Peter Dutton admits Indonesia-Russia military mistake
In a major concession during the second leaders debate, Mr Dutton conceded that he “made a mistake”.
Federal Election
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Peter Dutton has finally conceded that he made a “mistake” when he falsely claimed that the Indonesian President had confirmed reports that Russia wanted to fly aircraft out of Papua, near Darwin.
In a major concession during this week’s leaders debate on the ABC, Mr Dutton conceded that he was mistaken.
“Do you admit you got that wrong?,’’ host David Speers asked.
“The reference I was making should have been to the President and was in relation to resources from the Prabowa government,’’ he said.
“It was a mistake.”
“What we have seen the last 12 hours or so is that the Russian envoy to Indonesia has confirmed that there have been discussions and obviously there is a concerning closeness in that relationship.
“And I think the main point here is that the Prime Minister knew nothing of it.”
Mr Albanese said it was “an extraordinary double down from the alternative Prime Minister of Australia who verballed the Indonesian President.”
“Indonesia will be the fourth largest economy in the world,’’ he said.
“I regard the Indonesian President as a personal friend and we have good relations there. The idea you throw out these comments is just extraordinary. And the fact that we just saw a double down on it as if there’s nothing to see here, just shows there’s no understanding of the need for diplomacy.”
It comes after Vladimir Putin’s envoy to Indonesia Sergei Tolchenov released a cryptic statement about “alleged plans” to seek access to an Indonesian base near Australia taking aim at the AUKUS and the nuclear submarine deal.
In the latest blow-up over reports Russia wanted to fly out an Indonesian base in Papua, the envoy suggested there was nothing unusual about the military co-operation.
But he suggested the real problem in the region was Australia and the AUKUS pact.
“Concerning the inquiries coming from Canberra to the Indonesian officials about the alleged plans to establish in Indonesia a base for long-range aircraft of the Russian Air-Space Forces, we would like to draw the attention to the following,” Mr Tolchenov said.
“Military co-operation is an integral part of the intergovernmental relations between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Indonesia. It is solely of bilateral character and based on a relevant legal framework and the national legislation of each respective country.”
In remarks first reported by The Australian newspaper, he said that all interactions between Russian and Indonesian armed forces and Indonesia were aimed at strengthening the defensive capabilities of both sides, not at any third countries, and posed no security threat to the Asia-Pacific region.
“When it comes to any challenges to regional stability, they are more likely to arise from the rotational deployment of large military contingents from extra-regional states on Australian territory, including the provision of airfields for the landing of strategic bombers and port infrastructure for visits by nuclear-powered submarines,” the Russian envoy said.
“Particularly alarming are the currently discussed plans to deploy the US’ intermediate-range missiles in Australia, which would put ASEAN countries – including Indonesia – within its range, as well as the acquisition by the Royal Australian Navy of nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS trilateral partnership.
“The latter raise serious concerns about the effectiveness of established nuclear-weapon-free zones in the Asia-Pacific region, such as the South Pacific Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (Treaty of Rarotonga) and the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (the Bangkok Treaty).”
Earlier, Anthony Albanese declined to say whether or not a Russian request for an air base was made to Indonesia but has cast doubt on the report that claimed such a request was made.
“Did we know about the request?” the Prime Minister was asked.
“Well, it’s not clear – it’s not clear – that the Janes report, you’re assuming the Janes report is correct and there’s no basis for you assuming that,” he said.
‘No clue’: Dutton hits out after TV stumble
Peter Dutton returned fire over claims he was “too reckless, too aggro” over claims Russia has asked Indonesia to base aircraft in the region close to Darwin, accusing the Prime Minister of having “no clue” over the threat.
The Liberal leader was attacked by Labor this morning after he falsely claimed the Indonesian President confirmed the report.
But questions remain over whether Indonesia did indeed receive a request with the Defence Minister Richard Marles refusing to say.
Mr Dutton did not back down insisting if the Albanese Government didn’t know the request was made that’s a big problem.
“The Prime Minister and defence minister and the foreign affairs minister found out about this from media reports as they did in relation to the advice about the Chinese naval ship, as they have done in relation to the tariffs,’’ Mr Dutton told reporters at a campaign stop in the Melbourne electorate of Aston.
