PM, President flag visa changes for Indonesian visitors to Australia
Anthony Albanese has used an unusual method of courting Indonesia’s President ahead of a huge announcement on visas.
Anthony Albanese has used a piece of Indonesia to impress the country’s President on his latest trip Down Under.
During a whirlwind trip around Sydney on Tuesday, the Prime Minister made sure to include a pit stop at Taronga Zoo to showcase the Sumatran tiger exhibit to Indonesia’s Joko Widodo.
Despite the playful antics of the pair’s visit to the tigers, it was all business as they sat down for their Australia-Indonesia Annual Leaders’ Meeting.
Making the announcement at Taronga, the duo outlined how Indonesians heading to Australia to do business will be able to take advantage of longer visas and prioritised treatment in passport queues.
The relaxing of visa rules for business travellers coming from Indonesia means they’ll now have access to a five-year visa instead of three, and Indonesian E-Passport holders will be prioritised at Smart Gates.
“We will put arrangements in place also for Indonesians to access the frequent travellers visa,” Mr Albanese told reporters on Tuesday.
“This offers a 10-year visa validity, making an enormous difference in removing bureaucratic impediments to our closer relationship.”
Indonesians wanting a visitors visa to Australia previously needed to fork out $140, undergo background checks, a medical check, and wait an average 60 days for the application to be approved.
Mr Albanese said that’s down to just seven days as of May this year.
“And the median processing time for a business visa is now just three days,” Mr Albanese said.
During an afternoon media conference, the Prime Minister also announced $50m to fund small and medium start-up enterprises to help Indonesia’s transition to clean energy technology.
It was also announced Western Sydney University, Deakin University, and Central Queensland University intended to build campuses in Indonesia, with Monash University having already opened one in Jakarta in 2022.
“Australia and Indonesia must build a more substantive and strategic economic co-operation through the joint production of [electric vehicle] batteries,” Mr Widodo said, speaking through a translator.
“I look forward to Prime Minister Albanese’s visit this September.”
He also encouraged the Australian Capital Authority, and the private sector, to work with the agency behind Mr Widodo’s legacy project — moving the Indonesian capital from Jakarta to East Kalimantan, on the island of Borneo, calling the new city Nusantara.
Earlier, Mr Widodo and Mr Albanese attended a state lunch at the Governor-general’s Sydney residence, alongside the likes of Opposition leader Peter Dutton, Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong, WA Premier Roger Cook, and a host of ministers and diplomatic figures.
Mr Widodo, often called Jokowi, is due to step down as President following an election on February 14, 2024, having served both terms under Indonesia’s two-term limit.
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