Our friendship is founded on some shared values, common interests and a vision that the destinies of our nations are closely intertwined. We share a commitment to democracy, pluralism and to maximising opportunities for all our people.

Our friendship has been strengthened through mutual support in times of terrible loss and suffering for both our peoples. We have mourned together the murder of our nationals in terrorist attacks. And we have supported each other through the devastation wreaked by natural disasters — whether the earthquakes in Sumatra or bushfires in Victoria.

Our friendship also has a special quality driven by the increasing closeness of our people. Today we see record numbers of Indonesian students bringing their enthusiasm and insights to Australia and benefiting from Australia’s world-class institutions.  At the same time, we have record numbers of Australians visiting Indonesia. Such dynamic and deep people-to-people contacts are the heart and soul of our partnership.

Today, we can confidently say that our relations have become resilient, with a maturity that will allow us to handle differences between us when, from time to time, they may arise.

The substance of the Australia-Indonesia relationship spans a breadth of work in pursuit of security and prosperity for our region, and cooperation to address global challenges.

Nowhere is this work together more apparent than Australia and Indonesia’s close cooperation in addressing the worst global economic crisis since the great depression.  We worked as one through the world’s premier global forum, the G20, to avert the collapse of the global economy last year.  

Through the G20, we continue to work together to put in place the elements of a return to sustained global growth.  The Asia-Pacific will be a key driver of global recovery and we are committed to ensuring a strong regional voice in global economic decision making through the G20.

Indonesia and Australia are demonstrating in real and meaningful ways how developed and developing countries can work together to address the problem of climate change. Our forest carbon partnership is pioneering practical efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation — a major source of carbon emissions.  

Both of our countries have committed to significant emissions reduction targets and actions. We worked hard together at the end of last year to help deliver the Copenhagen Accord, where for the first time, developed and developing countries have combined under one framework to address the challenges of climate change. We remain strongly committed to achieving a comprehensive and ambitious international agreement on climate change.

The Asia-Pacific century promises great hope but also immense challenge for our neighborhood, as global economic and strategic weight shifts to our region.  Australia and Indonesia are working closely to secure the benefits this shift will bring, but also to manage the inevitable challenges that shall arise from time to time with such change.  Through regional institutions like the East Asia Summit, APEC and the ASEAN Regional Forum we are promoting regional economic integration for greater regional prosperity, and developing norms of cooperation and confidence building to bolster regional security.  

Australia and Indonesia value our existing regional institutions and are committed to strengthening these mechanisms. We both acknowledge the important, indeed seminal, contribution ASEAN has made to regional stability and its central role in regional arrangements. Building on and in synergy with these important mechanisms, we share an interest in strengthening and evolving our regional architecture over time to best meet contemporary challenges.  

In this endeavour, beyond the immense value of our bilateral ties, we believe the Indonesia-Australia relationship is becoming an important regional asset.

As co-chairs of the Bali process, we are pursuing a far-reaching regional response to the problem of people smuggling and irregular migration. We have significantly strengthened our bilateral cooperation in this area as well, and will continue to do so.  Through bodies such as the Bali

Democracy Forum — an Indonesian initiative which we both value — and our commitment to the Regional Interfaith Dialogue, we are working hand in hand to foster tolerance, pluralism and democracy in the region.  

Australia and Indonesia will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder in combating the scourge of terrorism. Our law enforcement agencies are cooperating closely together to defeat terrorism in the region, including through the Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Cooperation, which is an important regional asset for counterterrorism capacity-building.

We will not let each other down in times of trouble. Together we are leading efforts to bolster the region’s responsiveness and resilience towards natural disasters. The jointly-established Australia Indonesia Disaster Reduction Facility is now operational and will support regional efforts to promote risk reduction and improve disaster management.

Australia and Indonesia have come a long way in recent years. As leaders, we are dedicated to shaping new era in Australia-Indonesian relations, based on shared values, common interests, equal partnership and mutual benefit. We look forward to further solidifying our vital relationship, expanding it into new areas, and promoting a strategic partnership that will continue to contribute to regional stability and prosperity in the years ahead.


The writers are the President of Indonesia and the Prime Minister of Australia respectively.

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