Indonesian President Joko Widodo will address parliament on Monday, kicking off new era of trade relations between south-east Asia and Australia.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo will address parliament on Monday in a historic moment marking a new era of trade relations between south-east Asia and Australia after a turbulent decade. Mr Joko will be the second Indonesian leader to make the speech and has said he will use his time in Australia to negotiate better visa deals for Indonesian travellers, with both governments attempting to improve the relationship between their countries.
Governor-General David Hurley, right, greets Indonesian President Joko Widodo as he receives a ceremonial welcome.The last Indonesian president to address parliament was Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in 2010 and Mr Morrison said in a statement that a closer relationship with Indonesia helped strengthen the economy, create more jobs and ensure the safety of Australians. "President Widodo and I are both committed to setting a lively pace in implementing our new free-trade agreement, which benefits Australian farmers and businesses," Mr Morrison said."Counter-terrorism efforts, the impact of plastic waste on the oceans and an open internet are also topics the Australian government is planning to discuss with the Indonesian leader."Mr Joko will be pushing for Mr Morrison to put a stop to stringent entry requirements for Indonesians wanting to travel to Australia as part of the discussions, tellingthat visas should be "reciprocal and fair". Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi is also set to raise the issue with Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne. Trade Minister Simon Birmingham admitted that in the past the economic relationship between Indonesia and Australia had been "underdone" and a new trade agreement was a step up in the ties between the countries. The Indonesian parliament has voted to approve this bilateral agreement that was signed in 2019. "This is a win-win agreement where stronger economic ties should also help to facilitate closer security, strategic and people-to-people ties between our two countries," Mr Birmingham said. He said it would open up more export opportunities to local businesses, lower barriers to trade and reduce costs particularly for farmers but also education, tourism and professional services. "We expect the benefits from this trade deal to start flowing in a matter of months," Mr Birmingham said.Indonesia is Australia's 13th largest trading partner, but Mr Birmingham said he wanted to see the country higher up on the list, similar to export boosts that followed trade deals with China, Japan and South-Korea. This comes as the world leaders have been called on by Bali Nine convicted drug smuggler Renae Lawrence to help the remaining five members serving life sentences in Indonesia.after more than 12 years behind bars for drug trafficking, spoke to media in Canberra on Sunday afternoon for the first time since her release and issued a plea to the Australian government. "I have no quarrel with the Indonesian legal system, but I continue to worry about these five young men who, if they had received the same sentence as me, may well have been back in Australia with their families by now," she said. Fellow Bali Nine member Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen died of stomach cancer in 2018 and Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were executed in 2015.Renae Lawrence The other five members – Matthew Norman, Michael Czugaj, Scott Rush, Martin Stephens and Si Yi Chen – remain in prisons in Bali and Java, Ms Lawrence said, with the youngest of the group aged 18 when they were arrested in 2005. The men have all been given whole-of-life sentences."Their families constantly travel to Indonesia to visit their sons at great expense," she said.to put in place determinant sentences and, if this is not a possibility, to organise a prisoner exchange to allow the families better access in an Australian prison. "I'm really hoping Scott Morrison will stand up and speak to Jokowi [Mr Joko] and really help these boys," Ms Lawrence said.
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