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

Yes, I can. As General Wiranto stressed yesterday, the close partnership between Australia and Indonesia through the ministerial council has resulted in a further element of cooperation on security issues—namely, the subregional ministerial meetings on security issues, the genesis of which was our ministerial council and the first of which was inaugurated in Manado in Northern Sulawesi in July. The Manado subregional meeting, co-hosted by Australia and Indonesia, also brought together ministers from the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and New Zealand to focus on foreign terrorist fighter and cross-border terrorism issues, specifically in the context of the terrorist threat in the southern Philippines, evident most particularly in Marawi. As General Wiranto said, the Manado meeting resulted in concrete steps to address issues related to terrorism and deradicalisation to assist the Philippines in addressing the issues in Marawi.