Archived Media Release
Stephen Smith MP
Minister for Foreign Affairs

11 November 2008

9th AUSTRALIA-INDONESIA MINISTERIAL FORUM

The 9th Australia-Indonesia Ministerial Forum (AIMF) will be held in Canberra on 11-12 November. The last Forum was held in June 2006 in Bali.

Discussion at the 9th AIMF will include key bilateral political and strategic, economic and trade and development assistance issues.

A meeting of the Joint Commission of the Australia-Indonesia Partnership on development cooperation issues will also be held in conjunction with the Forum.

The Australian delegation, which I will lead, includes the Minister for Trade, Simon Crean, the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans, the Minister for Climate Change and Water, Senator Penny Wong, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts, Peter Garrett, the Attorney General Robert McClelland and the Home Affairs Minister Bob Debus.

The Indonesian delegation will be led by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dr Hassan Wirajuda, and will include Mari Pangestu, the Minister for Trade, Anton Apriyantono, Minister for Agriculture, Vice-Admiral (Ret.) Freddy Numberi, the Minister for Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Rachmat Witoelar, the Minister for Environment, and Andi Mattalata, the Minister for Law and Human Rights.

I welcome the participation of business representatives from both countries in the AIMF’s Business Dialogue on 11 November, which will provide a valuable opportunity for private sector exchanges with Australian and Indonesian Ministers and senior officials.

This year’s Forum is also preceded by the inaugural meeting of senior security officials under the Lombok Treaty, which came into force in February 2008 following an exchange of letters between Dr Wirajuda and I in Perth.

Practical working-level cooperation between Australia and Indonesia continues to deliver very good results in combating common security threats, such as terrorism and people smuggling.

The AIMF, established in 1992, is our major Ministerial-level forum for engagement with Indonesia. The Forum provides Ministers across a range of portfolios the opportunity to advance priority areas of cooperation for the benefit both countries.

This year’s Forum comes towards the end of what has been a very busy productive year of engagement between Australia and Indonesia. There have been 29 ministerial-level visits between the two countries in the Australian Government’s first 11 months in office. This includes two separate visits to Indonesia by the Prime Minister, me and Mr Crean, and two visits to Australia by my counterpart, Dr Wirajuda.

Departmental: +61 2 6261 1555