Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) affirms the significance of the recent signing of the Australia-Indonesia Treaty on Common Security, also known as the Jakarta Treaty 2026;

(2) notes this treaty reflects:

(a) the close friendship, partnership and deep trust between Australia and Indonesia and our leaders under our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership; and

(b) a major extension of the cooperation between Australia and Indonesia, for the benefit of our shared security and that of the region; and

(3) acknowledges Indonesia's strong economic growth represents an enormous opportunity for Australian businesses and investors, which the Government is working to realise including through Invested: Australia's Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040.

Meryl Swanson (Paterson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is there a seconder for this motion?

Claire Clutterham (Sturt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move that this House affirms the significance of the recent signing of the Australia-Indonesia Treaty on Common Security, also known as the Jakarta treaty 2026. I do so as the member representing one of the electorates physically closest to Indonesia and as someone who sees firsthand the immense potential of this relationship, particularly for Darwin and the Northern Territory. In fact, it was just Friday night that I was speaking about the treaty and acknowledged the Republic of Indonesia consul general, Consul Bagus, in Darwin.

Australia and Indonesia are the closest of partners. Geography makes us neighbours, but decades of practical cooperation have made us trusted friends. There is no more important partner to Australia than Indonesia. Our futures are intertwined, and our stability and prosperity depend on that strong, steady relationship. In a time of heightened strategic competition and global uncertainty, this treaty sends a very clear message. We value this partnership and we are committed to strengthening it. We will not allow complacency or misunderstanding to erode what our countries have built together.

The Northern Territory has made its own unique contribution to growing the relationship as well. The NT strengthened ties by signing a five-year memorandum of understanding with Indonesia in November 2024, the first of its kind between any Australian jurisdiction and Indonesia. We have an active and thriving chapter of the Australia-Indonesia Youth Association. I have long advocated for finding ways to increase Indonesian language enrolments, and I see real potential for the establishment of an Indonesia institute or an Indonesia centre of excellence in Darwin that would build on our already strong and unique relationship by facilitating even closer ties across academia, industry and government. These are all ways we can build trust and mutual understanding.

At its core, the Jakarta treaty is about consultation and solidarity. It commits our leaders and ministers to consult on matters affecting our common security. When challenges arise, whether to our sovereignty or the stability of our region, we will engage early, candidly and constructively. It also provides that in the face of adverse challenges we will consult and consider measures that we can take individually or jointly in response. That is a mature expression of partnership, one that respects sovereignty while recognising that our security is shared.

This initiative, driven personally by the Prime Minister and the Republic of Indonesia President Prabowo, reflects the depth of trust between our governments and the strength of our comprehensive strategic partnership. We also acknowledge the legacy on which this treaty builds. Thirty years ago, Paul Keating and Gareth Evans, together with their counterparts, President Suharto and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ali Alatas, signed the agreement on maintaining security. That agreement was groundbreaking for its time. It marked a decisive step in finding our security in Asia, not from Asia. Today we continue that proud Labor tradition. This treaty continues that work for a new strategic era.

The Albanese government has prioritised repairing and strengthening our regional relationships. After years in which the Liberals and the Nationals neglected our neighbourhood and left a vacuum for others to fill, we have been deliberate in rebuilding trust. We have listened, shown respect and re-engaged with seriousness of purpose. Indonesia's economic growth represents significant opportunities for Australian businesses that were captured in Invested: Australia's South East Asia economic strategy to 2040. We are working to realise that potential, deepening economic ties alongside our security cooperation. Prosperity and security go hand in hand. Concurrently with signing the Jakarta Treaty, we have also deepened Australia's economic engagement with Indonesia by agreeing a memorandum of understanding between the Australian government and the Indonesian sovereign wealth fund, Danantara, which will help identify opportunities for increased two-way investment between our nations.

This is a historic moment. It marks a new chapter in a defining relationship and affirms a simple truth: Australia's future is strongest when we stand alongside Indonesia as partners and as neighbours. I commend the motion to the house.

