Australia's foreign ministry disputes reporting of Romney meeting

A spokesman for Australian foreign minister Bob Carr is disputing the characterization of comments he made during a meeting with presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, saying Carr never intended his remarks to be viewed as a criticism of the United States' financial condition.

The Associated Press reported Sunday that Romney told attendees at a San Francisco fundraiser he was "privately warned" that "foreign leaders see 'America in decline.'"

That comment sparked an international dustup, with a spokesman for Carr telling Australia's National Times "that interpretation is not correct." Instead, the spokesman said, the comments were intended to praise America for its role in the world economic system.

"I met today with the foreign minister of Australia. He said something, and I said, 'Can I quote you?' and he said yes. He said, 'America is just one budget deal away from ending all talk of America being in decline,'" Romney told attendees at a Bay Area fundraiser. 

"What he meant by that is that if we get serious about taking steps to make sure that America will finally get to a balanced budget, and if we make sure these unfunded liabilities don't crush us, if we show the world that we come together to get that job done, if we have real leadership that will get Congress to work together and actually reach that conclusion, that agreement, than the world will recognize America's going to come roaring back. And this idea of America in decline, it was interesting he said that, he led the talk of America being in decline. See that's not talk we hear about here as much as they're hearing there. And if they're thinking about investing in America, entrepreneurs putting their future in America, if they think America's in decline, they're not gonna do it," said Romney.