Interpac Business and Migration Solutions Melbourne Australia

(November 16, 2011)

4.49pm: You couldn't wipe the smile off Ms Gillard's face with an industrial-strength scrubbing brush. She must be thinking "poll boost, poll boost, poll boost..."

The two leaders give one more wave to the crowd before disappearing into the Prime Minister's private chamber for a cup of tea and a biscuit. They will have an official bilateral meeting before returning to face the cameras in an hour or so for a joint media conference, which will be the main opportunity for the press to question Mr Obama during his visit.

4.41pm: The Spangly anthem gets a second round before a stirring rendition of Advance Australia Fair rings out across the forecourt.

Now Mr Obama moves inside to greet the schoolchildren, who AAP reports are from Dungog Public in NSW and Darley Primary in Bacchus Marsh, in Victoria. Wyatt Roy doesn't get a look in though - maybe they pushed him out of the way. No gloves when the President shakes hands, unlike the Queen. He must have a more robust constitution - or an aide on hand with liberal lashings of antibacterial wash.

Mr Obama also met the Speaker of the House, Harry Jenkins, the President of the Senate, John Hogg, the Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, and Defence Force Chief General David Hurley among others.

He then signed the visitor's book left-handed. Interesting fact - the president is reportedly ambidextrous.

4.30pm: Cannons ring out for a 21-gun salute as Barack Obama arrives at the great verandah at Parliament House. Julia Gillard has kept the same outfit. Maybe the GG is angling for a kiss of her own?

Mr Obama stands resolute with hand on heart as the Star Spangled Banner rings out from the military band.

4.25pm: First costume change of the day. Quentin Bryce sported a bright yellow outfit at the airport, but is now decked out in bright orange with white polka dots for the official welcome. That puts here on a par with Dolly Parton during last night's concert for costume changes.

It is the same jacket outfit she wore for the Queen and Prince Philip during their recent tour. But she has mixed it up with a different skirt, just to keep things fresh.

Was it planned or did she spill some coffee on the way back from the airport? Let the theories begin...

4.08pm: Good thing Mr Obama isn't home at the moment. NBC News reports a bullet was fired at the White House last week, striking one of the building's bullet-proof windows. Another round was also fired, but missed the building.

Back in Australia, Jacqueline Maley reports there is much shoving and jostling among the crowd gathered at the mural hall in Parliament House, where Mr Obama will sign the visitor's book. Australia's youngest MP Wyatt Roy is in the crowd, waiting for a glimpse of the President. So are many schoolchildren. It's easy to get them confused.

The schoolchildren are sitting cross-legged on the floor of the marble hall, near the entrance. As far as we are aware, Wyatt Roy is standing.

The table you can see in the distance is where the signing will take place. Photo: Jacqueline Maley

3.58pm: Glenda Kwek reports that if residents of other states are jealous that Mr Obama is not swinging their way, at least they can be grateful they won’t have to experience the traffic gridlock that comes with his visit.

The ACT traffic police tweets: "Please be patient and follow any direction from ACT Policing as Presidential motorcade travels through Canberra today and tomorrow #aubama"

3.54pm: If you were in any doubt that something was going down in Canberra today, this photo from smh.com.au reader Bill Quinn of media camped out on the lawn of Parliament House puts it to rest. As he says: Obamarama - the circus is in town.

3.47pm: As we await Mr Obama's arrival at Parliament House, let's take a trip back in time with this photogallery of previous presidential visits.

Australia's ambassador to the US, Kim Beazley, tells the Associated Press Mr Obama’s visit is "enormously important".

• "It's an area where the United States has got considerable freedom of action, considerable interests, growing interests. And Australia is well-located strategically."

AP points out this is the first time a sitting US president has visited Darwin. US and Australian troops were killed in a Japanese attack on Darwin during WWII, and Mr Obama will visit a memorial to them when he is there tomorrow.

3.44pm: The only protesters holding a demonstration to coincide with Mr Obama's visit - the pro-cannabis camp all the way from Nimbin - definitely get points for their slogans. Along with the giant joint balloon they have erected, AAP is reporting some of their slogans include: "Legalise? Yes we cannabis!"

The big joint is the centrepiece of Canberra's pro-dope protest. Photo: Canberra Times

3.36pm: Twitterers have already had their say on The Beast:

• "Those doors on the Beast are thicker than my bedroom walls! #aubama" - Patrick25
  
• "After that beast, the PM's car looks like something bought from a second hand car yard. #AUBama" - mattcappa

But the final word again goes to Fairfax National Security Correspondent Dylan Welch:

At least it didn't get stuck this time.

