Today I am travelling to Sao Paulo, Brazil to attend a meeting of G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors. This meeting will consider further international responses to the global financial crisis and prepare for the G-20 Leaders' meeting in Washington on 15 November.
I have accepted an invitation from Brazil, as chair of the G-20 Finance Ministers' meeting, to be a lead speaker in the session dealing specifically with preparations for the G-20 Leaders' meeting.
I will also be taking the opportunity during this visit to meet bilaterally with counterparts to discuss these issues and to argue for a continuing key role for the G-20 in global financial stability issues.
These are critical meetings for ensuring a coordinated international response to the global financial crisis.
As the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook has shown, Australia is being buffeted by the global financial crisis. That is why the Government has acted decisively to put in place its Economic Security Strategy and will continue to do whatever is necessary to support our economy in the face of these international events.
It is also why the Government must remain engaged at the highest levels internationally to ensure that coordinated responses minimise the impact of the global financial crisis on world economic growth.
The Leaders' meeting, to be attended by the Prime Minister, was called by President Bush to assess progress in addressing the financial crisis, advance a common understanding of its causes, and agree on a common set of principles for financial sector regulatory and institutional reform to try to prevent a reoccurrence.
Australia has been at the forefront of efforts to ensure that the G-20 - the forum which brings together the world's systemically important advanced and emerging market economies - has a key role in addressing these issues.
I will also be attending the Leaders' meeting in Washington, along with Finance Ministers from other G-20 countries.
In preparation for that meeting, I will be arguing in Sao Paulo for decisive internationally coordinated actions to help ensure that financial markets are stabilised and confidence restored, that economies - including those of emerging market and developing countries - are supported to minimise the economic impacts of the crisis, and that a clear plan is agreed by G-20 Leaders for regulatory and institutional reform to reduce the likelihood of future crises.
The Government's proposals will build on the five point plan announced by the Prime Minister in his speech to United Nations General Assembly on 25 September.