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Mrs Merkel was photographed with the document, which contained a picture of Mr Morrison and details about his career. She studied it as she sat opposite the Prime Minister, before a meeting
between the pair started. Mr Morrison is Australia’s fifth prime minister since 2013. However the Australian government insisted no offence had been taken. Trade Minister Simon Birmingham
commented: “Angela Merkel’s department, no doubt was simply ensuring that the chancellor was properly briefed.” Mr Morrison became Prime Minister in August after his predecessor, Malcolm
Turnbull, was deposed in an internal party coup. Angela Merkle has been German Chancellor since 2005, though she has announced her intention to step-down in 2021. During this period
Australia has had seven different Prime Ministers. Rather than being offended, many Australians admitted to sympathising with Mrs Merkel’s predicament. The Sydney Morning Post ran a story
titled: “Who is this? Australians can probably relate to Angela Merkel’s predicament”. Mr Morrison also met US President Donald Trump during the G20 meeting in Argentina. The President
praised his Australian counterpart commenting: “You’ve done a lot of the things that they’ve wanted over there and that’s why you’re sitting right here. “Just getting to know each other and
so far so good, I think it’s going to be a great relationship.” Mr Morrison returned the complement telling reporters “we have just gotten to know each other and so far, so good”. Mr
Morrison’s currently leads a minority centre-right government, with a general election due next year. He continues to face criticism from his predecessor, Mr Turnbull, who recently claimed
Mr Morrison only cares about “keeping his arse” in his job.