2 weeks Ago By Matthew Knott
The Coalition has called on the Indonesian government to curtail its defence ties with Moscow by preventing Russian military aircraft from visiting the nation, as Opposition Leader Peter Dutton came under fire from Labor for overhyping reports of Russian jets being based near Australia. Senior ministers went on the attack against Dutton on Wednesday, branding him reckless and unfit for high office for falsely claiming that Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto had announced that Moscow was seeking to base several long-range aircraft in Indonesia. Indonesia’s Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin told Defence Minister Richard Marles on Tuesday evening that “reports of the prospect of Russian aircraft operating from Indonesia are simply not true”, but the Coalition urged Jakarta to go further in its assurances.
“I look forward to official confirmation from the Indonesian government that not only will Russian aircraft not be based in Indonesia, but they won’t have any sort of visiting or access arrangements at all because Indonesia is an incredibly important national security partner for Australia,” opposition home affairs minister James Paterson told Sky News. “We work very co-operatively with them on things like people smuggling, counter-terrorism, anti-narcotics trafficking, and other important issues, and we want to make sure that relationship remains strong.” Greg Fealy, an expert in Indonesian politics at the Australian National University, said Indonesia jealously guarded its independence and would be likely to perceive Paterson’s comments as inappropriate meddling.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese accused Opposition Leader Peter Dutton of “extraordinary overreach” in his comments on Russia-Indonesia military co-operation. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen “Prabowo will not appreciate anyone pressuring him into not co-operating with other nations, including Russia,” he said. “Anyone in government would be well advised to steer clear of that.
” Prabowo has sought to deepen defence ties with Moscow since he came to power in October, with Indonesia and Russia conducting joint naval drills for the first time last year. Dutton on Wednesday denied he had “verballed” Prabowo by claiming he had publicly announced the proposal, saying he was referencing a “very credible military website” in Janes . “The prospect of having Russia with a greater presence in our region is very real, and there are a lot of questions that the [Albanese] government still has to answer,” Dutton said.
Albanese accused Dutton of “extraordinary overreach”, saying: “He always shoots from the hip. And when you are either the prime minister or the alternative prime minister of this country, what you need to do is to have a considered approach to our international relations.” Treasurer Jim Chalmers said Dutton’s initial comments were a “disqualifying moment”, labelling him “temperamentally unfit to manage our relationships in the world”.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Dutton had “fabricated” a comment by Prabowo to score political points as she accused him of being “too reckless and too aggro to be the prime minister”. Sjamsoeddin said the Janes report of a Russian request to base long-range aircraft on Biak Island was “absolutely untrue”. “Indonesia adheres to the principle of an independent and active foreign policy,” he said in a statement.
“We do not allow foreign military bases on our soil.” Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter .
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