Australia, Indonesia agree to sign new security treaty

Australia and Indonesia agreed on Wednesday to sign a new security treaty, which includes closer military cooperation, the two countries' leaders said following talks in Sydney.

Canberra has drawn ever nearer to longtime ally Washington, bolstering its military in an attempt to deter the might of a rising China in the Asia-Pacific region.

Jakarta has walked a more neutral path, wary of drawing too close to Washington and far less willing to needle Beijing.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, speaking alongside President Prabowo Subianto at a Royal Australian Navy Base in Sydney, said they had "just substantively concluded negotiations on a new bilateral treaty on our common security".

"This treaty is a recognition from both our nations that the best way to secure... peace and stability is by acting together," Albanese told reporters.

The Australian leader said he hoped to visit Indonesia next year to sign the new treaty.

He said the agreement builds on a bilateral defence pact signed in 2024, which pledged closer cooperation in the contested Asia-Pacific region and included provisions for each military operating in the other country.

The new agreement will commit the two countries to "consult at a leader and ministerial level, on a regular basis on matters of security", Albanese said.

It will also facilitate "mutually beneficial security activities, and if either or both countries' security is threatened, to consult and consider what measures may be taken, either individually or jointly, to deal with those threats," he said.

Prabowo said the deal committed the two countries to "close cooperation in the defence and security field".

"We cannot choose our neighbours... especially countries like us," he said.

"Good neighbours will help each other in times of difficulties," he added.