"Bill Gates warns Australia to prepare for next pandemic - which could be far more brutal than Covid"

"Tech billionaire Bill Gates has warned Australia to be ready for the next pandemic, which could be man-made and far more brutal.

Mr Gates told the Lowy Institute think tank in Sydney on Monday that political leaders needed to set aside their differences and work together to prepare for the next virus.

He called for greater global cooperation using the Covid-19 pandemic as an example of how countries could improve on their response if they worked together...

Mr Gates praised Australia's policies in helping to keep infection rates low before vaccines were rolled out.

'Some of the things that stand out are that Australia and about seven other countries did population scale diagnostics early on and had quarantine policies,' he said.

'That meant you kept the level of infection low in that first year when there were no vaccines.'...

'We need to be doing every five years a comprehensive exercise at both country and regional levels of pandemic preparedness and you need a global group that's scoring everybody.'...

He criticised the United States under Donald Trump's leadership threatening to withdraw from the World Health Organisation and withholding funding.

Mr Gates advocated for a bolstering of resources to the international health body.

He also said US policy, and by extension Australia's, towards China needed a more conciliatory and cooperative political approach in tackling major problems such as climate change.

'I see China's rise as a huge win for the world ... the current mentality of the US to China, and which is reciprocated, is kind of a lose-lose mentality'.

'That could be very self-fulfilling in a very negative way'.

Mr Gates on Saturday met with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at Kirribilli House in Sydney to discuss climate change, health and energy challenges."