G20 summit in September - will Julia go? The federal opposition has challenged Prime Minister Julia Gillard to declare whether she will attend this year's Group of 20 Leaders' Summit, which will be held during the federal election campaign. The annual gathering for major economies will take place in St Petersburg, Russia, on September 5 and 6, just over a week before election day on September 14. It is understood the prime minister intends to make a final decision closer to the date. Queensland will host the 2014 November meeting in Brisbane and Australia is on the G20 "troika" - a three-member committee comprising past, current and future host nations. Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop told AAP it was important the prime minister make it clear whether she will be attending. "Attending a G20 meeting is one of the most important responsibilities of a prime minister," Ms Bishop said. It would be grossly negligent if the prime minister failed to take into account the G20 meeting when she selected the 14th of September as the election date and then she doesn't attend. Former prime minister John Howard took time off from the 2001 election campaign to attend the APEC summit in Shanghai. At the time, Labor leader Kim Beazley urged Mr Howard not to attend the meeting. If Ms Gillard does not attend the G20 summit it won't be the first time she has missed it. In June 2010, just after Ms Gillard seized the Labor leadership from Kevin Rudd, Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan attended the summit in Canada. Meanwhile, Ms Gillard named Wesfarmers chief Richard Goyder on Tuesday as the leader of Australia's G20 business group, or B20, for next year's summit. The B20 group of global business chiefs began as a side event to the G20 but is now the key business advisory body to the forum.