United States vice president Joe Biden will visit Australia over the weekend, with his trip to include visits to Boeing’s Port Melbourne factory, the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre, and a “major policy speech on the future of the US-Australia relationship.”
The Age and others report that Biden will visit the Boeing Aerostructures Australia Port Melbourne factory, where composite components of the 787 Dreamliner, such as trailing edge parts, are made and shipped to the US. Port Melbourne is also home to the company’s largest R&D presence outside of the US.
“Victoria and the United States collaborate strongly across aerospace, medical research and information technology and this visit will help strengthen those ties for the years ahead,” the ABC reports acting Victorian premier James Merlino as saying.
Biden will also deliver a major policy speech on the US/Australia relationship, which is hotly anticipated given landmark ruling in The Hague against China’s claims in the South China Sea.