The Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton today met with the Indonesian President His Excellency Joko Widodo and with Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs His Excellency General (Ret) Wiranto in Jakarta.
Mr Dutton said his discussions with the Indonesian President were wide ranging, but focussed primarily on regional security.
"I congratulated President Widodo on his nation's success in preventing large scale terrorist attacks that have afflicted other countries and on the extensive arrests Indonesian authorities have made of terrorist suspects in recent years," Mr Dutton said.
The Minister's separate discussions with General (Ret) Wiranto were more detailed on the threat posed by terrorism across the region and the additional threats of foreign fighters returning from the Middle East.
"Many of these battled-hardened terrorists will no doubt seek to return to their home countries and we must be ready to deal with them," Mr Dutton said.
"Regional co-operation will be vital to the possible threats they pose."
"Indonesia's leadership in the region is essential in the fight against terrorism – neither of us can eradicate violent extremism on our own."
Mr Dutton said Australia and Indonesia already had a strong security partnership, but it was vital that nations across the region strengthened their co-operation to combat the complex security threats all faced.
"I thank the President and General (Ret) Wiranto for their warm welcome to Jakarta and our invigorating discussions. We agree that we must combat the threats at our doorstep to ensure the security of our region".
At their meeting, Mr Dutton and General (Ret) Wiranto affirmed ongoing cooperation on countering people smuggling, maritime security and cyber security and Mr Dutton commended the successful operational-level cooperation between Australian and Indonesian law enforcement and security agencies.
Today's meeting in Jakarta precedes the Counter-Terrorism Conference to be held on 17 March 2018, as a major lead-in event to the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit.
The Counter-Terrorism Conference underscores our commitment to enhancing connectivity and cooperation across existing counter-terrorism efforts in the region.
