Foreign leaders given Australia’s parliamentary privilege

“Remarkably uneventful” and a missed opportunity seemed to capture views of Sanae Takaichi’s flying visit to Canberra last week.

Bad weather interrupted a welcome ceremony for the Japanese PM at Parliament House. She met privately with Anthony Albanese and cabinet ministers, after which a handful of joint statements emerged and Takaichi laid a wreath at the Nara Peace Park – then she was gone.

“Dressing up pic-ops as substantial foreign policy,” said The Nightly’s Latika Bourke, offering one of the more cutting assessments of the trip.

A lack of media access seemed to most rankle local scribes. The Japanese leader did not want a joint press conference or to participate in a sit-down interview, which might have been a chance to quiz her about regional rivalries or Japan’s enhanced military ties with Australia.

Nine newspapers’ Matthew Knott and The Australian’s Greg Sheridan also wondered why there was no address to Australian parliament.

This question sent me flipping through the official records of Hansard to find out just how many foreign leaders had been given the parliamentary privilege (not counting the monarch).

A total of 20, it turns out. The last was in March this year, when Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, stood before assembled MPs and senators – the first female leader to do so.

Inviting a foreign leader to address the Australian parliament is a relatively new tradition. The first took place a little more than 30 years ago, in 1992, with US President George H. W. Bush. His successor Bill Clinton then had a turn in 1996.

A 2003 speech by George W. Bush was judged as remarkable, not for the heckling interruption over the invasion of Iraq, but because the very next day, China’s Hu Jintao became the first non-American leader to have the same honour. The successive appearances were a sign that Australia could have “close but different relationships” with China and the United States, according to then prime minister John Howard. It seems impossible to imagine the same sequencing today.

UK PM Tony Blair stood in the chamber in 2006, Canada’s Stephen Harper in 2007, then Indonesia’s Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in 2010, when he quoted the Lowy Poll on the poor state of neighbourly relations.

New Zealand’s John Key presented remarks in 2011. That same year, President Barack Obama pledged that the United States would “make our presence and mission in the Asia-Pacific a top priority” as part of the so-called pivot to Asia.

Inviting a foreign leader to address the Australian parliament is a relatively new tradition.

Japan’s Shinzo Abe then appeared in 2014. Australia’s hosting of the G20 summit in November that year led to a run of speeches within a few days – David Cameron from Britain, Xi Jinping of China, Narendra Modi of India. Good to have friends, but the crowding of the calendar did diminish the occasion.

Singapore’s Lee Hsien Loong presented in 2016, Indonesia’s Joko Widodo in 2020. A wartime video link speech by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in March 2022 came as part of a push for global support in response to Russia’s invasion.

Papua New Guinea’s James Marape spoke in February 2024, followed a few weeks later by Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr of the Philippines. Canada’s Mark Carney didn’t quite rival his Davos speech when addressing parliament in March this year – but then again, he was a hit the day before at the Lowy Institute.

So, back to Sanae Takaichi.

Parliament was not sitting last week, and a stir over the cost inevitably arises whenever MPs are recalled from across the country – although this was done for Obama. Background reports suggest that Japan’s leader was not keen for fanfare during her visit. She is new in the job. Having already stood up to China and parried a barb from Donald Trump, Takaichi might have wanted to duck any controversy.

There are also precedents for things going wrong with big set piece speeches. Julia Gillard’s address to a joint sitting of the US Congress early in her prime ministership came out as a cheesy fondue of clichés – a speech that included the observation that, watching the Moon landing as a child, “I’ll always remember thinking that day: Americans can do anything.” The reception underscored that the audience is as much at home as abroad.

Takaichi, six months in, may have judged a parliamentary speech a risk not worth the reward. That’s not a slight on Australia. More a sign of smarts.