Allegra Spender (Wentworth, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the motion moved by the member for Solomon, and I thank him for bringing this issue to the attention of the chamber. The signing of the Australia-Indonesia Treaty on Common Security, known as the Jakarta Treaty, is an important moment. It is a signal, not just of the pragmatism about where Australia sits in the world but an important sign of who we are as a nation and the role that we aspire to play in our region. It reflects a maturing relationship between Australia and Indonesia, based on mutual respect, increased trust and a shared understanding that our security and our futures are inextricably linked.

The Jakarta Treaty comes not a moment too soon. Many countries in our region are developing quickly, growing economically and playing a more active role in our global order more than ever before. Indonesia is an incredible and brilliant example of this.

But the Indo-Pacific region is also being rapidly reshaped by economic competition, the shifting attention of great powers, and geopolitical and security challenges. This creates uncertainty that is unlikely to resolve in the near future. In this context, strong partnerships with our neighbours, particularly a neighbour such as Indonesia––one of the most strategic players in Asia and likely to only increase in that significance––it's not optional; this is essential.

Indonesia is the world's fourth most populous country, home to nearly 280 million people. It is the largest economy in South East Asia, a democracy of remarkable diversity and a leader in ASEAN, in the Indo-Pacific and on the global scale. It is one of our closest neighbours, yet the relationship honestly just has not had the investment that it should have from this side. I'm glad to see that the Jakarta Treaty changes that. It recognises the central role Indonesia plays in our region's peace and security, now more than ever. It goes well beyond the frameworks of the past and reflects a genuine, comprehensive strategic partnership, one that can build on trust, not just transactions. This trust has been carefully cultivated at the highest level of both governments and must now be nurtured at every level: people to people, business to business, community to community.

I want to acknowledge what this treaty represents for our shared security. The development of joint defence training facilities in Indonesia is a great step towards ensuring our militaries can coordinate and support one another on the ground, not just on paper. The expanded Junior Leaders' Forum Military Education Exchange will build connections between our forces, and the new embedded position of a senior Indonesian military officer in the Australian Defence Force will strengthen our partnership right up the chain of command.

This treaty also helps to unlock the enormous economic opportunities of mutual interaction between Australia and Indonesia. Indonesia's economic trajectory is remarkable. It is projected to be one of the world's top five economies by the middle of this century. Its middle class is growing rapidly. Its digital economy is one of the most dynamic in the world. Australian businesses, particularly in agriculture, resources, education, financial services and clean energy, have so much to offer the booming Indonesian market and vice versa.

I welcome the news that this treaty will facilitate closer cooperation between the Australian government and Indonesia's sovereign wealth fund to boost trade and investment links between our two countries. I will continue to press the government to ensure the promise of deeper economic engagement in Indonesia is matched by real action under its 2040 Invested strategy—cutting red tape, funding trade facilitation and investing in the people-to-people links that help drive more business.

The Jakarta treaty 2026 is a significant achievement for both nations. As well as the strategic, defence and economic opportunities, I think it also represents an opportunity for our peoples to become closer and for there to be greater exchange—language exchange and people exchange—with more Indonesians in Australia and vice versa. I hope this is the start of a closer relationship with Indonesia, one that is incredibly important both to Australia and to Indonesia. This is a really positive investment in that relationship, and I couldn't be happier that it has been made.

In the face of global challenges, our respective strengths mean that working together makes us stronger than the sum of our parts. I congratulate the government on this treaty. I thank the member for Solomon for bringing this motion, and I commend it wholeheartedly to the House.

Claire Clutterham (Sturt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Jakarta treaty, a new bilateral treaty on common security, is now another critical element of Australia's relationship with Indonesia. As one of our closest regional partners, it's a relationship Australia deeply values. Entering the Jakarta treaty with our Indonesian friends is a demonstration of our desire to strengthen that friendship—the trust, the mutual respect and the unbreakable bond between us as regional neighbours and regional partners. Our long history of friendship and cooperation is confirmed to continue with the Jakarta treaty.

