Bidens host Australian PM Anthony Albanese in subdued state dinner

Oct. 26 (UPI) -- The Bidens hosted Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his partner, Jodie Haydon, for a state dinner at the White House on Wednesday night in a subdued event held under the shroud of war in Israel.

More than 300 guests attended the event, according to a list provided by the White House, which featured fewer celebrities compared to previous state dinners, actor John Leguizamo was present as were several notables of the business world, including AT&T CEO John Stankey and Shemara Wikramanayake, managing director and CEO of Macquarie Group.

Rock band the B-52s were originally scheduled to perform during the night, but attended the event only as guests when the music was canceled a day prior as first lady Jill Biden announced "a few adjustments to the entertainment portion of the evening."

The cause for the change was the war in Israel, with the first lady explaining that while they had planned for the band to play its iconic dance and party music, "we are not in a time when so many are facing sorrow and pain."

Though less extravagant compared to the state dinner the Bidens threw for Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India in June, the pavilion was still awash in color as a canvas of flowers and butterflies backdropped the event.

In a toast to Albanese, President Joe Biden remarked on the long history their two countries share and read from a manual U.S. service members serving in the Pacific theater of World War II received that said Australians "haven't much respect for stuffed shirts, their own or anyone else's."

Another tip included in the manual said that the Australians have been in "all the hotspots when the going gets tough," Biden said, commenting that Australians are always there when you need them.

"My own son, Maj. Beau Biden in the National Guard, spent a year in Iraq, told me how he could always count on Aussies to have his back. That's a fact. That's what he said. He meant it," Biden said.

He then listed the many ways the people of Australia and the United States have collaborated together of the years, before stating that "a great deal of the history of world will be written in the Indo-Pacific in the coming years" and that their two countries "must, must write that story together."

"We must continue to advance freedom, security and prosperity for all, continue the vital work of our nations of building strong partnerships, of holding nation to nation commitments and to native peoples," Biden said.

"Continue to defend the values of great democracies: freedom of expression, freedom of religion and freedom from fear. Continue to build a future worthy of our highest hopes, even when it's tough, especially when it's tough, for we know that's when it matters the most."

In turn, Albanese remarked that Washington and Canberra are closer now than they have ever been and will probably be even closer following his visit to Washington.

"We are firm allies, strengthening defense cooperation through AUKUS, and creating more economic opportunities for our peoples and our region," he said, referring to the trilateral security partnership the two countries are a part of with Britain.

"Australians are always ready to play our part."

He then made a toast, saying Australia has no greater friend than the United States.

"To the history our peoples have made together, but, importantly, the future we will build together as a people," he said. "To friendship."

The state dinner was the fourth of the Biden administration, following the one held for Modi, President Yoon Suk-yeol in April and President Emmanuel Macron of France in December.