This was conveyed by Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles during a meeting with Indonesian Minister of Defence Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin at the Ministry of Defence office in Jakarta on Thursday.
“We are encouraging the TNI to unilaterally take advantage of Australia’s training facilities. The first iteration of this will be the TNI conducting training at Mount Bundy in October of this year,” Marles said during a media doorstop in Jakarta.
Marles also mentioned that Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Foreign Minister Penny Wong, and Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke had recently met with President Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta.
During that bilateral meeting, Prime Minister Albanese and President Subianto expressed strong ambitions to fully capitalize on the opportunities offered by the Defence Cooperation Agreement between the two countries. This agreement laid the foundation for the discussions between Marles and Minister Sjamsoeddin.
“What the Defence Cooperation Agreement does is provide much greater seamless access for both of our defence forces to operate from each other’s facilities,” Marles stated.
Furthermore, Marles extended an invitation to Minister Sjamsoeddin to visit Australia.
He noted that Minister Sjafrie is no stranger to Australia, having been among the first Indonesian cadets to attend the Royal Military College at Duntroon, alongside current President Prabowo Subianto.
Following President Subianto's recent return visit to Duntroon, Marles expressed hope that Minister Sjamsoeddin would make a similar visit.
“We hope to do the same with Minister Sjafrie, so he can return to his old stomping ground. He even said he would be happy to stay in the barracks at Duntroon,” Marles said.
In November last year, approximately 2,000 Australian military personnel participated in the bilateral Exercise Keris Woomera, which was centered in Indonesia.
This exercise was the largest bilateral military exercise ever conducted between Australia and Indonesia, and one of the largest exercises Australia held outside its own country last year.
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Translator: Kuntum Khaira Riswan
Editor: M Razi Rahman
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