Alexander Downer issues asylum seeker warning as Tony Abbott heads to Jakarta

Updated

Former foreign minister Alexander Downer has cautioned the Abbott government that it will be "no easy task" to bring back the Howard government's asylum seeker policies.

Tony Abbott will this afternoon touch down in Jakarta for his first overseas trip as Prime Minister, and Mr Downer has urged him to settle the contentious issue of turning back asylum seeker boats to Indonesia.

Mr Abbott and a delegation of Government ministers and business leaders will arrive in the Indonesian capital this afternoon in the shadow of the latest boat tragedy, in which as many as 50 people drowned off the south Java coast as they tried to reach Australia last week.

The Government is emphasising trade and investment with Indonesia ahead of tonight's bilateral meeting with president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, however the asylum seeker issue will also be addressed and is likely to dominate coverage.

Mr Downer, who was foreign minister under John Howard, says "there's no point sweeping under the carpet the issue of boats".

"I think it's important that decisive action be taken quickly to close this trade," Mr Downer told Sky News.

"The Coalition has proposed going back to the Howard government policy of turning back the boats, which was certainly successful in those days.

"It'll be interesting to see what response Tony Abbott gets from the Indonesian president on this visit."

Mr Downer criticised the former Labor government for dismantling the Howard government policies of turning back asylum seeker boats and allowing the people smuggling trade to reopen.

"Now of course trying to put those policies back together again is no easy task," he said.

He said it is a "joint problem".

"It is a problem for the Indonesians as well because these are their boats that are coming; they're typically crewed by their people and they come from their ports," Mr Downer said.

"So they have a real incentive to try to crack down on this trade, just as we do."

He says the asylum seeker issue, along with the "absurd live cattle ban", needs to be settled before the Indonesian president's term ends in about 12 months.

"(Mr Yudhoyono) has been very supportive," he said.

"Maybe the next president will be very positive as well - we just don't know - but we're into the unknown once the election comes."

Last week Mr Downer said Indonesia was guilty of "pious rhetoric" over Australia's asylum seeker policies.

Abbott stresses importance of Indonesian relationship

Before flying out to Indonesia this morning, Mr Abbott stressed the importance of Australia's relationship with Indonesia.

Business leaders accompanying PM: Jennifer Westacott, Business Council of Australia

Mike Smith, ANZ

Ian Narev, Commonwealth Bank

Nicholas Moore, Macquarie Bank

Mike Wilkins, IAG

Catherine Livingstone, Telstra

Alf Moufarrige, Servcorp

Paul Ramsay, Ramsay Health

Christine Holgate, Blackmores

Greg Robinson, Newcrest Mining

Paul O’Malley, Bluescope

Ian Smith, Orica

Anthony Pratt, Visy

Steve McCann, Lend Lease

Hamish Tyrwhitt, Leighton Holdings

Lynette Mayne, Work Wear World

Malcolm Jackman, Elders

Ken Warriner, Consolidated Pastoral Company and GRM

Donald McGauchie, Australian Agricultural Company

Simon Drum, Harvest Moon

"I am very pleased to be going to Indonesia. We will be covering a range of matters because this is an important relationship and it's important to get it right at the start of this new Government," he said.

But Indonesia has made no secret of its dislike for the Coalition's policy to turn back boats and pay Indonesian villagers to become informants.

International law expert Hikmahanto Juwana, from the University of Indonesia, says one Indonesian government agency is so angry with the policies that it wants to respond by helping asylum seekers get to Australia.

"Some of the advice that the president is getting is that we should facilitate these boat people because, again, this is not our problem," he told AM.

"This is not only Indonesian problem. And we are also the victims."

Professor Hikmahanto says Mr Abbott's biggest mistake was not consulting Indonesia first.

"I think it's going to be very difficult and it will make our relations, the two countries' relations which were now very good, to become sour because of this," he said.

Professor Hikmahanto says Mr Yudhoyono has been advised to reject Mr Abbott's asylum seeker policies because he cannot support another country's policy without his parliament's approval.

Acting Opposition Leader Chris Bowen has accused Mr Abbott and Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop of having a "hamfisted approach" to dealing with Indonesia over the issue.

He says the current dispute between the two countries is of great concern.

"I'd describe it as a very serious threat to one of our most important bilateral relationships," he said.

"The Indonesian government is of one mind on this and a very clear mind and it's not as if they've only told the Liberal Party this after they're in office, they've been warning and we've been warning that this would be the case now ever since the Liberal party re-adopted the policy of turning around boats on the high seas."

Greens leader Christine Milne says it is "untenable" for Mr Abbott to "pretend that he's not going to talk with president Yudhoyono at length about his so-called plans to stop the boats".

"He put aside something like $400 million to pay Indonesians to be informants, to put bonuses on if arrests were made as a result of that information being made public," she said this morning.

"Tony Abbott now has to actually put up or admit that they were thought bubbles, ill-considered policies and that you need a much more serious engagement with Indonesia."

Live export trade on agenda

Also on the agenda during Mr Abbott's visit to Indonesia will be live cattle exports.

The trade has been on shaky ground since live exports were abruptly halted under the Gillard government following an ABC Four Corners report exposing animal cruelty in Indonesian abattoirs.

Analysis from The Drum



Sometimes politicians claim to have the refugees' best interests at heart. But there is little kindness in the cruelty,



As the Federal Government has learned, if it chooses not to speak about asylum seekers, plenty of others will step in to fill the void, Tony Abbott may have control over his ministers, but his plan to stop the boats requires cooperation from Indonesian counterparts, writes Mungo MacCallum Sometimes politicians claim to have the refugees' best interests at heart. But there is little kindness in the cruelty, writes Jeff Sparrow As the Federal Government has learned, if it chooses not to speak about asylum seekers, plenty of others will step in to fill the void, writes Paul Karp

Elders managing director Malcolm Jackman, who is travelling with Mr Abbott's business delegation, says he expects good news on the live beef trade soon.

He says the Indonesian government has been building self-sufficiency in beef, but he expects restraints on live cattle imports from Australia will be eased.

"There is quite a bit of work to be done to get everybody happy, but we are of the view that announcements of increased numbers of permits is likely occur very shortly," he said.

Senator Milne says Indonesia's intention to buy Australian land to produce beef should also be on Mr Abbott's agenda.

"The Greens oppose the sale of agricultural land in Australia to wholly owned subsidiaries of foreign governments," she said.

"It is not in our interests to abandon trade and instead sell off our land and water to other countries."

Meanwhile, the search will resume later today for up to 50 people still missing from last week's fatal people smuggling operation.

More than 30 people, including many children, are so far confirmed dead after their boat sank just 50 metres off the south Java coast in rough seas.

Local authorities have again been implicated as playing a key role in getting the passengers to the boat.

Topics: foreign-affairs, government-and-politics, refugees, immigration, federal-elections, australia, indonesia

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