3.25pm: And the Beast leaves Fairbairn with Mr Obama snug inside. It apparently has a codename of "stagecoach", according to Sky News.

Rumour has been circulating that he will be whisked away to the Hyatt Hotel tonight, where he will be spending the night in the presidential suite. For once, that title isn't an understatement.

Julia Gillard has just left in her Holden Caprice. I'd be tempted to say she looks a little jealous, but she could be just as well thinking "Glad I don't have to travel in a souped-up tank".

Before he can get comfortable in his suite, Mr Obama has business to attend to. He is due at a ceremonial welcome at the Parliament House forecourt and will officially sign the Prime Minister's visitor's book ("Glad to be hear, love Barry").

He will then have an official chat with Ms Gillard before a joint media conference scheduled for betweek 5.30pm and 6pm.

3.21pm: And the man himself emerges:

Our two first ladies - Governor-General Quentin Bryce and Prime Minister Julia Gillard are among the first to greet him. A stern handshake for the GG, but Ms Gillard gets a smooch and a hug. Jealous?

3.10pm: The eagle has landed:

Not a bad approach from Obama's personal pilot. Clean landing, small puff of smoke from the wheels. I'd rate it a 4/5.

3.07pm: Sky News footage shows Air Force One is now making its final approach to RAAF Fairbairn airfield.

3.05pm: Our readers report the dull rumbling of fighter jets can easily be heard in Canberra now, with Air Force One just 20 minutes away. But even more exciting than that, Jacqueline Maley reports Kamahl has been spotted in the building. Apparently he is performing at the official dinner for Obama tonight...

3.02pm: Glenda Kwek reports the staff at the US embassy in Canberra have busy preparing for their chief's visit - and using all the Obama hashtags to make sure their tweets get seen.

Back in the US, the White House is talking up Mr Obama goals for his Australia trip: "strengthening our relationships and promoting security in the Pacific".

"On Wednesday, the President will meet with Prime Minister Julia Gillard, and the two will hold a joint press conference. Later that day, President Obama will be hosted at a dinner at the Australian Parliament House. On Thursday, the President will give an address to the Australian Parliament, meet with parliamentary leaders, tour a primary school with Prime Minister Gillard, and visit a military base in Darwin -- where he'll speak to a combined audience of U.S. marines and Australian troops."

2.55pm: The White House has finally confirmed to the US media contingent the exclusive story broken by Herald Political Editor Peter Hartcher that Mr Obama will announce an increased US presence in Australia during his jaunt down under.

And the reaction in the US? "Well, early congratulations to the luckiest bunch of Marines on the planet," tweets conflict expert Christopher Albon as the clock ticks towards midnight in the US capital.

2.44pm: There's a fair bit of time difference between the US and Australia, as Jake Tapper, ABC News' Senior White House Correspondent, points out on his arrival in Canberra. "G'day from Australia. We're 16 hours ahead of the East Coast of the US. Having seen the future, I recommend you all stay in bed," he quips on Twitter.

2.21pm: A piercing insight into the complexities of Australian/American diplomacy from the New York Post:

It's a lot to ask of President Obama, but he may eat "paste'' to please an ally. He arrives tomorrow in Australia, the home of kangaroos, dingos - and Vegemite. Aussies were crushed last March by his description of their favorite spread as "horrible" and "a quasivegetable by-product paste." But he's getting a second chance. He'll be presented with a jar of the stuff while Down Under.

2.17pm: Jacqueline Maley reports that, sadly, the President's visit to Australia doesn't seem as big a deal to the Americans as it is to us. A scan of the New York Times, LA Times and the Chicago Tribune websites shows no sign of reports on Obama's movements down under.

The New York Times is running a story about how Obama may have trouble mobilising college students to campaign for him the way they did in the 2008 Presidential elections.

2.14pm: Fox News chief White House correspondent Ed Henry was quite taken by the greeting from Australian customs, some of whom had posted an Obama bobble-head toy on the desk to mark the occasion, as can be seen by this photo he posted on Twitter:

At least they weren't on strike today.

2.11pm: It doesn't matter that we taxpayers finance the building, when Obama's in town, no one's welcome at Parliament House.

The sign greeting visitors at Parliament House today. Photo: Jacqueline Maley

2.07pm: Seems there's no room for the homeless when Obama's in town. AAP reports that all homeless people have been evicted from the top end city's central area ahead of the President's visit tomorrow.

1.58pm: Jacqueline Maley reports that just as Parliament House has been spruced for the presidential visit, so our parliamentarians have been told to keep on their best behaviour.

