The US government has confirmed that Canberra will miss out on hosting the annual Australia-US ministerial consultations this year, breaking a tradition going back to 1985.
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It was Australia's turn to host the dialogue of Foreign Affairs and Defence ministers for the 70th anniversary year of the ANZUS alliance. Following last year's event in Washington, Marise Payne said she was looking forwarding to hosting.
But amid lockdowns in Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne, the federal government has given up its right and instead Senator Payne and Defence Minister Peter Dutton will fly to Washington, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed on Wednesday.
More than 56 per cent of Washington's population are fully vaccinated, higher than any Australian city, but has more than 2500 active Covid cases. Canberra has 256 active cases.
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The statement from Mr Blinken came as a shock to the Foreign Affairs Minister's office, which was not aware that the US was planning on announcing the change, and had no comment when contacted.
Mr Blinken and US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin both recently visited Pacific nations to discuss regional security and climate change, but skipped Australia. Their boss, Joe Biden, is also expected to call Scott Morrison before November's UN climate change conference.
Mr Biden's White House is yet to announce the new ambassador to Australia, but rumours have circulated that Caroline Kennedy is the top pick.
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