Defence force chief Angus Campbell in Indonesia for talks after boat arrivals

Australian defence chief Angus Campbell has met with Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta on Tuesday as the federal government grapples with a fresh asylum boat crisis.

Australian Defence Force chief Angus Campbell meets with Indonesia’s presumptive new president and current defence minister Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Australian defence chief Angus Campbell has met with Indonesia’s defence minister and presumptive next president Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta on Tuesday as the federal government grapples with a fresh asylum boat crisis.

General Campbell — a former special forces commander who spearheaded the previous Coalition government’s efforts to stop the boats — is the first senior Australian official to meet face-to-face with Prabowo since his landslide election win last Wednesday, though his meeting at Indonesia’s defence ministry was kept tightly under wraps by the Australian embassy.

The trip by the former Operation Sovereign Borders chief comes just days after two groups of Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Indian asylum-seekers landed in the remote Dampier region of north Western Australia at the weekend.

The men are suspected to have travelled to Australia via Indonesia and dropped off by Indonesian fishermen.

The latest incident follows the arrival in late November of a group of 12 asylum-seekers who also travelled from Indonesia and landed near the Truscott air base in northern WA without being detected by either Australian or Indonesian maritime patrols.

A brief statement issued by the Australian embassy on Tuesday night said General Campbell visited Jakarta to “discuss defence and security issues of mutual interest to Australia and Indonesia, including options to strengthen and broaden bilateral defence co-operation”.

“Their discussion covered the longevity of our defence relationship, and opportunities for closer collaboration on our shared vision for an open, stable and prosperous region.”

Prabowo told Indonesian media after the meeting that the two generals had discussed “technical things” during the hour-long visit but did not elaborate.

The ADF chief also met with his newly appointed Indonesian counterpart Agus Subiyanto, who has ultimate responsibility for patrols off Indonesia’s shared maritime border with Australia.

“The two generals discussed strengthening co-operation in response to the range of security challenges in the region,” the statement added.

The last time General Campbell visited Indonesia was March last year, within weeks of Australian Border Force patrols turning back two attempted asylum boats at sea.

But the effectiveness of those ABF patrols is now being questioned given 62 asylum seekers – mainly Pakistani and Bangladeshi men – have been sent to Nauru by Australian Border Force officials since September.

Some 51 made landfall after being dropped-off by Indonesian-linked people-smugglers in remote northern WA.

ABF figures show a 20.7 per cent decrease in aerial patrol flying hours and a 12.2 per cent fall in maritime patrol days in 2022-23, compared with aerial and maritime surveillance hours logged in 2020-21.

A former Indonesian fishing captain with connections to the people-smuggling trade told The Australian whoever organised the latest boat arrivals was clearly “a smart person” because seasonal westerly storms meant most fishermen from Rote island – a traditional jumping-off point for smuggler boats – were not going out to sea.

“Because the fishermen are taking a break, of course Australian (border force) patrols are also reduced so they could easily be encroached upon,” the man, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said.

He said there was little for Indonesia’s sea cucumber (trepang) fishermen to fear in illegally fishing in Australian waters because “if they get caught they are prosecuted under Australian law and the punishment is not significant”, unlike in the years between 2012 and 2015.

That was emboldening some fishermen who, having reached Australian waters numerous times before, were clearly now testing the waters with human cargo.

“Indonesian fishermen who catch fish or sea cucumber illegally in Australian waters should be dealt with firmly as before. Their boats should be burned and the people should be imprisoned,” the former captain said.

“Because if they are only given warnings they will not be afraid. They can bring illegal immigrants directly to Australia because they have mastered the terrain when they go to catch sea cucumber.

“As long as the Australian government does not have a commitment to enforce the rules, they will become more rampant. The boats and all the expenses belong to the boss, and even if the fishermen are caught they are free from responsibility,” he said.