Today I will meet with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, and the Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, in London to discuss the serious challenges facing the global economy and the next steps required to restore growth and confidence.
I will also meet with senior representatives from the investment community to get a first-hand assessment of conditions in regional financial markets and to outline the strengths of the Australian economy.
While in London, I will address Australian business representatives about the global economic climate, the changing shift in the global economy from West to East and what this means for Australia.
These events provide an opportunity to remind investors and business leaders of the strong fundamentals of the Australian economy, which is in its 20th year of expansion.
With two of the world's biggest growth engines misfiring at the same time, and fragile confidence in international markets, the current global instability will obviously impact on the Australian economy and the Budget.
But Australians can face these dangers with confidence, built on our strong fundamentals, our very low debt, low unemployment and our proven track record of dealing with global instability.
Today's meetings follow the G20 Finance Ministers Meeting in Paris over the weekend which focused on the serious risks in Europe in particular, and the next steps needed in the lead-up to the G20 Leaders' Meeting in Cannes next month.
They also follow our G20 meetings in September in Washington, which effectively highlighted the serious threat facing the global economy and have propelled European policy-makers to take much-needed collective action in recent weeks.