The US-Australian relationship is unlikely to be anything but cordial despite the ambitious carbon pollution plan unveiled by President Barack Obama before Prime Minister Tony Abbott's visit, pundits say.
While some commentators and political opponents predict Mr Abbott's different course on environmental policy may lead to frosty, or awkward, moments between the two leaders when they meet next week, two US experts on Australian-American relations disagree.
"Australian and American shared interests will be front and centre when Abbott meets the American president," Alan C Tidwell, director of the Center for Australian, New Zealand and Pacific Studies at Georgetown University, told AAP.
"There is no value for either leader to focus attention on differences."
Obama announced on Monday a plan to cut carbon pollution from existing US power plants 30 per cent by 2030.
Republican opponents and US business groups immediately launched campaigns against the proposal.
WWF-Australia estimates that to match the US target, Australia would need to strengthen its current target of five per cent below 2000 levels by 2020 to a 20 per cent reduction in emissions by 2020.
Thomas Plate, distinguished scholar of Asian and Pacific Studies at Loyola Marymount University, said recent history showed Australian prime ministers and US presidents have not let political ideologies damage the alliance.
"I don't think Bill Clinton and John Howard were such great mates," said Plate, the author of soon-to-be published book In the Middle of China's Future.
"But the American-Australian connection remained deep and strong.
"The prime minister will deflect any frost on the climate issue by joshing that politicians have to do and say all sorts of things to get elected and to hold on to their base."
Indonesia, however, could be a challenging topic for Abbott and Obama.
"To me, Indonesia might pop up on the frosty list," Plate said. "Abbott seems to handle issues Indonesian in a way that makes Howard's record with the world's most populous Muslim nation seem adroit and super-sensitive.
"Our president has a special feeling for Indonesia, of course, and has followed its latest bristles with China, as with all the other bumps and grinds surfacing in the East and South China Sea.
"The president is a good listener and might sit back and listen on that issue."
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