Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Mackellar, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Would the minister update the House on the arrests of the Jemaah Islamiah leadership in Indonesia?

Alexander Downer (Mayo, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for her question and for her interest. The government warmly welcomes the announcement made by the Indonesian authorities that they have captured the man who is often described these days as the overall leader, or the emir, of Jemaah Islamiah, who goes by the name of Zarkasih. The announcement followed an earlier announcement by the Indonesians—as I mentioned in the House last week—that Jemaah Islamiah military operations chief Abu Dujana had also been captured. This demonstrates the effectiveness of the work that the Indonesian government is doing in the area of counterterrorism. I understand that Abu Dujana has told the Indonesian police that Zarkasih was the latest in the line of emirs—which included Abu Bakar Bashir, who will be familiar, at least by name, to many members in this House.

Having said these things, and having congratulated the Indonesians on the excellent work that they have done, let me make this point: Jemaah Islamiah is still a dangerous foe, and it is very important that we are not complacent in addressing this issue. I know that questions of terrorism are not so much front of mind in public debate in Australia today, but that does not mean they have gone away. There are still key individuals on the loose, like Noordin Top, but it must be recognised that Jemaah Islamiah and other extremist groups have suffered a very severe reverse in recent times. In broad terms, what is happening in Indonesia, in the Philippines and elsewhere in the region in counterterrorism is very successful.

I want to take this opportunity to say what a good job my department, the Australian Federal Police and the intelligence agencies of Australia have done in working with allies, like the United States, in assisting countries in the region to address these issues. I know this does not interest the opposition very much—I do not think they have asked me a single question in 2007, as a matter of fact—and they must find all this baffling, because it was not long ago that the narrative of the opposition, including from the Leader of the Opposition, was that our foreign policies made Australians less safe. That was the basic argument of the Leader of the Opposition, yet here we are seeing great success in the area of counterterrorism in South-East Asia in our own immediate neighbourhood.

If I may say so, I think the opposition is very complacent about this issue. Why do I think that? On 2 March, the member for Melbourne issued a press release in which he said he wanted to cut $31.3 million off the budget of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in areas which, in particular, focus on counterterrorism and the consular and crisis response work of the department. This government will continue to be strong and determined in confronting and fighting terrorism. We will work bilaterally—not just as liberal multilateralists—with our friends and neighbours in the region to assist them wherever we can. I hope that we can continue with the successes that so far have been achieved.