AUSTRALIA and Indonesia have agreed on a new security treaty that obliges both countries to consult if either faces a threat, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday during a visit by Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto.
Speaking at an Australian naval base in Sydney, Albanese described the treaty as a major expansion of previous security arrangements and said it included a commitment to regular dialogue between the two leaders.
"If either or both countries' security is threatened, to consult and consider what measures may be taken either individually or jointly to deal with those threats," Reuters reported him saying today, adding that both nations recognised joint action as the best means to ensure regional peace and stability.
President Prabowo told reporters that the treaty would strengthen cooperation in defence and security.
"Our determination is to maintain the best of relationships in order to enhance and guarantee security for both of our countries," he said, noting Indonesia’s non-aligned foreign policy.
Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong stated that the agreement is expected to be signed next year and is modelled on a 1995 security pact that was later withdrawn in 1999 after Australia led a UN peacekeeping mission in East Timor.
Security ties between the two neighbours have improved under Albanese’s centre-left Labor government, which has sought to strengthen defence partnerships across the region, including a recent mutual defence treaty with Papua New Guinea.
Analyst Euan Graham of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute suggested the pact is largely symbolic.
"Cynics could say it doesn't really commit in any hard sense, it is more about raising the political symbolism of the relationship," he said.
He added that while Albanese could demonstrate improved bilateral ties, Prabowo was engaging in "classic balancing behaviour" to reassure Australia amid concerns over Indonesia’s potential tilt towards Russia or China. - November 12, 2025
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