George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

A serious question for a change! Thank you, Senator Fawcett. On the weekend, together with the Minister for Justice, Mr Keenan, I hosted the fourth meeting of the Australia-Indonesia Ministerial Council on Law and Security in Brisbane. We were honoured to welcome the Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, General Wiranto, the Indonesian Minister of Law and Human Rights, Dr Laoly, and their very senior delegation. Participants also included the leaders of our key national security agencies, including ASIO, the Australian Federal Police, AUSTRAC, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission and others, along with their Indonesian counterparts. It was the most senior Indonesian delegation to visit Australia since President Widodo visited much earlier this year.

Since its establishment in December 2015 the ministerial council has become an integral component of the Australia-Indonesia relationship. It's the principal piece of bilateral architecture between Indonesia and Australia for cooperation on national security issues of mutual concern. With the rise of global terrorism—including its presence within our region and here at home, the threat of the return to our region of foreign fighters and such issues as international criminal syndicates—close practical cooperation between Australia and Indonesia is crucial to community safety in both countries and beyond. Our talks over the weekend focused on that practical cooperation in responding to current regional security threats, countering terrorism financing, countering violent extremism and preventing deradicalisation as well as such issues as cybersecurity, including encryption and broader law, justice and security cooperation.