The Jakarta treaty is balanced, strategic, sustainable and practical, and there are three substantive features. Firstly, there is consultation in relation to security, with Australia and Indonesia agreeing to regularly consult at leader and ministerial level about matters affecting their common security and to develop such cooperation as would benefit their own security and that of the region. Second is consultation in the event of adverse challenges to either party or to their common security interests. This includes, where appropriate, consideration of measures which might be taken either individually or jointly in accordance with each party's relevant processes. Thirdly, whilst reflecting the policies and priorities of each party, the treaty includes an agreement to promote mutually beneficial cooperative activities in the security field in areas to be identified by the two parties together. These significant features mean an extension of the existing security and defence cooperation between the two countries, demonstrating the strength of the partnership and the depth of the trust and cooperation between Australia and Indonesia.

In signing the treaty, both Australia and Indonesia recognise that they, and indeed the region, benefit from stability and peace. When Australia is peaceful and stable and when Indonesia is peaceful and stable, both nations benefit. Having peace and stability across Australia and Indonesia, and meaningful cooperation between us, sends a strong message to the rest of the Indo-Pacific region and beyond. That message is that, when collective responsibility is used to secure and maintain peace and stability, everybody benefits. Stability, resilience and a sense of security are singled out in the Jakarta treaty as imperative, and it is recognised that working together collectively is the most effective way to achieve and maintain that environment. In the words of the Prime Minister, the best way to secure peace and stability in our region is by acting together.

The need to continue to generate, maintain and then further build regional security is also keenly illustrated in the treaty, in that both Australia and Indonesia express a desire to contribute to regional security and stability in order to ensure circumstances in which their aspirations can be best realised for the economic development and prosperity of their own countries and the wider region. Stable regions have stable economic environments that enjoy the right settings to grow and thrive for the benefit of all citizens. Of course, deepening Australia's economic engagement with Indonesia has remained and will remain a key priority for the Albanese Labor government, evidenced by the agreement to strengthen two-way investment through a memorandum of understanding between the Australian government and the Indonesian sovereign wealth fund, Danantara, which will increase cooperation and information-sharing and help to identify opportunities for increased two-way investment, enhancing our shared economic security and resilience. This underpins work already in train to deepen Australia's economic engagement with Indonesia, which is not only of significant value to both countries but is a key part of Australia's strategic endeavours to diversify our economy through growing and emerging markets in South-East Asia.

The treaty also quite rightly affirms the party's commitment to dialogue and to transparent, predictable and responsible conduct to reduce the risk of misunderstanding and miscalculation, and to prevent conflict. Dialogue, communications and proactive discussions take away guesswork. They build relationships and build trust, which in turn operates to minimise the risk of conflict. We don't want conflict in our region. It is not welcome in our region. Peace, stability and regional resilience are what we strive for and what this treaty reinforces. This is what this treaty is—a deliberate decision of government to partner with our ally and friend, Indonesia, in order to continue to build relationships, increase understanding and promote stability.

Mary Aldred (Monash, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's always a pleasure to follow the member for Sturt, and it is a pleasure to speak on this motion relating to the Australia-Indonesia Treaty on Common Security, also known as the Jakarta treaty, which was officially signed on 6 February to strengthen ties and to bring peace and stability to our region. As someone who has worked in the private sector across the Asia-Pacific region before coming to this place, particularly focusing on areas like national security and defence, I've got a strong interest on this topic. As someone who represents a regional community and who is proud to belong to a region that grows, makes and manufacturers green and clean produce that's known across our region, I'm also pleased to speak on this issue.

The sustained prosperity of Indonesia holds immense importance and benefit to our region. Australia's got a deep connection to Indonesia as one of our nearest neighbours. Of course, Indonesia is the largest country in South-East Asia by population and geography. The deep ties that we're able to forge through cooperation on key issues across defence, security and trade are in the Australian national interest.

I think it's also worth noting that today is the 30th anniversary of the election of the Howard government. Preceding this treaty, of course, there were a number of significant milestones in the Australia-Indonesia relationship, and they include the significant funding following the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, a historic $1 billion in aid provided by the Howard government for reconstruction; counterterrorism cooperation, particularly in intelligence-sharing and law enforcement; and also the strong personal relationship between Prime Minister Howard and President Yudhoyono that formed lasting and binding ties between our two countries.

