3) PM Albanese: 'No Country Is More Important to Australia Than Indonesia’
4) Impunity update: Police officer sentenced for killing of Tobias Silak seen walking freely through Wamena
He made the remarks after President Prabowo Subianto and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese signed the Treaty on Common Security at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Friday.
Sugiono said the agreement builds on commitments reached during President Prabowo’s visit to Sydney in November last year, where both sides agreed to deepen dialogue on shared security concerns as part of broader efforts to ensure a stable regional environment.
Under the treaty, Indonesia and Australia agreed to establish routine mechanisms to discuss security issues affecting the interests of both countries, without altering existing defense postures or obligations.
Sugiono said the treaty provides a structured forum for regular discussions on security matters, conducted in accordance with international law and based on mutual respect for territorial integrity and national sovereignty—principles he described as essential for sustaining confidence in bilateral relations.
He added that the forum would allow continuous and institutionalized exchanges on evolving regional and global security dynamics, while preserving long-standing norms that underpin cooperation and economic engagement between the two countries.
The minister stressed that the agreement should not be interpreted as a defense pact or military alliance between Jakarta and Canberra.
Sugiono said the treaty does not include provisions requiring either country to treat threats faced by the other as shared or collective threats.
“This is not a pact, not a defense pact, and not a military pact,” Sugiono said, describing the arrangement as a consultative mechanism designed to manage regional security conditions.
He added that the cooperation model is not new and reflects approaches used in earlier bilateral frameworks between Indonesia and Australia.
Sugiono cited similarities with the 1995 Lombok Treaty, which has long served as a foundation for Indonesia-Australia security relations.
Through the consultation forum, both governments are expected to exchange assessments on current security developments, including regional and global challenges that could affect stability.
Regional stability remains crucial for Indonesia’s national interests, particularly in safeguarding sovereignty and supporting long-term economic and social welfare, Sugiono said.
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Translator: Maria CGP, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: M Razi Rahman
The purpose of the joint infrastructure is to allow the facilities in Indonesia to be used by the country’s military forces and its partners, including Australia. Indonesia is staunchly non-aligned militarily with any major power bloc and does not permit the presence of foreign bases on its soil.
Responding to a question about whether the facilities could pave the way for a permanent or semi-permanent Australian troop presence on Indonesia, Albanese said it was “a matter for Indonesia to consider down the track”.
“What we are doing, though, is reaching out and offering our support where it’s helpful for it to be given,” he said at a press conference in Jakarta.
As part of the knowledge sharing and people-to-people relationship building, Australia and Indonesia will additionally begin an exchange program for junior military leaders, and Australia will invite a senior military figure to embed in the Australian Defence Force.
Albanese announced these initiatives immediately after signing the Treaty on Common Security – or the Treaty of Jakarta, as he called it on Friday. The agreement, which he called historic, comes amid increasing volatility and uncertainty in the Indo-Pacific stemming from the policy approaches of US President Donald Trump and his power rivalry with China.
“No country is more important to Australia or to the prosperity, security and stability of the Indo-Pacific than Indonesia,” Albanese said, as Prabowo stood at the lectern next to him.
Most significantly, the treaty committed both countries to “consult each other in the case of adverse challenges to either party … and, if appropriate, consider measures which might be taken either individually or jointly”.
Another article of the deal has committed Australia and Indonesia to consult at leader and ministerial levels on “a regular basis”, which is also ambiguous and aligns with articles already existing in the Lombok Treaty of 2006.
One Indonesian figure, not authorised to speak publicly, did not believe the agreement would add much to the Lombok Treaty and the Defence Cooperation Agreement of 2024, but believed Australia was keen to use the word “treaty” to make it more eye-catching.
Indonesia is the world’s largest Muslim-majority democracy. The archipelagic northern bulwark of 280 million people is predicted to be a top-five global economy within the next 15 years.
3) PM Albanese: 'No Country Is More Important to Australia Than Indonesia'
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Indonesia is Australia’s most important partner, underscoring the country’s central role in regional prosperity, security, and stability.
Albanese made the remarks during a meeting with President Prabowo Subianto at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Friday, February 6, 2026.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Prabowo, Albanese said he was pleased to return to Jakarta and emphasized the strategic importance of Indonesia to Australia.
