A strengthened relationship with Indonesia will boost Australia’s economy, the prime minister says, as he heads to Jakarta.
Anthony Albanese will travel to Indonesia on Wednesday for the first overseas visit of his second term to hold talks with President Prabowo Subianto.
As with his first term, Indonesia will be Mr Albanese’s first port of call for bilateral talks he says are crucial to strengthen ties with the region.
“When we look at the growth areas that will help drive the national economy, I look up to our north and you hit Indonesia,” he told reporters in Perth on Wednesday.
“It’s important in our own interest but also in the interests of the region that we have a strong relationship with Indonesia.
“There’s no more important relationship than we have with Indonesia.”
The visit comes after reports surfaced during the federal election campaign that Russia requested permission to build an air base in Indonesia.
Indonesian authorities reassured their Australian counterparts that this would not be the case but did not confirm if the request had been made.
Mr Albanese said the Indonesian government had assured him the Russian base was not going ahead.
“Everyone senior in the Indonesian government at the time said it wasn’t happening,” he said.
“We have a good relationship with Indonesia. Indonesia made the position very clear, that was understood by just about everyone.”
Defence ties and tensions in the Indo-Pacific will also be on the agenda when the two leaders meet.
The first state visit to Indonesia continued a legacy set up by the Howard government, which was symbolic in projecting Australia’s identity as being close to Asia, Australian Strategic Policy Institute senior analyst Gatra Priyandita said.
“Albanese is interested in maintaining that image of Australia as being independent of the United States and close to the region,” he told AAP.
“There is great interest in Indonesia’s developing relationship with both Russia and China, with Indonesia establishing some of its first naval exercises with Russia recently, so it will probably be under discussion.”
Dr Gatra said his concern was that the visit would be purely symbolic.
“I haven’t heard much in the context of practical deliverables,” he said.
“It’s very important for Australia and Indonesia to think about strategic co-operation … especially since both Albanese and Prabowo will likely be counterparts for quite some time.”
Concerns about what the increasing presence of the US military in the region meant for overall strategic competition might also be discussed, Dr Gatra said.
Mr Albanese will visit Jakarta before he travels to Rome for Pope Leo XIV’s inauguration at the Vatican on Sunday.
“It is also a great honour to represent Australia at Pope Leo XIV’s inauguration – a historic occasion for the Catholic Church,” he said.
“I look forward to reinforcing Australia’s strong relationship with the Holy See under Pope Leo XIV’s pontificate.”
Mr Albanese will return to Australia via Singapore, where he will meet with the island nation’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.
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