Tony Abbott: we are close to restoring strained ties with Indonesia
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Version 0 of 1. Tony Abbott and the Indonesian president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, have declared they are on the way to resolving the strained bilateral relationship between Australia and Indonesia after their first meeting since spying revelations emerged last year. The leaders said they were confident their foreign ministers, Julie Bishop and Marty Natalegawa, were close to finalising long-running negotiations on a “code of conduct” to govern intelligence gathering – a precondition set by Yudhoyono for resuming bilateral co-operation. Emerging from the meeting on the Indonesian island of Batam, Yudhoyono said he and Abbott had discussed “the one issue” that had challenged relations – the “wiretapping or surveillance”, referring to revelations by Guardian Australia last year that Australia had tapped his phone and the phones of his wife and political allies. He said he expected a resolution to the issue, which had “almost distracted our good relations”. Abbott said the relationship had been hit by “a couple of issues” that were “well on the way to resolution – satisfactory and successful resolution”. “The people-smuggling issue is well on the way to resolution because the boats that were coming to Australia have almost entirely ceased to come, so I believe that this is an issue which will not substantially further trouble us,” he said. And he said Bishop and Natalegawa would resolve the spying issue “because intelligence sharing in dealing with common problems is the way forward for both of us”. Abbott has said he believes a code of conduct will be signed at the “two plus two” meeting of Australian and Indonesian foreign affairs and defence ministers scheduled for this month. No timeframe for reaching an agreement was mentioned by either leader after their meeting. The code has been under negotiation since last December. As recently as last month Indonesia continued to object strenuously to Australia’s policy of turning back asylum-seeker boats to Indonesia, and the apparent addition of extra passengers. Abbott now continues on a 10-day trip to France, Canada and the US. |