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Australia and Indonesia will commit to consult each other if they face a security threat under a landmark new treaty that ties the two neighbours closer together than at any time in their history.
In a major foreign policy achievement for Anthony Albanese, the prime minister declared on Wednesday that relations between Australia and Indonesia have entered a “new era” with the treaty.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese welcomes Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto to Kirribilli House on Wednesday. Credit: Sitthixay Ditthavong
Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority democracy, has jealously guarded its non-aligned status as it balances relations between China and the United States.
There have also been significant moments of tension between Indonesia and Australia, including over East Timorese independence, asylum seekers and death sentences for Australian drug smugglers.
“This is a watershed moment in the Australia-Indonesia relationship,” Albanese said, standing beside Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto to make the surprise announcement at the Garden Island naval base in Sydney.
“This treaty represents a major extension of our existing security and defence co-operation.
“It shows the relationship is as strong as it has ever been.”
The treaty does not go as far as that reached earlier this year between Australia and Papua New Guinea, but is still a significant foreign policy moment given Indonesia’s huge population, economic heft and military power.
It will commit the leaders of Australia and Indonesia to regularly discuss security issues and consult each other in the event of a threat to either nation’s security or a mutual threat.
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Albanese said he hoped to travel to Indonesia in January to sign the pact after it is approved by both national parliaments.
Prabowo said the agreement will “let us face our destiny with the best of intentions”, adding that in Indonesian culture there is a saying that “good neighbours will help each other in times of difficulties”.
In a statement, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the treaty will “reflect the close friendship, partnership and deep trust between Australia and Indonesia, under our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
“Australia and Indonesia both benefit from each other’s stability and sense of security.”
The treaty builds upon an Australia-Indonesia defence co-operation agreement struck in August 2024 and a breakthrough 1995 agreement signed by then prime minister Paul Keating and then Indonesian president Suharto.
Greg Barton, the rector of Deakin University’s Indonesia campus, said the treaty was a “big deal for a country that has traditionally resisted joining camps and coalitions”.
“Indonesia has believed that its foreign policy should be fluid, free and flexible,” he said. “To formally reach an agreement like this doesn’t break with that but it does show them putting meat on the bones of the relationship with Australia.”
More to come
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