Saudi-Australian relations have checkered history

Saudi Arabia's diplomatic relationship with Australia dates back to 1974 when the Australian Embassy was opened in Riyadh.
The two countries signed an agreement to strengthen mutual economic and technical relations in Riyadh on March 22, 1980 and the first Saudi Embassy was opened in Canberra in 1983.
Marking a fresh impetus to the mutual cooperation between the two countries, the Australian deputy premier and minister of commerce and resources visited the Kingdom on March 24, 1981 and met with the then King Khaled and his second deputy premier Prince Abdullah (now custodian of the two holy mosques).
During the visit, an agreement was signed for extensive cooperation between the two countries in commerce and economy.
Agreements were also signed for mining, sending of Australian experts to the Kingdom for training Saudi hands, import of wheat and meat, and cooperation in various sectors, including the meteorology and environment protection, agriculture and standards and specifications.
The first Saudi high-profile visit to Australia was made by Crown Prince Salman (the then Riyadh governor) on April 3, 2000 and he opened a new building for the Saudi Embassy.
Australian Gov. General Maj. Gen. Michael Jeffery made an official visit to the Kingdom in August 2005 to offer condolences to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah on the demise of King Fahd.
In the following years the relations developed further with the setting up of a parliamentary friendship committee between the two countries while the eighth session of the Saudi Australian Joint Committee was convened in Riyadh in 2006 to sign an agreement to protect and encourage mutual investments and prevention of double taxation.
Several agreements have been signed between the two countries for strong, economic, commercial and cultural relations between the two countries. They include the technical cooperation agreement program in May 2004, memorandum of understanding (MoU) to continue live stock trade in May 2005 and another MoU between the Council of Saudi Chambers and the Australian Industrial Group in March 2013.
Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf held talks with Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey in Brisbane on Friday.
From the Saudi side Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency Governor Fahad bin Abdullah Al-Mubarak, Vice Finance Minister Hamad bin Sulaiman Al-Bazai, Ambassador Nabil bin Mohammed Al-Saleh and Sulaiman bin Mohammed Al-Turki, undersecretary for International Financial Affairs at the Ministry of Finance, also attended the talks.
The two leaders discussed fields of cooperation between the two countries.
They also reviewed the achievements of G20 during 2014 under the Australian presidency and the agenda of the summit leaders.
Al-Assaf and Hockey discussed the important initiatives Australia will propose during the summit.