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Australian PM apologizes for canceling trip to Indonesia
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott expressed his regrets to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono that he would be unable to attend the upcoming Open Government Partnership (OGP) Asia Pacific Regional Conference in Nusa Dua, Bali
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ustralian Prime Minister Tony Abbott expressed his regrets to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono that he would be unable to attend the upcoming Open Government Partnership (OGP) Asia Pacific Regional Conference in Nusa Dua, Bali.
PM Abbott made a phone call to President Yudhoyono at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, according to a press release made available to The Jakarta Post today.
'President SBY says he could understand that PM Abbott's nonattendance is due to his activity to finalize the Australian federal budget,' presidential spokesman for foreign affairs, Teuku Faizasyah, said in the release.
Abbott is one of several heads of states and government of Asia-Pacific countries invited to the OGP conference, which will end Wednesday.
If PM Abbott was able to attend the conference, it would have been the first time the two leaders would have met since a wiretapping scandal surfaced in November last year.
Faizasyah said that in the phone call, the two leaders discussed the creation of a code of conduct for surveillance being negotiated by their respective foreign affairs ministers.
'The President hopes that the code of conduct can be completed by August at the latest,' Faizasyah said.
He further said the Australian prime minister expressed his hope to be able to visit Indonesia to meet President Yudhoyono during his overseas trip in June.
PM Abbott also conveyed his plan to establish an Indonesia-Australia study center in Melbourne and expressed his hope that he and President Yudhoyono could maintain their good relations even after the latter ended his term of office later this year. (fss/ebf)
