Gillard taking off for Belgium

Julia Gillard will head to Belgium early next month to meet with Asian and European
leaders in her first foray into international politics as prime minister.
Ms Gillard will be in Brussels on October 4 to participate in the Asia-Europe
Meeting where 43 countries come together to discuss issues including climate change
and economic development.
The trip will give Ms Gillard the opportunity to introduce herself to the
international community and remind other leaders that Kevin Rudd is no longer boss.
China, Japan, Britain, France and Germany will be represented at the meeting to
which Australia has been invited for the first time, along with New Zealand and
Russia.
It was not immediately clear if Mr Rudd would accompany Ms Gillard.
Following the Brussels meeting, Ms Gillard will return home to continue the delicate
balancing act of running a minority government.
She will head overseas again on October 29, to Vietnam, for the East Asia Summit
(EAS) and the first ASEAN-Australia leaders summit.
Ms Gillard praised the expansion of the EAS, saying it strengthened Australia's aim
to improve regional relations between fellow invitees Russia and the United States.
Just 13 days later, Ms Gillard will be in Seoul for the G20 Leaders' Meeting.
After South Korea, Ms Gillard will finish an exhaustive six weeks of travel with the
APEC meeting in Yokohama, Japan.
On the same day Ms Gillard was announcing her extensive travel plans for the
remainder of the year, Mr Rudd was addressing a high level meeting of the United
Nations on the continuing problems in Pakistan.
The foreign minister pointed to the possibility of a new beginning for Pakistan as
the central Asian nation struggles to recover from vast floods.
Speaking to a high level meeting of the United Nations, Mr Rudd said the concerns
for Pakistan were great but so were the potential opportunities.
"We wish to be partners with Pakistan's long-term recovery, reconstruction and
development," Mr Rudd told the meeting.
However, he warned of the need for a global partnership if real reform was to be
made on entrenched corruption.
"We also will be supporting the new efforts of the Pakistan Development Forum but we
need to do so on the basis of an entrenched partnership with the government and
people of Pakistan."
In the days ahead, he will meet with other international figures before addressing
the UN General Assembly on Saturday.