Leaders from fifteen Southeast Asian nations to converge in Melbourne for meeting

Leaders from fifteen southeast Asian nations will converge in Melbourne for a meeting to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Australia’s association with the ASEAN summit, says Sky News Political Editor Andrew Clennell.

He said the attendance list reads “like an ASEAN summit”.

Mr Clennell said people can expect bilateral meetings between Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and “all the leaders”.

“The Asian country not on the invite list who is bound to feature heavily in discussions but not be named publicly is, of course, China,” he said.

“The Philippines leader Ferdinand Marcos Junior took an approach similar to this in his address to the Australian Parliament during the week where he spoke of things like the international rule of law and maritime law without expressly naming China.”