Kevin Rudd and Hilary Clinton announce her trip to Australia in November / Picture: AP Source: AP

Mr Rudd has met with Ms Clinton in Washington DC, where he has begun a week-long visit to the United States including an address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

According to The Australian, President Barack Obama dropped in later for a quick catch-up as Mr Rudd met national security adviser James Jones.  The meeting is described as "informal and brief".

Official protocol usually prevents scheduled meetings between Mr Obama and dignitaries who are not heads of government.  It's been reported the impromptu pop-in gave the pair a chance to chat for the first time since Mr Obama called Mr Rudd to offer his commiserations after his ousting in June.

Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.

Related Coverage

• Video: Rudd, Clinton joke around

End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.

At a press conference after their talks, Secretary of State Ms Clinton has announced she and US Defence Secretary Robert Gates will come to Australia on November 8 for talks with their counterparts Mr Rudd and Stephen Smith, along with other top representatives.

"We intend to make it a really good time," Mr Rudd has said, prompting laughter at the press conference.  "Not in the sense that you all think."

Ms Clinton, also laughing, replied: "Oh I'm not so sure about that."  Mr Rudd countered: "We're a hospitable people."

There was an obvious rapport between Mr Rudd and Ms Clinton at the joint appearance.  The pair have worked together for years when Mr Rudd was prime minister and when Ms Clinton was the likely Democratic presidential pick, before the rise of Mr Obama.

She has had to learn how to travel the world stage in her own right while also pushing her boss's message.  That is something Mr Rudd now must also grapple with.

But Labor's message in minority government could differ from its campaign themes, according to a report in Fairfax newspapers.  Ms Gillard has been reported as saying the hung parliament and the deal with the Independents means some "big picture" items promised in the campaign might be changed.

"Anything associated with climate change is obviously one where we're in a new environment," she has said.

The November talks will focus on the war in Afghanistan, trade issues and how to handle the relationship with China.  Ms Clinton also added climate change as a topic to be tackled.

Mr Rudd has said our relationship with US is vital to our interests and also helps keep Asia stable.  "So much of the economic growth that we have seen in East Asia and the Pacific in the last 30 years has come off the back of the strategic stability afforded to the region by the United States presence," he has said.

He has rejected a suggestion that the US should step back from the region to allow more room for China to flex its muscles.

Ms Clinton cancelled a trip to Australia in January so that she could focus on the US response to the Haiti earthquake.  She will attend the East Asian Summit regional conference in Vietnam on her way to Australia.

Mr Obama also cancelled an Australian visit twice this year, so that he could focus on passing his health care package through the US Congress.  The US ambassador to Australia has said those plans are now back on the agenda, but he could not say when the visit would happen.

Ms Clinton has said Mr Obama will visit next East Asian Summit in Jakarta.  That could allow him to head to Australia on the same trip.