I also want to reference the report by Nicholas Moore which was released not too long ago. Nicholas Moore is the Australian Special Envoy for Southeast Asia, and his landmark report is titled, Invested: Australia's Southeast Asia economic strategy to 2040. I commend the DFAT and Austrade officials who I know worked very hard on this report, which goes into some commendable goals, with 75 practical recommendations grouped into four pillars around raising awareness, addressing the lack of market knowledge and declining regional literacy; removing blockages, reducing trade barriers and harmonising standards; building capability, ensuring both regions have the skills to pursue those opportunities; and deepening investment to promote capital flow and economic growth. I think there have been a number of milestones put forward, including investment deal teams—specialists embedded in regional hubs like Jakarta, Singapore and Ho Chi Minh City to identify and facilitate those investment opportunities—and the $2 billion Southeast Asia Investment Financing Facility and the Australia Southeast Asia Business Exchange, a program to boost two-way trade and support for Australian exporters.

Now that we're a year and a half to two years on from the release of that report, it is important that we see further progress pursued by this federal government, as this will also benefit regional communities like mine, particularly in the agribusiness and SME space. We have a great ecosystem of SME businesses in regional areas like mine in states like Victoria. They don't often do a whole lot of different things, but they can do one thing very well and specialise on that in components manufacturing and in new technology, and they are looking for improved and efficient markets to export those products—to export that expertise. Victoria is also a very large exporter of education. We've got some excellent education providers. It's important to our regional economy. For Federation University, just outside of my electorate of Monash, those linkages to South-East Asia are particularly important. So the South-East Asia economic strategy is a good start. There are some commendable ambitions linked in there, but I want to see those continued with action as well.

Tim Watts (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is no country more important to Australia than Indonesia, and under the Albanese government the relationship has never been stronger. The recently signed Australia-Indonesia Treaty on Common Security marks a historic moment and signals a new era for the Australia-Indonesia relationship. As Prime Minister Albanese has said, this treaty is a watershed. It was a personal initiative of the Prime Minister and President Prabowo, a sign of the deep trust and close friendship between our leaders and governments. Australia and Indonesia are the closest of partners; we share an unbreakable bond. The Australia-Indonesia relationship is based on friendship, trust, mutual respect and a shared commitment to peace and stability in our region. This new treaty builds on the achievements of Paul Keating and Gareth Evans and their counterparts, President Suharto and Foreign Minister Ali Alatas, in their agreement on maintaining security, signed 30 years ago in 1995. And, indeed, it goes further, instituting leader-level consultations.

This treaty demonstrates the strength of the Australia-Indonesia partnership and the depth of our trust and cooperation. It's a depth and strength that are reflected in our shared history. Long before a word of English was ever spoken on Australian soil, members of the Yolngu language group in Arnhem Land were conversing with Malay- and Indonesian-speaking traders and fishermen from Makassar who had come to Australia in search of trepang—sea cucumber. This first exercise in Indonesian-Australian engagement resulted in the Yolngu language adopting a series of Malay loan words that are still in use to this very day. Australia is also proud to have been amongst the earliest and strongest supporters of Indonesian independence, both through the diplomatic actions of the Chifley government at the United Nations and through the actions of Australian mariners and dockworkers who blocked Dutch vessels with the boycott that began in Sydney Harbour through the trade union movement. Australia was a friend of Indonesia at its moment of birth, and we remain friends today.

The signing of this treaty represents a high-water mark in our international engagement with Indonesia, but at home we face a complex challenge to make the most of this treaty. The institutions of Australia's Asia capability, our ability to understand and be effective in our region, are in decline, and the challenge is most acute when it comes to Indonesia. Asia capability is a vital sovereign capability for our nation. It must be a national priority, and it's why the Moore report—Australia's Southeast Asia economic strategy to 2040recommended with its first recommendation:

National Cabinet should consider developing a whole-of-nation plan to strengthen Southeast Asia literacy in Australian business, government, the education and training system, and the community.