“Penny Wong talks a big game but I don’t think she is a Foreign Minister on top of her brief.”
“There is a lot of damage the government has done in relation to our international standing. That is obvious when you have significant events that impact upon Australia and the Australian government having no clue about it, you know the Prime Minister is out of his depth.
“The reference I made is to a credible military website and that talked about government sources and the Prabowo government source.”
Mr Albanese has accused Mr Dutton of “extraordinary overreach” over his claim the Indonesian president had confirmed the story and “dialled it up to 11”.
The Prime Minister also questioned whether the original media reports that a request was made are true but has failed to clarify if Indonesia confirmed this.
Penny Wong hits out
Ms Wong accused Peter Dutton of trying to “verbal” the President of Indonesia after he falsely claimed our neighbour had confirmed reports Russia wanted to base aircraft in the region near Darwin.
Indonesia has subsequently rubbished any suggestion it would allow that to happen – but it hasn’t denied the approach was made by Russia.
The Liberal leader is under fire this morning over a gaffe during a nationally televised interview where Mr Dutton got his facts wrong on the murky story.
“Well, of course, but I think the question here is whether or not the government had any forewarning,’’ Mr Dutton said.
“This would be a catastrophic error in the government’s systems if DFAT, under Penny Wong, didn’t know anything about it. If the Prime Minister hadn’t spoken with the president.”
Mr Dutton then went on to claim the story had been confirmed by the Indonesian President.
“Have I missed that, has the Indonesian president announced this? That’s not my understanding,’’ host Patricia Karvelas said.
“There’s commentary I have seen reported from the Indonesian spokesperson,’’ Mr Dutton replied.
“That obviously comes from the administration. There are reports of negotiations or discussions that have taken place between Russia and Indonesia.”
Karvelas then followed up asking, “Where have you seen the Indonesian president confirm this? Aren’t you verballing him? He hasn’t talked publicly about it.”
“There’s a comment that’s come out of the administration, out of the Prabowo administration,’’ Mr Dutton continued.
“The Prime Minister knew nothing about it, neither did Penny Wong. But Penny Wong has set a standard here she hasn’t met herself. I hope she’s able to explain exactly what’s taken place.”
Speaking on the ABC this morning, the Foreign Minister said Mr Dutton “fabricated a statement”:
“Peter Dutton fabricated a statement by the Indonesian president,’’ Senator Wong said.
“Now, this is an extraordinary thing for a man who wants to be the prime minister to do – to actually try and verbal the president of Indonesia in order to make a domestic political point. He is simply too reckless and too aggro.
“We engaged through the appropriate channels – that is, me to the foreign minister, the defence minister to the defence minister, as well as at diplomatic levels, and very quickly we gained the confirmation.”
Labor piles on the attacks over gaffe
Treasurer Jim Chalmers described the TV gaffe as a “disqualifying moment” from Peter Dutton.
“Peter Dutton is too risky and too reckless to be the prime minister of a great country like ours,” he said
“He is temperamentally unfit to manage our relationships in the world and to manage our economy here at home and Australians will pay for his recklessness.
“What we saw yesterday was a disqualifying moment from Peter Dutton when it came to the comments that he made about the Indonesian president. It is a disqualifying moment whenever he lies in ways that are bordering on the pathological about the Australian economy.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that Mr Dutton was always overreaching.
“He verballed the president of Indonesia,” Mr Albanese said.
“What we saw yesterday was Peter Dutton doing what he does consistently, which is always, always overreaching, always dialling it up to 11.
“But in this case, being quite reckless, quite reckless, with a neighbour of Australia that is an important neighbour and friend of Australia.”
Defence Minister refuses to say if approach was made
Defence Minister Richard Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong have both refused to be drawn on whether Indonesia did receive a request from Russia.
That suggests the original Jane website report – which simply said the request was made not that Indonesia had agreed to it – may be correct.
Senator Wong and Senator Marles said there was no “prospect” Indonesia would host Russian air assets but declined to say whether such a request had even been made.
“Reports of a prospect of a Russian aircraft operating from Indonesia are completely false, and that Indonesia has no intention of doing this whatsoever,” Mr Marles told Channel 9.
“Despite all of that, we had Peter Dutton asserting that President Prabowo had actually made such an announcement, which was completely wrong.
