ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Mr President for your generous words and your very warm welcome. I had the honour of hosting my friend President Prabowo in Canberra last year, between his historic election and his inauguration. I am delighted to be here in Jakarta for my first bilateral meeting following my re-election as Prime Minister of Australia in what is my fourth visit to Indonesia as Prime Minister. I have come to our region first - because our region comes first. I am here in Indonesia because no relationship is more important to Australia than this one. And no nation is more important to the prosperity, security and stability of the Indo-Pacific than Indonesia.
It is no accident that I launched “Invested: Australia’s Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040” here in Jakarta two years ago. This is the fastest growing region of the world in human history and Indonesia is central to that growth. Already the 4th largest nation in the world, by population. And projected to be the 5th largest economy in the world by the end of the next decade. This growth and transformation is a credit to the hard work and aspiration of the people of Indonesia. To nation-building programs that improve lives, such as President Prabowo’s Free Nutritious Meals initiative.
The growth of your nation and our region also speaks for the prosperity and opportunity created by free and fair trade - and by the peace and stability that makes it possible. And I assure you Mr President of Australia’s support for your joining the OECD as well as your accession to the CPTPP. Security built on respect for the sovereignty of every nation and for the rules that govern all nations. All of us who have benefited from this framework share a responsibility to maintain it and strengthen it. So that future of our region is shaped by shared opportunity and secured through collective responsibility.
For Australia, the deepening of our trade with Indonesia and the strengthening of investment in Indonesia is natural and vital but it is not inevitable. To convert extraordinary potential into concrete progress, then all of us - government, business, civil society – need to demonstrate greater engagement and ambition. That’s what has driven me since I came to Indonesia for my first bilateral leaders meeting as Prime Minister nearly three years ago. To build a partnership that matches the scale of the growth and transformation underway. A partnership with the depth and breadth of co-operation that enables us to act with purpose and urgency to seize our common opportunities and the strength and resilience that enables us to deal directly and respectfully with our differences. This is how we can build our shared prosperity and advance our national and regional security.
That means building on the Defence Co-Operation Agreement that President Prabowo and I announced together in Canberra in August last year. This treaty-level agreement, underpinned by the Lombok Treaty, will enable new co-operation in maritime security, counter terrorism as well as humanitarian and disaster relief. It represents the most significant step in the Australia and Indonesia security partnership for three decades. But let me be very clear – I do not see this agreement as the last step. I want us to aim higher, go further and work even more closely together – and I see President Prabowo as a leader with the vision and determination to make that happen.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Indonesian people courageously declaring their independence. One of the first nations to support that noble cause – publicly and substantively – was Australia. We did not wait for permission from colonial powers on the other side of the world. This was Australia’s choice – and it was driven by Australian values. In supporting Indonesia’s independence, we were asserting our own. And it is an enduring source of pride for the party I lead that it was a Labor Government, under Prime Minister Ben Chifley which backed the right of the Indonesian people to determine their own destiny, to make their own way in our region and the world. And the trade union movement of Australia showed powerful solidarity with the Indonesian people in their struggle.
Mr President, while your father was working to rally international opposition to the Dutch blockade, the workers of Australia were boycotting Dutch vessels in Australian ports. From the very beginning, ours has been a partnership of shared purpose. A bond between peoples, as well as a bond between our two nations. And that is where the future of our relationship lies: with our people. Australians and Indonesians: working side by side to build on the values and interests we hold in common, to advance the stability, prosperity and security of the region which we are so privileged to share.
I thank you Mr President. I thank you for the one on one discussions that we were able to have today as well as the Leaders Dialogue. I thank you for the extraordinary welcome and generosity in which we have been received here. It has been an extraordinary honour for me to represent the country that I love, here in the region that we share and that we both love. Thank you Mr President and I look forward to continuing to build on our relationship on a personal level but importantly as well to build on the relationship between our two nations.