The Albanese government has lifted our diplomatic, defence, development and economic engagement with our region to unprecedented levels, using all of the tools of statecraft to maximise our influence in the region. But, to operationalise this treaty on common security, we need more Australians who know our neighbour, friend and strategic partner deeply, including its history, culture, society and, importantly, language.

Today, unfortunately, Indonesian studies at our schools and universities are in crisis. In 2023, there were less than half as many high school students studying Indonesian in Australia than there were when the Garnaut review started our Asia capability journey in 1989. This is despite the fact that the number of Australian high school students today is around 40 per cent bigger than in 1989. Of the more than one million Australian domestic students at Australian universities in 2023, barely 500 students were enrolled in Bahasa Indonesia nationwide. Stakeholders say that Bahasa Indonesia teaching in Queensland is functionally extinct, with only two senior secondary schools in Queensland left teaching Indonesian at year 12 level in 2026. Some experts have warned that, without urgent intervention, we'll see the end of Bahasa Indonesia teaching in Australia nationwide by 2031. That's in the next term of government.

Indonesian studies in Australia are facing an existential crisis. We need to do better. Australia's security and prosperity rely on our ability to make our own way in Asia. As the Prime Minister has said:

No country is more important to Australia—or to the prosperity, security and stability of the Indo-Pacific—than Indonesia.

Given this, there is no country that is more important for Australia to understand than Indonesia. We should be the best country in the world for understanding Indonesia, not fighting to save it.

The treaty on common security recognises the best way to secure peace and stability in our region is by acting together through engagement and dialogue, but dialogue and engagement are a two-way street. Indonesians have the phrase bertepuk sebelah tangan tidak akan berbunyi, or one side clapping will not make any sound. To get the most of this treaty, both Australia and Indonesia need to be the best partners they can be. We should make the signing of this landmark treaty the moment we start turning around Indonesian studies in Australia.

Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to speak again.

Leave granted.

I have some short supplementary comments now that others have arrived in this chamber. I just want to back up the member for Gellibrand and acknowledge his deep work in this space. We are working to make sure that Bahasa Indonesia continues to be taught in Australian schools—in primary schools, following on to secondary schools and into university—so that we can really develop our expertise and our economic relationship with Indonesia. I also want to thank him for acknowledging the centuries old relationship between the First Peoples of north-east Arnhem Land, in particular, and the north of Australia with people from Makassar. Those Bahasa words are still used with reverence today. In north-east Arnhem Land, many people who speak Yolngu Matha substitute words like 'money' with words like 'rupiah'.

Tim Watts (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Balanda.

Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

'Balanda' is another term for, essentially, white people, or non-Aboriginal people, and of course, that comes from the Dutch. After the Macassans first arrived in north-east Arnhem Land and in the north of Australia, that relationship developed over centuries. Then, when Europeans arrived, exploring and coming ashore, the question from the Yolngu people to the Macassans was, 'Who are these white people?' The Macassans answered with the word 'balanda', because their experience was of the Dutch on their trading routes through the Dutch East India Company, if I'm not mistaken. There are about 20 words that are still spoken commonly in north-east Arnhem Land and in the north of country which are from those centuries old trading relationship. I've never eaten a sea cucumber, the trepang, but they are still fished for in waters in the north. We always seek to strengthen those relationships that go back centuries.

In the past, Charles Darwin University has held a symposium in Makassar to explore this relationship that goes back so many centuries. They've been very successful. But, as members from both sides have reflected, now that we have this treaty-level agreement, the Australia-Indonesia Treaty on Common Security, with the Republic of Indonesia, it not only behoves us to develop the economic opportunity that'll come for Australia and Indonesia; we also need to continue to strengthen those academic and people-to-people—or orang ke orang—links.

