A phrase that has been passed around the last few months is that the relatio­nship between Australia and Indonesia is like a long marriage – there is a lot of fighting about certain issues but deep down, both countries love each other deeply. Sadly, under the current circumstances, the reality today is that the marriage is very much over and the love has been lost. It seems inconceivable to any observer that relationships between the two countries will ever be as strong as they were under former President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and past Australian Prime Ministers.

It is now sadly apparent, that Australia-Indonesian relations are at their lowest point since the East Timor crisis, and that the goodwill, friendship, respect and cooperation which was built over a wide range of policy and government areas – including joint counter-terrorism objectives, important aid and training, maritime security issues, intelligence sharing and disaster relief – has greatly deteriorated under the new leaderships in both countries.

The former Prime Minister of Australia, Tony Abbott, should share much of the blame for the current state of the relationship. His deeply hurtful comments about the aid provided by Australia following the 2004 Tsunami kicked off the Koin untuk Abbott (Coins for Abbott) campaign which was backed by mainstream Indonesian media; and had common citizens travelling to place their rupiah outside the Australian Embassy in Jakarta. The manner in which he handled the spying scandal, and also the breach of Indonesia’s maritime borders by the Royal Australian Navy ensured that the first few months of his prime ministership were fraught with damaging incidents even prior to the final weeks leading up to the execution of two of the Bali Nine.

But with the change of leadership in Australia, there is the opportunity for there to be a reset of sorts, whereby the relationship is slowly but surely reconstructed through unofficial and low level government interactions. Surely with much of the recent conflict between the two countries being tied to personal conflicts and mistakes; there is plenty of opportunity to pursue a seismic shift in how Canberra works with Jakarta.

Prime Minster Turnbull could do far worse than employ previous strategies that worked so well in building common ground with Indonesia. As has been discussed many times in recent months, a ‘track 2 diplomacy’ approach is best suited to the current situation. Rather than relying on imediate high level talks between the two nation’s leadership, this would involve leveraging the strong existing personal relationships that exist across any number of aspects of the bi-lateral relationship, rather than relying on the more official approach of high-level political meetings and talks which may not be popular with their respective electorates.

Exactly where the focus of this less formal dialogue should be is fairly obvious; counter-terrorism and national security are two areas where Australia and Indonesia have mutual objectives and whereby common ground can easily be found. Institutions such as the Australian Federal Police have been able to have long and productive relationships with their Indonesian counterparts independent of whatever storm is currently in existence between Canberra and Jakarta, and priority should be given to continuing and improving these contacts and exchanges. Continuing in this theme, perhaps a new formal intelligence sharing agreement between the two countries with a particular focus on countering the rise of Daesh would not be a bad approach, given the embarrassment for the Indonesian security services that has resulted from previous failures to communicate. Greater maritime security co-operation with a particular emphasis on anti-illegal fishing and anti-piracy measures are also areas where Australia and Indonesia can mutually benefit.

This is not to say that the new Australian leadership should not grasp the grand opportunity for new high level talks between the two countries. Prime Minister Turnbull differs greatly when compared with his predecessor on a number of issues which are important to the Indonesians. A new approach and response to global warming and renewable energies by Prime Minister Turnbull would most likely earn him new friends in Jakarta, as would toning down the rhetoric about turning back the boats which has caused much indignation within the Indonesian political sphere.

Exactly how much change will occur, given that Foreign Minister Bishop remains in her post as Australia’s foreign minister is yet to be seen, but the opportunity to improve and rebuild Australia’s relationship with one of its closest and largest neighbours should be of great priority to the new Turnbull Administration.

Edward has recently graduated from a Bachelor of Arts (Asian Studies/Government & International Relations) from the University of Sydney. He is currently a Communications Officer at AIIA NSW and an Intern at Asialink Business as well as being a General Executive with the Australia Indonesian Youth Association (AIYA) NSW.