“No country is more important to Australia – or to the prosperity, security and stability of the Indo-Pacific – than Indonesia,” said the leader of the Australian Labor Party.
Albanese said the two countries share a deep level of mutual trust as neighbors, partners, and friends, and stressed the importance of further strengthening bilateral cooperation.
He also highlighted the geographic ties between the two nations, noting that Australia and Indonesia share one of the world’s longest maritime boundaries.
“Australia and Indonesia share one of the world’s longest maritime boundaries, which naturally makes us close partners,” he said.
During the meeting, Albanese and Prabowo signed a joint security treaty aimed at expanding defense cooperation between the two countries. The agreement covers areas such as military officer exchanges, joint exercises, and cooperation in military education and training.
The two leaders also agreed to deepen economic cooperation. Albanese said Australia had signed a memorandum of understanding with the state's Sovereign Wealth Fund, Danantara.
He said the agreement would strengthen partnerships and information sharing between Australian institutions and Danantara, while also helping identify opportunities for mutual investment.
“Just as importantly, it will help identify opportunities for increased two-way investment between our nations, bolstering our shared economic security and resilience,” Albanese said.
In the same press conference, President Prabowo said Indonesia and Australia share a long-standing relationship and described Australia as one of Indonesia’s closest neighbors and strategic partners.
Prabowo also recalled Australia’s historical support for Indonesia’s independence, saying Canberra played an important role in helping secure and uphold Indonesia’s proclamation of independence in 1945.
He reaffirmed Indonesia’s commitment to good neighborly relations and its long-standing free and active foreign policy.
“Indonesia and Australia are destined to live side by side and we have chosen to establish that relationship founded on mutual trust and goodwill,” Prabowo said.
4) Impunity update: Police officer sentenced for killing of Tobias Silak seen walking freely through Wamena
Background
Second Brigadier Fernando Alexander Aufa fleeing after being caught walking freely in Wamena
Activist demanding justice for the killing of Tobias Silak at the correctional facility in Wamena
Maria Baru, Sorong – The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) is urging the Papua Regional Police (Polda Papua) to immediately solve the October 16, 2024 Molotov cocktail terror attack against the Jubi editorial office in Jayapura.
Fifteen months after the attack, the Papua police have again come under scrutiny after failing to publicly identify the perpetrators of the Molotov cocktail terror attack. The police's silence is seen as a form of inaction, public manipulation and the protection of perpetrators of crimes against the press.
AJI Secretary General Bayu Wardhana emphasised that the case must be followed up seriously and the identities of the perpetrators made public immediately.
He said that allowing the case to drag on will only make it an "annual story" without legal clarity. According to Wardhana, the failure to thoroughly investigate the attack will further worsen the state of press freedom and democracy in Papua.
"This case must be resolved. If not, it will continue to be a recurring story each year", Wardhana said during a public discussion titled "The silencing of the media and the press freedom crisis in Eastern Indonesia", which held at the Swiss-Bell Hotel in Sorong city, Southwest Papua, on Monday February 2.
Meanwhile, Jubi editor-in-chief Jean Bisay openly accused the Papua Regional Police of being "con artists," because despite knowing the perpetrator's identity, they have yet to reveal it to the public.
Bisay emphasised that to prevent practices of impunity for crimes targeting journalists and the media, the perpetrators of the Molotov bomb terror attack must be identified and punished according to prevailing laws in Indonesia.
"If the perpetrators are not punished, impunity will continue to occur", he said.
During the same discussion, Catholic rights activist Yuliana Langowuyo highlighted the role of the Press Council in ensuring that every media outlet has standard operating procedures (SOPs) to protect journalists, especially in high-risk reporting.
Langowuyo stated that journalists are human rights workers, so their work must be protected systematically and seriously.
Erick Tanjung, a member of the Press Council Working Group, revealed that many media outlets in Indonesia, including those in Jakarta, still lack adequate security protocols for high-risk coverage such as conflict, investigations and disasters.
"This is important homework for the Press Council and media companies to have security protocols for journalists", said Tanjung.
Tanjung believes that the Molotov cocktail attack on the Jubi editorial office is a real test of the state's commitment to protecting press freedom.
"Especially in Papua, which has long been under the shadow of intimidation and violence against the media", he concluded.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Polda Papua Dituding 'Tukang Tipu', Pelaku Bom Molotov Jubi Belum Diumumkan".]
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