Canberra: Prime Minister Julia Gillard says she has no plans to meet the Dalai Lama when he visits Australia next month, but acknowledges that the nation expected her to receive the Tibetan spiritual leader.
Previous Australian government leaders have riled the nation`s most important trading partner, China, by holding unofficial meetings with the Dalai Lama while he visited Australia.
Gillard told Parliament on Monday that such private meetings have been "very much a reflection of Australian community expectations."
She said she had no such meeting scheduled and that any decision on a possible meeting would be made as the Dalai Lama`s visit draws nearer.
The Dalai Lama`s June 9-20 visit ends only days before Gillard`s first anniversary as leader.
Bureau Report
