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US President Barack Obama will address Australia's parliament during his first presidential visit Down Under later this month, a senior cabinet minister said Thursday.
Leader of the House Anthony Albanese said federal parliament would be recalled so Obama could address a joint sitting in Canberra on March 23.
"President Obama will be a very, very welcome guest in this country," he told reporters, adding the visit would generate a great deal of interest from the public.
The dates of Obama's trip to Australia, and a stop in Indonesia, are yet to be announced but he is expected to visit Sydney and Canberra during a two-day stay.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will also address a joint sitting of parliament when he visits Canberra next Wednesday, Albanese said.
"This is an important visit by our nearest neighbour and a good friend," he said of the March 9-11 visit.
Obama's predecessor George W. Bush was heckled about the Iraq war during a speech to the joint parliamentary sitting in 2003, prompting him to quip: "I love free speech".
Albanese said the parliament should show "our unity as a nation" to a visiting head of state.
"It is appropriate in my view that when any dignitary visits this nation that the Australian parliamentarians both in the House of Representatives and the Senate treat that visiting dignitary with respect," he said.