“I mean, Peter Dutton is drawing inspiration from one president while seeking to put words in the mouths of another. And this is reckless, and it is dangerous. And right now, I think what this demonstrates is that given the world that we’re in, Peter Dutton’s temperament is simply not fit to be the Prime Minister of our country.”
But Mr Marles was then asked again, “That being said, did Russia put the air base on the table or not ?”
He refused to answer.
“Well, I mean, Russia we know Russia is active in the region. We know that they have conversations with people,” he said.
“What matters here … what matters here is Indonesia. I mean, Peter Dutton is out there asserting that the president of Indonesia had made a statement when he simply hadn’t. And I cannot overstate the dangerous nature of an alternative Prime Minister of this country seeking to put words in the mouth of the president of Indonesia, which turned out to be completely wrong.”
Indonesia’s huge call on Russian base
Indonesia has officially shot down a report that Russia has lodged a request to base long-range aircraft at a military base just 1300 kilometres away from Darwin.
US military website Janes reported yesterday that Russia had officially requested to base aircraft at the Manuhua Air Force Base at Biak Numfor in the Indonesian province of Papua.
The news impacted the election campaign as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese sought clarification and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton raised questions about when the Labor leader knew.
Indonesian Defence Ministry spokesperson Frega Wenas told Reuters “the report is incorrect”.
Defence Minister Richard Marles has also flatly rejected the report after speaking to his counterparts in the region.
The bombshell reports that Moscow had made the request sparked worldwide headlines on Tuesday after the respectedJanes publication reported that multiple sources from the Indonesian government had confirmed the request.
The magazine reported that the office of Minister of Defence Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin had received the bombshell request from the Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Sergei Shoigu in February 2025.
“The Indonesian Ministry of Defence is now in consultations with policymakers from other government departments, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with regards to how to proceed with the official request, but has yet to issue an official acknowledgment of this request,” the respected defence journal reported.
It was reported that Russia sought to base several long-range aircraft at the Manuhua Air Force Base, which shares a runway with the Frans Kaisiepo Airport.
The base, which is home to the Indonesian Air Force’s Aviation Squadron 27, is approximately 1380 kilometres from Darwin.
But just before 6pm AEDT, the Defence Minister revealed that Indonesian political leaders had assured him this is not going to happen.
“I have spoken to my counterpart, His Excellency Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin the Minister for Defence, and he has said to me in the clearest possible terms, reports of the prospect of Russian aircraft operating from Indonesia are simply not true,’’ he told news.com.au.
It’s unclear whether a Russian request was made however and news.com.au has sought further clarification if indeed such a request was received.
Liberal leader Peter Dutton leapt on the reports on Tuesday mistakenly claiming it had been “announced” by the Indonesian Government.
The gaffe is likely to be seized on in the election campaign that is now entering its third week.
“Did the Prime Minister know about this before it was publicly announced by the President of Indonesia?,’’ Mr Dutton said.
Mr Dutton said it would be a “catastrophic failure” if Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had no forewarning of the request before it was made public.
“This is a very, very troubling development and suggestion that somehow Russia would have some of their assets based in Indonesia only a short distance from, obviously, the north of our country,” he said.
“We’ve seen Russia in action under President Putin in Ukraine. We’ve seen women and children who have died in Ukraine as a result of decisions of Vladimir Putin. He’s a murderous dictator.
“We would want to hear from the Prime Minister about what efforts have been undertaken – obviously, surely, they must have known about this before it’s been made public.”
Earlier, Mr Albanese said the government was “seeking further clarification” from Jakarta about the request, adding he believed the Indonesia-Australia relationship has “never been better than it is right now”.
“We obviously do not want to see Russian influence in our region,” Mr Albanese said.
“We have a position, which is we stand with Ukraine, we regard Vladimir Putin as an authoritarian leader who has broken international law, who’s attacking the sovereignty of the nation of Ukraine.”
He refused to say whether Australia’s “extremely positive relationship with our friends in Indonesia” would be harmed if it permitted Russia to station military aircraft so close to Australia’s mainland, before adding the story had not been confirmed.
“That’s the way you deal with international relations. Making sure that you’re not shooting from the hip,’’ the Prime Minister said.
Originally published as Peter Dutton admits Indonesia-Russia military mistake
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