Indonesia denies it will allow Russian air base in Papua

Indonesia has told the Albanese government that reports Russian aircraft would be allowed to operate from its soil were ‘simply not true’, after Moscow’s apparent bid thrust national security firmly back onto the election campaign.

Russian President Vladimir Putin. Picture: AP

You can now listen to The Australian's articles. Give us your feedback.

You can now listen to The Australian's articles.

Indonesia has told the Albanese government that reports Russian aircraft would be allowed to operate from its soil were “simply not true”, after Moscow’s apparent bid thrust national security firmly back onto the Australian federal election campaign on Tuesday.

Anthony Albanese was forced to admit his government was seeking “positive clarification” from Jakarta after Janes defence journal reported Russia had made a formal request to base several long-range military aircraft out of Indonesia’s Manuhua aircraft facility just 1300km from Australia’s mainland.

The claims threatened to ignite a fresh security scandal with opposition leader Peter Dutton declaring another “catastrophic” intelligence failure by the government just weeks after Chinese live-fire exercises in the Tasman Sea and the circumnavigation of Australia by a Chinese strike force raised uncomfortable questions about Canberra’s intelligence capabilities, and capacity to defend its borders.

Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in June. Picture: AFP

They also raised the spectre of the 2022 election when Labor attacked the Morrison government cover Beijing’s security deal with the Solomon Islands.

Mr Albanese 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, but added he was seeking clarification from Jakarta.

“We obviously do not want to see Russian influence in our region, very clearly,” he 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.”

Defence Minister Richard Marles also told reporters that he was “engaged with Indonesia on this request. We will keep engaging with Indonesia in a way that benefits a very close friend and a very close friendship between our two countries.”

But in a later statement, Mr Marles said he had spoken to his Indonesian counterpart Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin “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”.

Moscow’s formal request to Mr Sjamsoeddin to base military aircraft out of Indonesia’s Manuhua air force base on Papua’s Biak Island was made through Russian Security Council secretary Sergei Shoigu after the two met in February, Janes defence journal reported on Tuesday, citing Indonesian government sources.

The request did not specify whether they would be Russian surveillance or strike aircraft.

“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 journal reported.

Indonesia has been steadily building ties with Moscow under President Prabowo Subianto, who wasted little time in signing up Indonesia to the China and Russia-led BRICS developing nations grouping after his October inauguration.

Weeks later the two nations conducted their first-ever bilateral naval drills in Indonesian waters – raising questions about Jakarta’s commitment to its non-alignment given Moscow’s ongoing war on Ukraine.

A Russian Sukhoi Su-34 strike fighter.

Mr Prabowo also met President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in June, just months after his stunning presidential election victory, and is scheduled to return there this June.

The Indonesian leader also met with the pariah nation’s first deputy Prime Minister in Jakarta on Tuesday to discuss “strategic agenda items” and growing bilateral ties.

But allowing Moscow to base aircraft on Indonesian soil would be a radical departure for Jakarta from a decades-long foreign policy commitment to neutrality and a major security headache for Australia.

Mr Dutton insisted on Tuesday it would be a “catastrophic failure” if Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Mr Albanese had no forewarning of the request before it was made public, and that a Russian military presence in the region would be “deeply destabilising”.

“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 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.”

But Penny Wong hit back, accusing the coalition of acting against the national interests with reckless comments that betrayed an alarming lack of knowledge of our near region.

“As you know Russia is engaged in an illegal and immoral war against Ukraine, and the Australian government has imposed a great many sanctions on Russia.

“We know Russia is a disruptive power and we know that president Putin seeks to play that role which is why some of the comments we’ve seen over the years from the Coalition … are so contrary to Australia’s national interests”. ”

Regional security analysts say while Moscow has been “sniffing around the region” for bases for some time, it would be surprising if Jakarta acceded to the request given how seriously it would undermine its opposition to new foreign military capabilities in the region.

Indonesia’s foreign ministry was an early and vocal opponent to the AUKUS agreement that aims to equip Australia with nuclear-powered submarines.

Australian Strategic Policy Initiative senior security analyst Euan Graham told The Australian Indonesia would not want to risk setting a precedent for other neighbouring countries that might create access for China’s military machine, but might look to grant Russia periodic access visits without specifically agreeing to basing rights.

ANU National Security College head Rory Medcalf said any agreement that gave Russian access to Indonesian military bases – even on an occasional or rotational basis – would be a “real problem for Australia”.

“Russia is a great power, a profoundly unfriendly country to Australia, and has historically been a real strategic spoiler in our region,” Mr Medcalf said.

PAnthony Albanese says Australia does not want to see Russian influence in the region. Picture: Jason Edwards

“It is fair to assume Indonesia would not allow permanent bases but it’s quite possible it would allow some sort of access agreement analogous to which US forces have with Australia, which would complicate things quite severely for Australia’s security interests.”

Australia’s security establishment already worries deeply about Chinese military access to Australia’s northern reaches and increasingly also its eastern flank, and Moscow’s close alignment with Beijing means it would have to view any Russian access as being proxy Chinese access also.

“This is a stark reminder – along with the recent uninvited Chinese navy visit and Trump’s shock to the alliance system – that Australia can’t hide from the strategic tensions in the world and yet those strategic tensions have been starkly absent in this election debate,” Mr Medcalf added.

Manuhua base shares a runway with the Frans Kaisiepo Airport and is also home to the Indonesian Air Force’s Aviation Squadron 27 that operates a fleet of CN235 surveillance aircraft and the air force’s newly established 9th Air Wing.

Indonesia’s defence ministry initially brushed off questions about Russia’s request on Tuesday, with spokesman Frega Wenas telling The Australian; ”We are not aware of that issue for now.”

Russia is understood to have made several past requests to land its Tupolev Tu-95 bombers and Il-76 airlifters at the same air base.

In December 2017, Australian defence personnel in Darwin were placed on “increased readiness” after Russian strategic bombers flying out of the same air base in Papua’s Biak region conducted navigation exercises close to Australia.

More than 100 Russian personnel and several aircraft were stationed at the Papuan base during a five-day stopover in which two nuclear-capable Tu-95 bombers flew their first ever patrol mission over the South Pacific, sparking concerns they may have been collecting intelligence.

During that stopover, two Russian Ilyushin-76 transporters carrying 81 personnel arrived on Biak Island before the two bombers.