Security deal to strengthen ties on PM’s Indonesia trip
Australia’s “burgeoning” relationship with Indonesia will take a step forward when the nations’ leaders sign a security agreement.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will travel to the southeast Asian country on Thursday and meet Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto to officially sign the agreement they negotiated and announced in November.
While the parties remain somewhat coy about what the agreement specifically entails, Australian Strategic Policy Institute senior analyst Gatra Priyandita said the “umbrella arrangement” would likely codify existing agreements to find common strategic vision.
Dr Priyandita added that the PukPuk Agreement, which Australia signed with Papua New Guinea in October and provides for mutual defense between the countries, has raised some doubts in Indonesia and will likely be canceled with the new agreement.
“Indonesia is just asking for clarification and now both Indonesia and PNG have security treaty level status,” he told AAP.
“This is an attempt to reassure Indonesia that you are as important to us as PNG is, and having more rule-based agreements also means there are more opportunities to express concerns and policy preferences etc.”
Australia-Indonesia Center industry member and writer Jemma Purdey said the agreement showed Indonesia’s concerns about AUKUS regulation were a thing of the past.
President Prabowo has faced criticism at home for appearing to abandon the country’s long-held foreign policy of non-alignment.
“There is criticism within the country that it is getting too close to the US in order to get some concessions on tariffs,” Dr Purdey told AAP.
“But the fact is that under Prabowo, Indonesia also made agreements to buy defense equipment from Russia; there are many indications that he did not discriminate.”
Apart from defence, Dr Purdey said Mr Albanese would use the trip to improve trade relations and facilitate access for Australian businesses seeking opportunities in Indonesia.
Dr Priyandita said that the relationship can only be seen as being in a great place.
“Defense and security ties are at their peak, economic ties continue to develop, trade ties are developing, investment ties are developing,” he said.
Albanese, who made his first overseas trip to Indonesia after his re-election in 2025, said that Australia will continue to strengthen international ties at this week’s meeting.
“I will be in Indonesia to sign the agreement we agreed with President Prabowo at the end of last year, and to ensure once again that we operate in this region and around the world in a way that protects our national interests,” he said.
Australia’s Associated Press is the beating heart of Australian news. AAP is Australia’s only independent national news channel and has been providing accurate, reliable and fast-paced news content to the media industry, government and corporate sector for 85 years. We inform Australia.
