Gillard Government to our alliance with the United States, the international community understands this, our friends and allies understand this, and our enemies understand this too". On her first day as Prime Minister, Gillard reassured her position towards the war to President Barack Obama of the United States. Prime Minister Gillard made an official visit to Afghanistan, in October 2010. There she met members of the Australian Defence Force in Tarin Kowt, and had discussions with President Hamid Karzai. This visit was part of her first international trip as Prime Minister. In April 2012, Prime Minister Gillard announced that her government would
Julia Gillard speech, as did the Prime Minister of Denmark, and some other leaders, just casually as I've moved around, have also mentioned it to me." US president Barack Obama reportedly "complimented" Gillard on the speech in a private conversation following his re-election, and his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised the speech as "very striking" with Gillard going "chapter and verse". Labor had secured the defection of Slipper from the Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) to sit in the Speaker's chair a year earlier, but he was forced to stand aside from his main duties in April 2012 pending the