World leaders have gathered in Australia for the G20 summit, with its planned economic focus set to be overshadowed by Ebola and the conflict in Ukraine. Tony Abbott asked speakers to use their hearts, not their scripts, reports GHN based on DW.
Spurring economic growth, free trade agreements, combating climate change, the "Islamic State's" emergence in Iraq and Syria, the conflict in eastern Ukraine, an Ebola epidemic, tax evasion, tension between Japan and China: world leaders have plenty on their plates over the next two days in Brisbane.
Prior to the summit at a two-hour pre-summit retreat in the Queensland state capital, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said that "the only rules" for G20 leaders were to use first names, display personal warmth, and to speak candidly but without the aid of a stodgy script.
Abbott asked those taking to the podium to "speak from the heart rather than a script," and to keep their address within five minutes. "If we could use first names that would be good as well, because whatever disagreements we may have it helps if there can be personal warmth among us," Abbott said.
This appeal for familiarity was a far cry from Abbott's stated plans to "shirtfront" Russian President Vladimir Putin - an Australian rules football term for an aggressive front-on body-check - over his handling of the investigation into the downed Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine. Thirty-eight of the 298 passengers and crew were Australian citizens or residents.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation was permitted to film a few minutes of footage from Abbott's address, at one point panning between Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin and Angela Merkel as he spoke. Putin and Abbott also met briefly on Tuesday on the sidelines of the APEC summit in China; the Russian president arrived late on Friday in Brisbane.