Scott Morrison's quest to be a Biden 'bestie'

Making this transition neatly is probably the most important aspect of Morrison's trip to the G7 summit, at which Australia is one of several guest countries.

A feature of the weekend in Cornwall will be the Prime Minister's bilateral with the President, with a show of bonhomie for the cameras and some shrewd mutual assessment in private.

The Australia-US relationship is driven by deep common interests rather than the extent of rapport (or lack of it) between leaders in office at any particular time. But establishing strong personal bonds can help grease the wheels.

Morrison's pragmatism and his chameleon quality will help in developing intimacy. At and around the G7 he will play up the obvious points of commonality, with Biden and the other leaders. But he still carries some policy baggage, notably on the climate issue, and it's unclear whether that will cause him trouble.

Morrison laid the groundwork for his trip in his Wednesday speech in Perth, which was titled "A world order that favours freedom", and cast as a rallying call to allies. This neatly aligned with Biden's recent Washington Post article, under the heading "My trip to Europe is about America rallying the world's democracies".

James Curran, a professor of modern history at Sydney University, saw "more than a touch of hubris" in the Morrison speech.

"He appears to be claiming that Australia, by virtue of being at the front line of the supposed 'new Cold War' against China, is a standard-bearer for 'a world order that favours freedom'," Curran says.

"But I think it is a case more of the PM's cleverly tapping into President Biden's longstanding 'alliance of democracies' rhetoric. Far from being out front, Mr Morrison is playing the role of presidential mimic."

One way or another, Morrison is firmly on the same page as the new president.

It's an easier page to be on than Trump's. In the Trump era, closeness might have been deemed necessary for Australia's interests, but was decidedly awkward. For instance, when asked on radio before his September 2019 US visit (with its state dinner) whether Trump was a good president, one could almost hear Morrison sliding across the room. "Yeah, I - look, we've got a straight-up relationship and he respects Australia."

In broad strategic and economic terms, Morrison goes to the G7 focused on the threat of an ever more assertive China. Australia has increasingly felt the harsh edge of China's diplomatic tongue, and some exports suffer as China weaponises trade.

Morrison is looking for maximum attention on the China challenge from allies and friends.

Given how deleterious for Australia China's behaviour now is, the government's reaction is not surprising. But there is also the risk of it becoming seriously counterproductive.

In Western Australia, there's concern China could threaten that state's iron ore exports. Premier Mark McGowan was unimpressed with the tone of Morrison's speech. McGowan warned that "we need to be very careful in ... our language and the way we approach these things because we could be the big losers out of it".

One specific issue Morrison hopes the G7 will push is reform of the World Trade Organization's disputes settlement system, which has broken down in the wake of Trump vetoing the appointment of new judges. A well-functioning process is vital, especially for a country like Australia.

The ANU's Shiro Armstrong, an expert on the WTO, says Morrison's urging lends weight to a wider international recognition that global trade rules are outdated and the current system is under threat.

While the G7 is expected to call for action, Armstrong says change will require broader support. He points to the G20 (of which Australia is an actual member) being the body able to "set the strategic direction for reform of the WTO, given its membership of the large emerging economies and established powers".

Among the central issues on the G7 agenda will be climate change and the pandemic.

Morrison has made it clear he is not ready yet to embrace a firm 2050 target for net-zero emissions - though he wants to before the Glasgow climate conference in November - let alone lift Australia's ambition in the near term.

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For all his talk of technology, and his defensive stand on Australia's record, he won't be in tune with the G7 leaders. It will be embarrassing. The question is, how embarrassing?

Will he be put on the spot in plain sight, or will Australia's laggard position be politely ignored in public? And behind closed doors, will Biden twist his arm to move faster, or will the President leave that until later - or to his climate envoy John Kerry? Britain's Boris Johnson has already been firm with him.

On the pandemic, Morrison will be able to boast about Australia's health and economic performance. Perhaps he won't dwell on the vaccine rollout.

But the G7 leaders will be focused on the need to get more vaccines to developing countries. Leaders are announcing donations. Immediately upon stepping off his plane in Britain, Morrison said Australia would contribute vaccines from its existing contracted stock - a mix of Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca.

In his speech, Morrison made a point of welcoming Biden's probe into the origins of the coronavirus - whether it came from an animal, as initially accepted, or the possibility it accidentally escaped from a Wuhan laboratory.

Australia's early call for an inquiry marked a moment of further deterioration in the relationship with China. The investigation that eventually resulted was inconclusive.

According to a leaked version of the G7 draft communique, seen by Bloomberg News, the leaders are set to call for the World Health Organisation to set up a new inquiry into COVID-19's origins.

For Morrison the search for the pandemic's start is unfinished business, a point of strong accord with the President.