senior national security advisors, including Greg Moriarty a former counter-terrorism co-ordinator.
"There you go, you've made a good contact," the prime minister said before Mr Moriarty passed on his business card.
