Australian Deputy PM heads to Canada for G20 meeting

Australian former Treasurer Wayne Swan will jet off to Toronto, Canada on Friday in his new position as Deputy Prime Minister to represent Australia at this weekend's G20 leaders meeting.

Former prime minister Kevin Rudd, who was toppled by Julia Gillard in a leadership spill on Thursday, was supposed to attend the event.

Swan said there were two very important issues on the G20 agenda.

Firstly, the `Framework for Sustained and Balanced Growth' -- how governments deal with the imbalances in the global economy and how to put in place reforms so there will not be a repeat of the global recession.

"And associated with that is a discussion about financial regulation to make sure that we don't see a repeat of the financial crisis that led to the global recession," Swan told ABC Radio on Friday.

In a statement, Swan said the summit came at an important time with the global economic recovery proceeding at different speeds in different regions "and risks remain".

"The strong rebound in our own region and in emerging economies is contrasted with weak growth in some advanced economies," he said.

"The financial market turbulence of recent months, stemming from the difficulties in Europe, also reminds us of the potential risks to the global outlook and the challenges ahead."

Source: Xinhua