Liberal senator Scott Ryan told Fairfax Radio that the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Harry Jenkins, sent out a special message to our often-errant pollies warning them against mucking up. Senator Ryan laid the blame at the feet of Greens Senator Bob Brown, who heckled then-President George W Bush when he addressed parliament in 2003. "I hope the Greens don't embarrass the country this time," he told Fairfax Radio.

The Senators will pile into the House of Reps for the address tomorrow, at 10.15am. It's always funny to see the MPs shuffle over and share their leather couches with their colleagues from the upper house.

Hopefully someone really sadistic will do the seating plan, and put Senator Bill Herffernan next to the Labor left backbenchers, or maybe Bob Brown on Nationals leader Warren Truss's knee, that sort of thing...

1.56pm: A fair question from our National Security Correspondent Dylan Welch:

1.47pm: Glenda Kwek reports that in case anyone is worried that Mr Obama might suddenly turn his plane around and head back to the US - he has postponed his trip here twice - they could take some comfort from the news that the US press pack have touched down in Canberra, confirmed by NBC news White House reporter Chuck Todd on Twitter.

1.40pm: When it comes to travelling in style, no one can top the US President. Thanks to the Canberra Times, here's a glimpse of the operation that is due to fly into Canberra in about an hour and a half:

If you're really keen, you can even take a tour of the world's most famous aircraft. Here's one that Fox News did during the Bush administration.

Julia Gillard's transport, in comparison, seems a little, shall we say, pedestrian.

1.29pm: Parliament House is a-tingle with anticipation as the touch-down of US President Barack Obama draws tantalisingly near. He is scheduled to "de-plane" - or "wheels down" if you are a West Wing fan - at 3.25pm AEDT at the military Canberra airport.

Jacqueline Maley reports that in the forecourt, which has been festooned with decorative flower pots, United States flags have been hoisted alongside the Australian ones. Here, at 4.30pm, Obama will receive his official ceremonial welcome, presided over by the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, and the Governor-General, Quentin Bryce. It will no doubt include a traditional Aboriginal welcome to country.

Previous Presidential visits, from LBJ in 1966 to George W Bush in 2003, have featured robust anti-war protests. Dubya was even heckled by a senator (Bob Brown) as he gave his parliamentary address.

But this time it seems the best the nation can do in terms of protest is an enormous plastic blow-up mock marijuana joint, which is sitting on Federation Mall, as part of an apparent protest about drug laws.

The big joint is the centrepiece of Canberra's pro-dope protest. Photo: Canberra Times

The protesters' area, which a cordoned-off grassy strip just in front of the media area, with its TV trucks and satellite dishes, is being peacefully guarded by a few cops, but one imagines the visible security presence will increase very soon, and very dramatically.

1pm: Welcome to our live coverage of Barack Obama's first visit to Australia. With the world's most powerful man due to jet in at 3.25pm AEDT, the streets of the nation's capital are swarming with men in black suits and sunglasses talking into their wrists as the security crackdown that follows the US president everywhere makes its home in Canberra.

Herald Canberra political correspondent Jacqueline Maley has been thrown into the Obama deep end this week, and has already noted in this morning's Under the Flag column the distinct change that has descended on the notoriously rambunctious press gallery in the past few days.

"Black Hawk helicopters whomp overhead. The doughnut-per-capita ratio has spiked. And baristas everywhere are dusting off their drip coffee pots. The Americans are coming. To the city they call Can-bear-ah."

As Maley notes, the red carpet has been rolled out for the White House press gallery, an army of US journalists who have been flown on their own taxpayer-funded chartered aircraft from Washington to cover the president's every move. It's amazing the difference a voluntary voting system has on the government's willingness to schmooze the press.

Most of the difference in treatment seems to be centred around coffee. While US-style drip-feed coffee and endless doughnuts are being supplied for the American contingent, the resident press gallery has been thunderstruck by today's decision to shut down the Parliament House coffee cart. Herald Chief Political Correspondent Phillip Coorey sums up the outrage:

Such serious issues need the eye of a serious reporter. In the absence so far of any assassination attempts, Fairfax National Security Correspondent Dylan Welch was quickly on the case.

The official word being given by the Department of Parliamentary Services, which runs the house on the hill, is that all non-essential staff are being cleared out of Parliament House for the next two days. The coffee cart staffers are included on this list, presumably to ensure no-one slips Barack an explosive espresso. So the thirsty journos will have to go without caffeine until Friday.

No joy at the parliamentary coffee cart. Photo: Jacqueline Maley

Come deadline-time the Parliament House authorities may have a different kind of security incident on their hands.