Foreign minister: RI enjoys close ties with Australia

"We also enjoy very close relations with Australia under former Prime Minister John Howard`s government and the Lombok Treaty showed the good relations between the two countries," he said.
Australia and Indonesia signed a security pact dubbed the Lombok Treaty in Indonesia`s Lombok island in November, 2006. It set out a framework for consultations on a wide range of security issues.
Minister Wirajuda further said the signing of the exchange on diplomatic memorandum on Thursday became a symbol of the strong Indonesia-Australia relations.
"I believe we can work together very well with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd," he said, adding that the two countries` challenge in the future was how to change problems into productive cooperation.
Australia`s Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said establishing good bilateral relations with Indonesia was his country`s national interest.
He admitted that the two countries` relations ran well under Howard`s administration but the current government needs to enhance the bilateral ties.
According to him, the good Indonesia-Australia relations are not only useful to ...