Government wants suspension after phone tapping claims, but Julie Bishop says trade is explicitly excluded from disruption

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

The Indonesian government has asked cattle importers to stop buying Australian cattle until the two countries resolve their diplomatic problems caused by spying allegations.

But Australia’s foreign minister, Julie Bishop, said it was her understanding that trade was explicitly excluded from disruption while the two nations worked on rebuilding their relationship.

"The discussion I had with foreign minister Marty Natalegawa on Thursday [last week] confirmed that there were only three areas where there was a temporary suspension of engagement and areas that were to continue as normal included trade, education ... a whole range of other areas were specifically excluded from the three areas that were discussed," Bishop said on Wednesday.

"That came not only from the foreign minister but a message from the president of Indonesia."

The Australian government noted the reports after the Indonesian agriculture minister, Suswono, was quoted in the Jakarta Post as saying that while deals were based on business relationships, importers should act in line with the government’s stance.

At the same time, the paper reported that a state-owned Indonesian agribusiness, PT Rajawali Nusantara Indonesia, confirmed it had stopped talks with an Australian producer in favour of a New Zealand producer.

“When it comes to cattle and beef imports the deals were made within a business-to-business framework,” Suswono said. “We can only appeal to importers to act in line with the government’s stance until everything is completely normalised.”

Suswono said his government was ready to reduce the number of Australian cattle imported if Australia did not show a genuine commitment to rebuilding trust with Indonesia.

“If the president is not satisfied with Australia’s response to the recent diplomatic tension then we will review the policy,” Suswono said.

Australia's agriculture minister, Barnaby Joyce, had seen the report but said the live cattle trade was continuing normally “at the moment”.

“I respect the right of the Indonesian government to make decisions about its trade,” Joyce said.

The Indonesian government has already suspended military ties, co-operation on people smuggling and intelligence sharing after allegations were revealed that Australia had targeted the mobile phones of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, his wife and inner circle.

The comments come in the lead-up to Indonesia's presidential election in July 2014.

Australian producers have been working hard to build the numbers of live export cattle after the Labor government’s ban, which resulted from a Four Corners program showing cruelty in Indonesian abattoirs.

Soon after the spying allegations broke, government ministers raised the potential effect on the cattle trade while Australian industry players worked to calm local fears of a backlash.

The chairman of Indonesian chamber of commerce and industry Kadin, Suryo Bambang Sulisto, also quoted in the Post, warned the Indonesian government against making business decisions that might disrupt long-established, mutually beneficial economic relations.

“The government needs to be careful about [making] any decisions that could affect the business sector; it needs to thoroughly assess the benefits and disadvantages. We do not want this issue to negatively affect investment flows or other business aspects,” Suryo said.

The president of the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association, David Warriner, said Indonesia was entering a tumultuous period in the lead-up to the election.

“We have made representations in one way or another, but Indonesia is entering a tumultuous time,” Warriner said.

“At this stage trade is continuing normally and we are coming into a very busy time. Trade is back to what it was three to four years ago and there are a lot of cattle going out. Now we are working on improving the supply chain issues as there have been delays in shipping, which is nothing to do with animal welfare.”