Indonesia’s new president issues a blunt warning to Tony Abbott

Indonesia’s incoming president Joko Widodo has promised a tough approach to issues of sovereignty and issued a blunt warning to Tony Abbott, stating it is unacceptable for the Australian navy to enter Indonesian waters uninvited while turning back asylum seeker boats. In an exclusive Fairfax Media interview, he outlined plans to strengthen ties between the two countries, including boosting military and intelligence links, but warned that he would be “stronger” on questions of sovereignty even than his army-general election opponent, Prabowo Subianto.

I conveyed that the party I lead, my supporters, I will ask them to support Joko Widodo and the government he will lead.

Indonesia’s incoming president Joko Widodo

For the first time Mr Widodo said he would encourage new avenues of security cooperation wherever benefits can be shown to flow “not only to Australia but also Indonesia”, including to combat terrorism. He also vowed to return his country of a quarter of a billion people to its traditional leadership role among the disparate states of Southeast Asia, including by helping to mediate their increasingly dangerous territorial disputes with China.

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