Australian PM welcomes Obama's plan to visit Darwin

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Friday welcomed U.S. President Barack Obama's plan to visit Darwin, capital of the Northern Territory state, when he visits Australia next month. Obama's trip to Darwin on November 17 marks the first time any sitting U.S. president has ever traveled to the city or the state. Gillard will meet the president in Darwin, and she said the city was Australia's gateway to Asia and the president's visit was an opportunity to showcase the trade and investment opportunities in Australia's north. "In this 60th anniversary year of the ANZUS alliance, the president's visit to Darwin is also a chance to remember the long and shared history of the two nations' defense forces in the Northern Territory and the contribution of the United States to the defense of Australia," Gillard said in a statement released on Friday. Meanwhile, Defence Minister Stephen Smith said President Obama' s visit to Darwin was good news for the Northern Territory. He said choosing Darwin to drop in on the way to Bali of Indonesia shows "the focus of the world is moving to the Asia- Pacific". Obama's visit is timed to mark the 60th anniversary of the Australia, New Zealand, the United States Security Treaty (ANZUS) treaty between Australia and the United States. The president will be in Canberra on November 17 and has accepted an invitation from Prime Minister Julia Gillard to address Parliament. It will be Obama's third attempt to visit Australia as U.S. president. The two previous trips had to be canceled because he had to stay at home to deal with domestic issues.