Scott Morrison, Joko Widodo sign-off on historic free trade deal
Indonesian president Joko Widodo has randomly said his country’s relationship with Australia is like the movie Avengers: Endgame, where national superheroes come together for the greater good.
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Indonesian President Joko Widodo has used a rare address to the Australian parliament to call for an end to identity politics, saying it could lead to a “clash of civilisation”.
Mr Widodo gave a warm address to the Senate and House of Representatives, saying “Australia never left Indonesia’s side’’ and he urged them to work together to combat identity politics.
“Identity politics is a threat to democracy, a threat to diversity and a threat to tolerance,” Mr Widodo said.
“We must work hard, side-by-side, standing together to defend the values of democracy, tolerance and diversity and to prevent the world having a clash of civilisations.”
Mr Widodo said he and “the people of Indonesia’’ had grieved alongside Scott Morrison and his family when the Prime Minister’s elderly father died last month.
Mr Morrison described Indonesia as a close friend to Australia.
“I like to think we are countries that can cheer each other on,” Mr Morrison said.
Mr Widodo was in Australia for a three-day state visit, which included a meeting with Governor-General David Hurley, a “roo tour” in a golf cart around the grounds of Government House, and an informal dinner at the Prime Minister’s Canberra residence The Lodge.
Mr Widodo used the Marvel blockbuster Avengers: Endgame to describe the countries’ relationship.
“When the forces of good unite, the Avengers assemble and the common enemy can be defeated,” he said.
“When Indonesia and Australia continue to collaborate and work together, then intolerance and protectionism and the fear of poverty and the threat of climate change can be overcome.”
The warm state of the relationship compares to the situation in 2011, when Indonesia reacted furiously to the Government, under former prime minister Julia Gillard, banning live exports from Australia after shocking vision emerged of animals being mistreated in Indonesian abattoirs.
The crisis deepened under former prime minister Tony Abbott when leaked documents showed that Australia’s spy agencies tracked the phone of former Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudiyono back in 2009, and tried to tap his phone and eavesdrop on his conversations.
The most recent ex-prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, who has strong relations with Indonesia, was in the Speaker’s Gallery to hear the speech.
It is believed to be his first visit back to the chamber since losing the leadership in August 2018.
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Australia and Indonesia are each other’s 13th largest trading partner, and both countries believe there is significant scope for trade growth.
Mr Morrison indicated there may be some progress on Indonesia’s request to grant visas-on-arrival for Indonesian visitors to Australia.
MONASH UNIVERSITY SET TO OPEN INDONESIAN CAMPUS
Mr Morrison also announced Monash University will establish a campus in Indonesia under the deal – a first for an Australian tertiary institution.
“Monash University will establish its first foreign campus in Indonesia under this agreement, and that is an indication of how this is a two-way street,” he said.
Mr Widodo said his visit marks “a new beginning of a new relationship with Australia”.
“This means going forward economic relations between the two countries will grow and bring more tangible benefits for the people,” he said through a translator.
With regards to Monash University’s planned new campus, Mr Widodo said “Indonesia hopes Australia can become an important partner in infrastructure investment as well as education.”
Monash University president and vice-chancellor Professor Margaret Gardner AC said Monash had a long history of engagement with Indonesia.
“The opening of Monash Indonesia, the first Australian university based in Indonesia, will enable us to work in and with Indonesian people and their organisations to realise their future opportunities. The physical establishment also serves as a symbol of Monash’s commitment to Indonesia and the wider Asian region, as well as stronger research and education links between Indonesia and Australia,” she said in a statement.
Based in Jakarta, Monash Indonesia will be a postgraduate campus, offering Master and PhD degrees, as well as executive programs and micro-credentials. It will be research intensive and industry engaged and operate with the full support of both the Indonesian and Australian governments.
Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said the agreement with one of the world’s fastest-growing economies would be a major boost for Australian farmers through lower tariffs and improved access.
Indonesian goods will be subject to zero tariffs when entering Australia, while tariffs on 94 per cent of Australian goods imported to Indonesia will be eliminated gradually.
Indonesia and Australia already enjoy bilateral trade worth $17.8 billion.
The deal’s signing was delayed after Mr Morrison said in late 2018 that Australia was considering moving its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, is a strong supporter of Palestine and warned against the move.
WIDODO VISIT PROMPTS BALI NINE CALL
Meanwhile, convicted drug mule Renae Lawrence has pleaded with the PM to urge the Indonesian president to show leniency on five members of the Bali Nine who are still behind bars.
She wants reduced sentences for the remaining five members of the Bali Nine imprisoned in Indonesia, or a prisoner exchange with Australia.
“These humane actions will in some small part bring our nations closer together,” she told reporters yesterday, in her first public comments since her release in 2018.
In the unlikely event she could meet Mr Widodo during his visit she said she would say “sorry”.
“We all did something stupid, we all regret it, but everybody deserves a second chance,” Ms Lawrence said.
Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said any representations made on behalf of the Bali Nine would be done quietly.
“Our tried and tested method is that it works far better to engage quietly, privately with governments than to do so with a loud hailer across the airwaves,” he told ABC radio.
Originally published as Scott Morrison, Joko Widodo sign-off on historic free trade deal