Prime Minister Tony Abbott has flown to Indonesia to attend the inauguration of its new President, Joko Widodo.
In his weekly video message, Abbott repeated his earlier remarks that “our foreign policy needs a ‘Jakarta’ focus rather than a ‘Geneva’ one”.
He said one million Australians visit Indonesia each year. “It has the world’s largest Muslim population, it is the world’s third largest democracy and, along with India, it’s the emerging democratic superpower of Asia.” [Read more…]
The Abbott government has announced $650 million of cuts to Australia’s foreign aid program.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop, said the government will cut $61 million from the Pacific region. Only Nauru, which houses around a thousand asylum seekers on behalf of Australia, will be exempt.
Other cuts include $59 million from Indonesia, $71 million from South and West Asia, $113 million from Africa and the Middle East, and $5.3 million from Latin America and the Carribean.
Figures released by Bishop show that Australia spent $3,747 million ($3.7 billion) in aid in 2012-13. The Gillard government’s budget increased this to $4,223.5 million for 2013-14. The Abbott government will reduce this to $3,598 million this financial year, a reduction of $625 million and $149 million less than last year’s actual spending. [Read more…]
The Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, has given a wide-ranging speech about Australia’s relationship with Asia.
Abbott delivered the Weary Dunlop lecture to AsiaLink in Melbourne.
He reiterated his earlier remarks that his approach to foreign policy would have a “Jakarta not Geneva” focus.
In the speech, Abbott discussed Australia’s relationship with Indonesia, India and China. He touched on foreign aid, international students and the study of Asian languages in Australian schools. [Read more…]
Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has suspended intelligence exchanges and military co-operation with Australia and demanded Tony Abbott explain the tapping of his and his wife’s mobile phones.
The suspension of military co-operation includes the sharing of information for anti-people smuggling operations as well as joint military exercises of any kind.
“Facing the common problem of people smuggling, Indonesia and Australia have coordinated operations, coordinated patrolling in the sea area – I have asked for this to be suspended until everything is clear,” President Yudhoyono said. [Read more…]