Slapped down at G20 Summit… PM Julia Gillard Source: The Daily Telegraph

In an embarrassing swipe at the PM, on the first day of the official meeting of leaders gathered at the Mexican luxury resort region of Los Cabos, EC President Jose Manuel Barroso said he would not be lectured by anyone.

“Frankly, we are not coming here to receive lessons in terms of democracy or in terms of how to handle the economy,” he said.

Yesterday the PM drew fire from business leaders attending the high powered talk fest, after telling Europe it should take lessons from Australia on how to manage an economy.

“While we acknowledge that every country faces its own unique circumstances, we do believe there are some lessons for the world in the Australian way.”

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But the leader of the Eurozone, the single largest economic bloc in the world, appeared angered by middle sized economies such as Australia giving it gratuitous advice.

Ms Gillard immediately sought to defuse the row and issued a statement claiming she “welcomed the steps Europe had taken to address its economic challenges”.

It was a stark contrast to a letter and speech delivered the day before the conference began in which she demanded Europe act to stop the world sliding into recession and offered Australia as a model of fiscal rectitude.

In a comment that is now likely to split the G20 meeting and dominate discussions over the coming days, Mr Barroso said it was not Europe’s fault it was in such a mess. He blamed the US.

“By the way this crisis was not originated in Europe,” he said at the beginning of the two day summit.

“Seeing as you mention North America, this crisis originated in North America and much of our financial sector was contaminated by, how can I put it, unorthodox practices, from some sectors of the financial market.”

While it was expected the summit would focus on solutions to the Eurozone crisis, it descended into a slanging match only hours before the official talks were due to begin.

European Council president Herman Van Rompuy echoed Mr Barrosa’s stinging remarks , saying The G20 statement was worded to provide support and encouragement for Europe.

“We are not the only ones that are so-called responsible for the current economic problems all over the world,” he said.

“Reforms take time. We are correcting internal imbalances and a lot of other countries have to correct their huge external imbalances, but we understand that correcting the external imbalances that takes also time.”

Debate at the summit is now expected to centre around Germany’s demands for continued austerity and pro-growth voices.

Ms Gillard has claimed that Australia’s economic story proved you could do both through “responsible fiscal” settings.

European Council president Herman Van Rompuy, speaking alongside him, said the draft G20 statement showed “support and encouragement for the euro area countries and leaders and for the European Union as a whole to overcome this crisis.”

“We are not the only ones that are so-called responsible for the current economic problems all over the world,” he said.

Earlier today, the PM found one billionaire she was happy to support when she announced she announced Australia would join Bill Gates, UK Prime Minister David Cameron and Canada’s Stephen Harper, to rid the world of famine by offering grants to countries that improve their food production.

In a side meeting to the G20 summit of world leaders gathered at the seaside resort Gion of Los Cabos, Mexico, the PM struck an agreement for a $100 million global food security fund to help starving nations.

Ms Gillard said Australia would contribute $20 million to the World Bank initiative.

Italy and the US would also provide funds alongside the Bill and Melinda Gates to a program of incentives for countries to improve food production and quality.