His visit continued an ongoing tradition between leaders of the two neighbors to have their personal relationship reflect the wider state of their countries' bilateral partnership, which Albanese aspired to fortify as part of his winning election campaign pitch.

“Australia’s relationship with Indonesia is one of the most important. That is why I was determined to make this my first bilateral visit, just two weeks as prime minister,” Albanese said during a press conference in Jakarta after the leaders’ meeting.

Their ties have been defined by some as a love-hate relationship, with stretches of stable cooperation disrupted by testy incidents, most recently when Canberra surprised Jakarta by teaming up with the United States and the United Kingdom in a security alliance that promises them a nuclear-powered arsenal.

This time, however, economic cooperation was a unifying factor.

The Labor government leader highlighted the fact that Indonesia was “on track” to be one of the world’s five largest economies, and that Albanese saw “an enormous opportunity” to expand partnerships.

“Revitalizing our trade and investment relationship is a priority for my government,” the prime minister said during his speech at the Bogor Palace.

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