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Russian airbase unease hangs over Australia-Indonesia defence treaty

Foreign Minister Penny Wong urged Jakarta to consult Canberra on issues related to regional security

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Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto inspects a guard of honour at Admiralty House in Sydney on Wednesday. Photo: AFP
Bloomberg
Australia signalled lingering unease on Thursday over whether Russia may seek access to an airbase in eastern Indonesia, stressing that Jakarta has an obligation to consult Canberra on matters affecting regional security.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong was pressed over reports earlier this year that Moscow was looking for entry points in Indonesia’s Papua region, about 1,400km (870 miles) north of Darwin. Indonesia has publicly ruled out such access, but Wong noted the close ties between Moscow and Jakarta while declining to say whether President Prabowo Subianto offered any clarity on the matter during his visit to Australia this week.
“It’s true that Indonesia has had a long-standing relationship with Russia, and Russia has had relations with countries in our region,” she told ABC News of Australia when asked about a potential Russian base. Our defence pacts “put an obligation on both countries to ensure that we consult about things that matter to us both”.
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced alongside Prabowo in Sydney this week that the countries had substantively concluded talks on a new bilateral defence treaty to significantly expand security cooperation. He expects to travel to Indonesia in January to formally sign the accord.

These agreements are “all about making sure we work together to maintain stability and security in our region”, Wong said in a separate interview on Thursday.

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Ties between Indonesia and Australia have warmed in recent years, moving past tensions during the Cold War. Yet Wong’s comments indicate that the Russian base issue, which emerged as a point of concern in Australia’s election earlier this year, continues to bubble away.

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