New Home Affairs Minister to Bolster Australia-RI Cooperation

Australia’s Minister for Home Affairs, Hon Bob Debus MP, will seek to strengthen bilateral ties in a range of areas, including law enforcement and legal and customs cooperation, when he makes his first visit to Indonesia in his new role this week.

Mr Debus, in Jakarta from 24-26 February, is scheduled to meet a number of senior Indonesian Ministers and officials, including Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda, Attorney-General Hendarman Supandji, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani and Law and Human Rights Minister Andi Mattalatta.

The Minister will also discuss the wide range of joint activities under way between Australian and Indonesian officials to combat illegal fishing, smuggling and other cross-border crimes in the region in meetings with Marine Affairs and Fisheries Minister, Freddie Numberi, and the Head of Indonesia’s Maritime Security Coordinating Board.

Mr Debus is also scheduled to call on the National Police Chief, General Sutanto, and inspect Polri’s Transnational Crime Centre and Bomb Data Centre in Jakarta, both developed with funding and technical support from the Australian Government.

He will receive a briefing on the highly-successful Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Cooperation (JCLEC), a joint initiative developed with A$37 million in Australian Government funding as a training centre to strengthen law enforcement capacity and cooperation across the region. Over 3,000 police and officials from Indonesia and neighbouring countries have received training at JCLEC since it was established in 2004.

Mr Debus’ Home Affairs portfolio covers a range of domestic and international issues, including the Australian Federal Police, Australian Customs Service, strategies for dealing with money laundering and drugs, criminal law and its reform and the Australian Crime Commission.

Australian Ambassador to Indonesia, Bill Farmer, said Mr Debus’ visit provided further evidence of the new Australian Government’s commitment to strengthening cooperation with Indonesia across a range of issues.

The Ambassador said Mr Debus was already the 10th Federal Government Minister to visit Indonesia since the December 2007 swearing in of the new Australian Government.

“The Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Stephen Smith have both emphasised that Australia’s engagement with our neighbours in the Asia-Pacific region will be one of the main pillars of the Government’s foreign policy, along with the US Alliance and emphasis on the United Nations and multilateral institutions,” Farmer said.

“Both Mr Rudd and Mr Smith have also underlined the new Australian Government’s commitment to strengthen further our broad and close relationship with Indonesia.”

Mr Debus, the Member for Macquarie, an electorate which takes in part of New South Wales’ picturesque Blue Mountains region, has come into the Australian Federal Parliament with 19 years experience in the NSW State Legislature.

He served as a NSW State Minister for the Environment, Arts, Education, Tourism, Finance, Employment, Energy, Corrective Services and as Attorney General.

Mr Debus, formerly a lawyer, publisher and journalist, also spent six years as the National Director for aid organisations Australian Freedom from Hunger and Community Aid Abroad, now merged as Oxfam Australia.

Further information:
John Williams (Counsellor, Public Affairs), ph (021) 2550 5290, mob 0812 1053 989