Indonesia has dismissed a report that Russia has lodged a request to base long-range aircraft at a military base just 1300 kilometres away from Darwin.
The news made an impact on the election campaign as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese sought clarification and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton raised questions about when the Labor leader knew.
But this evening Defence Minister Richard Marles said he’d spoken with his Indonesian counterpart, Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin.
“He has said to me in the clearest possible terms, reports of the prospect of Russian aircraft operating from Indonesia are simply not true,” Marles said in a statement.
Indonesian Defence Ministry spokesperson Frega Wenas told Reuters “the report is incorrect”.
Janes had reported the Indonesian Ministry of Defence was in “consultation with policymakers from other government departments” over how to deal with the request.
Both Australia’s leaders forcefully rejected the idea of a Russian President Vladimir Putin having a military presence in the region.
“We obviously do not want to see Russian influence in our region, very clearly,” Albanese said.
“We have a position, which is: we stand with Ukraine, we regard Vladimir Putin as an authoritarian leader who has broken international law, that is attacking the sovereignty of the nation of Ukraine.”
Dutton described Putin as a “murderous dictator”.
“We don’t welcome his presence in our neighbourhood at all,” Dutton added.
“It is deeply destabilising.”
Earlier today, Albanese said he was seeking “proper clarification” from Indonesia.
“That’s the way you deal with international relations, making sure you’re not flying from the hip,” Albanese said.
Dutton labelled the reported Russian request a “catastrophic failure of diplomatic relations” if the PM wasn’t aware of it until today.
“We need to make sure that the government explains exactly what has happened here,” Dutton said.
Speaking before he received the assurances from Sjamsoeddin, Marles said Australia was in contact with its close neighbour on a “senior level”.
“We have a very close relationship with Indonesia and we have a growing defence relationship with Indonesia, we have already been engaged with [Indonesia] on this request,” Marles said.
“At this point, Indonesia has not responded to this request.
“We will continue to engage with Indonesia in a way that befits this friendship.”
The intrigue came after Russian official Sergei Shoigu, secretary of the Russian Federation Security Council, travelled to Jakarta in February this year to meet with Sjamsoeddin.