I know the power of being able to speak the Indonesian language, having studied it in the Australian Defence Force and then used it practically on the ground both in Indonesia and in Australia, conversing with members of our Indonesian community. There is nothing like language to break down those barriers and to show deep and genuine respect. Learning a language not only allows a level of cultural competency; it allows a level of communication and deep connection that is clearly evident. Anyone who speaks a language will tell you the well-known phrase 'when you speak to someone in a language that they understand, you speak to their head' because they're processing what you're saying; they understand that language because it might be their language. But when you speak to someone in their language you speak to their heart, because it is an example of respect. That respect is the basis of good communications and good dialogue between nations. That is the type of respect, good communications and partnership that we seek through this treaty with the people and the government of Indonesia.

Colin Boyce (Flynn, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Well done, Member for Solomon. You filled the gap very nicely.

Tania Lawrence (Hasluck, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Solomon for raising this important matter. The Australia-Indonesia Treaty on Common Security, the Jakarta treaty, reflects serious regional leadership and a clear understanding of Australia's place in the world. At its heart, this agreement recognises a fundamental truth: Australia's security does not stop at our shoreline. It is shaped by the strength of our relationships with our neighbours, and none is more important than our relationship with Indonesia. As the Prime Minister said at the signing in Jakarta, no country is more important to Australia or to the prosperity, security and stability of the Indo-Pacific than Indonesia.

This treaty reflects a close friendship, partnership and deep trust between our nations, and recognition that the best way to secure peace and stability in our region is by acting together. The agreement itself gives practical expression to that principle. It commits our countries to regular consultation at a leader and ministerial level on matters affecting our common security. It provides that, in the face of adverse challenges, Australia and Indonesia will consult on and consider measures that may be taken individually or jointly. It promotes mutually beneficial cooperation in the security field consistent with each nation's policies and priorities. By way of example, this will include establishing a new embedded position for a senior Indonesian officer in the Australian Defence Force—a clear example of the trust between our nations. It will be the development of joint defence training facilities and education exchanges between our militaries to build relationships and increase our understanding about the next generation of military leaders.

In a world that has become less stable than the international order, which is decidedly less predictable, we also need to be proactive in encouragement of a sturdy and lasting relationship with our nearest big neighbour. In fact, Indonesia is South-East Asia's largest economy, ranking seventh in the world for purchasing power parity, and is the world's fourth-most populous nation, with a median age of just 30.7 years compared to 38.4 in Australia. And it has an annual growth rate of over five per cent. Again, if I can just turn to the treaty, I was impressed that it also includes a very practical measure to have a memorandum of understanding between the Australian government and the Indonesian sovereign wealth fund Danantara. This intention is to increase the cooperation and information sharing between Australian agencies and Indonesia's newest sovereign wealth fund, and that will also then help for two-way investment between our nations.

With over 100,000 Indonesian born people living in Australia, it's actually quite a small diaspora, but there are over 23,000 Indonesian students here, and it is a top destination for Indonesian students, particularly in higher ed and vocational studies. That said, as we heard from our previous speakers, there's much more we can be doing to ensure that that's reciprocated with Australian students embarking on studying Indonesian. Any increase in the uptake of that will be well received, I'm sure, because those cultural ties underpin the strength of our economic, political and military cooperation as well.

Importantly, the treaty reaffirms respect for sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity and a commitment to peaceful resolution of disputes and a support for a rules based regional architecture grounded in international law and ASEAN centrality. It does emphasise dialogue, transparency and responsible conduct to reduce the risk of misunderstanding and miscalculation. President Prabowo described the agreement as a reflection of the commitment of both countries to safeguard national security while making real contributions to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific. He spoke of the principle of good neighbourliness and of two nations destined by geography to live side by side, building relations on mutual trust and good faith. That approach can stand at times in stark contrast to the way that relationship has been managed in the past, where it has been at times sporadic and reactive.

For now, we're building on three decades of defence cooperation. This represents a significant extension of that partnership. It reflects growing strategic trust and ambition between our nations. To end on President Prabowo's words, he said it well when he stated that good neighbours will help each other in times of difficulties, and I look forward to supporting the government in furthering that relationship.

Colin Boyce (Flynn, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned, and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.