PERTH, Australia - Prime Minister Stephen Harper has arrived in Perth, Australia, for a summit of Commonwealth leaders.

Harper's first order of business -- straight off the 30-hour flight from Ottawa -- is a speech to a Commonwealth business forum, where he's expected to address the latest wrangling among European leaders over the sovereign debt crisis.

Harper has been an outspoken critic of Europe's collective failure to act decisively to stem the economic hemmoraging there.

The Commonwealth summit immediately precedes a crisis-atmosphere G20 leaders meeting scheduled for next week in France.

Amid the threat of a second global recession, the 54-country Commonwealth is facing its own crisis of relevancy.

Leaders will use the three-day summit to debate demands for tougher, more enforceable rules regarding human rights, the rule of law and political freedoms among the Commonwealth countries.