Australia Is New Chair of G20, Brisbane to Host Summit on Nov 15-16, 2014
Australia is the new chair of the Group of 20 (G20), and the Australian city of Brisbane will host the next G20 summit to be held Nov 15 to 16, 2014.
Former Prime Minister Julia Gillard had actually announced the selection of Australia as the new chair a year ago.
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Prime Minister Tony Abbott met Queensland Premier Campbell Newman, Treasurer Tim Nicholls and Brisbane Mayor Graham Quirk on Sunday in Brisbane to discuss the plans for the major event.
The PM said the themes of the summit would focus on improving economic and employment generation in the 20 industrialised nations, protecting the global economy from future shocks and international tax reform.
Mr Abbott said he would push that workers should pay taxes where they earn the income. He added that as host-nation, Australia would invite neighbours Singapore and New Zealand to the G20 summit which he called the most important gathering in Australia's history.
The G20 summit is the top global conference to study the world's economic and financial challenges with the 20 member-nations representing 85 per cent of the global gross domestic product and 80 per cent of global trade.
About 4,000 delegates and 3,000 media are expected to be in the Land Down Under for the G20 meeting, expected to cost Australia $400 million and generate $100 million for the local economy.
As part of organising the G20 summit, a ministerial-level event to be attended by finance ministers and central bank governors would be held in Sydney on Feb 21-23, preceded by a deputies-level gab in January in Canberra.
A second finance ministers and central bank governors meeting is slated on Sept 20-21.
Brisbane took over from being the G20 host city on Sunday from Saint Peterburg, Russia.
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To promote the event, Mr Quirk said Brisbane had put in place 3,000 billboards in global cities such as London, Paris, Madrid and Hong Kong as part of its New World City campaign.
"Traditionally we have struggled against Sydney in particular and Melbourne to a lesser extent and it's largely because in Queensland, Brisbane's always struggled in the tourism advertising against the Gold Coast, Cairns, the Great Barrier Reef," the mayor told Brisbane Times.
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"We've sort of been in the mix, but as a city government we're going to be very focused on getting our name ID up there," he said.
Mr Quirk said Brisbane will deploy up to 5,000 officers to patrol the city's streets, while people identified as security risk will be given up to $200 for their accommodation so they would not be in sensitive areas for the delegates and media to see.