Indonesian president-elect Prabowo Subianto in Canberra for high-level talks with Anthony Albanese and Richard Marles

Indonesian Defence Minister and president-elect Prabowo Subianto will hold high-level talks in Canberra with Anthony Albanese and Richard Marles.

Indonesian president-elect Prabowo Subianto. Picture: AFP

Indonesian Defence Minister and president-elect Prabowo Subianto arrived in Australia on Monday night as part of a whirlwind trip to hold discussions with Anthony Albanese and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles.

The Prime Minister said Indonesia and Australia were the “closest of partners and I welcome the opportunity to meet with president-elect Prabowo ahead of his inauguration in October”.

“My government is committed to working with Indonesia to shape the type of region we both seek – one that is peaceful, stable and prosperous, and respectful of sovereignty,” Mr Albanese said.

The visit is the first to Australia by Mr Prabowo since Indonesia’s general election in February, with the president-elect to hold meetings with Mr Albanese and Mr Marles in Canberra on Tuesday. Discussions are expected to focus on shared economic, security and net-zero transition priorities.

Mr Prabowo and Mr Marles are also expected to discuss their plans to implement a new Defence Co-operation Agreement that, while not expected to be announced this week, is edging towards completion.

The deal, expected to be finalised before Mr Prabowo is sworn into office on October 20, is being promoted as the most important bilateral agreement with Jakarta since the Lombok Treaty in 2006.

Mr Marles said on Monday that both nations had “been making great strides in our two countries’ defence co-operation”.

“Australia and Indonesia are working closer together than we have before and are expanding the scope and complexity of our exercises together as we address shared regional challenges,” Mr Marles said.

Earlier in the year, Mr Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong sought to reassure their Indonesian counterparts during the annual “2+2” talks that Australia’s planned nuclear submarines would not encourage nuclear weapons proliferation amid concerns in Jakarta over the AUKUS pact.

The February meeting between Senator Wong, Mr Marles, Indonesian Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi and Mr Prabowo came six months after Jakarta warned the transfer of nuclear propulsion technology to Australia could have “catastrophic” consequences.

Indonesia is the world’s third-largest democracy – after India and the US – and Mr Prabowo has promised to continue the legacy projects and policies of outgoing President Joko Widodo. Mr Prabowo’s running mate was Mr Widodo’s eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka.

Mr Prabowo has been a leading public figure in Indonesia for more than three decades, including as a feared special forces commander, and he was banned from the US for years over allegations of human rights abuses in East Timor.

He was twice defeated by Mr Widodo for high office, in 2014 and 2019.