‘Peace must be maintained’: Indonesia opens door to stronger ties with Australia

By Chris Barrett

Indonesian President Joko Widodo at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta.Credit: Jefri Tarigan

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Jakarta: Blindsided by the AUKUS submarine deal two years ago, Joko Widodo has revealed how trust has been restored with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in charge, but the Indonesian president has called on Australia and its allies to deepen engagement with other nations on regional security to “include all parties, not exclude them”.

Indonesia’s leader, popularly known as Jokowi in the country of 270 million, will on Monday fly to Sydney to meet with Albanese on what is his first visit to Australia since February 2020.

In an exclusive interview at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta and at a traditional market in the capital, Widodo said he would push for costly, time-consuming visa conditions for Indonesians to be simplified by Australia and for economic ties to be further developed.

Widodo spoke of the personal bond he had established in the past year with Anthony Albanese.Credit: Jefri Tarigan

He said he appreciated Albanese’s commitment to South-East Asia but would also like to see greater co-operation on security.

“Australia is our close neighbour, as neighbouring countries we have no other option besides to strengthen our co-operation,” Widodo said.

“Regardless of [the government] of Australia, good relations must be built with Indonesia and also with ASEAN [the Association of South-East Asian Nations] because the Indo-Pacific region is very strategic. Stability and peace must be maintained with the spirit of collaboration. I see Prime Minister Albanese is committed to this and I hope there will be more concrete action.”

Indonesia had been taken aback by the announcement in 2021 by then-prime minister Scott Morrison that Australia would acquire a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines under an agreement with the United States and the United Kingdom seen as an effort to counter the rise of China.

Kept in the dark about it, Widodo’s government raised anxiety about being caught in the middle of an arms race and took concerns about the sharing of highly enriched uranium for military reasons to a United Nations nuclear non-proliferation conference.

The Labor government’s more consultative approach appears to have been better received by Indonesia, although Widodo stressed that Australia’s submarine ambitions must not contribute to a greater military build-up.

“This decision from Australia, I must respect it,” he said.

“What must be maintained is not to trigger tension in the region, not to trigger an arms race. That is very important. What must be considered and obeyed are transparency of every step taken, respect to the [nuclear] non-proliferation regime and the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] safeguard regulations.

“Regional peace and stability is the responsibility of all countries in the region. I have talked with Prime Minister Albanese about this by phone.”

Asked about the security role he believes Australia and groups such as AUKUS and the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue should play in south-east Asia and the wider Indo-Pacific, he said, “the spirit of collaboration must be further strengthened”.

“The Indo-Pacific region is very strategic,” Widodo said.

“Inclusivity must be strengthened to include all parties, not exclude them. Mini-lateral groupings, for example, AUKUS and [the] Quad, must be supporters of efforts to build [the] peace and stability of the region. The spirit must be engagement, not containment.”

Indonesian President Joko Widodo speaks during an interview at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta, Indonesia.Credit: Jefri Tarigan

Widodo spoke of the personal bond he had established in the past year with Albanese, who ventured to Jakarta two weeks after Labor’s election victory to demonstrate his new government’s prioritisation of Indonesia and the region.

“Prime Minister Albanese is my close friend. He is warm and friendly and I feel close with him,” said the president, who rode bamboo bicycles with Albanese at another of the presidential palaces in Bogor, West Java during the Australian leader’s visit last year.

“If there are issues we can easily call each other. Communication between us is effortless. The strong relations between us as leaders reflects the strong bilateral relations.”

Albanese and Widodo ride bicycles around the palace grounds at Bogor Palace in Indonesia on June 6, 2022. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

On the Australia-Indonesia relationship, he added: “Having different views is normal. What is important is how to manage it well and how to show mutual respect. This is very important. As major players in the Indo-Pacific, Indonesia and Australia [must] always uphold dialogue to maintain our good relations and regional stability.”

Not for the first time in his nine years as president, the difficulty of Indonesians travelling to Australia will be on the agenda when Widodo meets Albanese in Sydney.

While as many as 1.23 million Australians visit Bali alone per year and can buy a visa on arrival within minutes of landing for $50, only a fraction of that number of Indonesians travel to Australia.

They are hindered by an Australian system in which a tourist visa application costs $140 per person and is to increase to $190. They can also take as long as two months to be processed. Applicants are also required to answer a list of questions that includes whether they have committed genocide, crimes against humanity or torture.

“Australia and Indonesia are very close. This should also be reflected in the ease of travel,” said Widodo, who previously brought up the issue with Morrison.

Travelers arrive at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali, Indonesia.Credit: Bloomberg

“We need to manage barriers including visa applications. I have raised this issue with Prime Minister Albanese last year and there has been progress – the addition of a quota for working holiday visas, for example, from around 4000 to around 5000. It’s good. I will raise this issue again during our coming meeting.

“We cannot deny Australia and Indonesia have different cultures. And to have better understanding, the people-to-people contact must be continuously intensified. For example, through tourism, education and then sending workers and others. So the ease in visa application is once again important, very important.”

Indonesians can travel visa-free or by getting a visa on arrival in more than 70 other countries including Japan.

“Australia and Indonesia are very close. This should also be reflected in the ease of travel,” Widodo said.Credit: Jefri Tarigan

Visas on arrival were also free for Australians visiting Indonesia between 2016 and 2020 but Jakarta re-introduced a fee as travel resumed after the pandemic. It is considering increasing the entry cost for foreigners to bring it into line with those of other countries.

The Indonesian government has said it would look at offering visa-free entry for particular countries if it can strike reciprocal arrangements.

– with Karuni Rompies

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