Australia’s new PM Albanese may mean a new chapter with Indonesia, Malaysia

Anthony Albanese met international students and learned about marginalised people at university in 1980s, where he was active in Labor politics; such experiences could help inform his foreign policy

He’s talked about Indonesia as ‘future superpower’ but different approaches to US-China competition in region may test relationship with Jakarta

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Australia’s new Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, during talks in Japan on Monday. Photo: Kyodo

Published: 7:45am, 25 May 2022

Anthony Albanese’s victory in Australia’s federal election may lead to stronger links with Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur, analysts say, although they cautioned that there were major challenges facing the new prime minister.

He remarked not long before the election that it was important to grow ties with Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, which he dubbed a “future superpower”.

Albanese, whose victory on Saturday ended a decade in power for his country’s conservative parties, has also previously been quoted as saying he hopes to strengthen Australia’s bilateral relationship with Indonesia.

The Australian Labor Party leader has said his first international trip as prime minister after Tuesday’s Quad meeting in Tokyo would be to Jakarta.

Australia’s new Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese. The son of a single mother, Albanese had a humble start to life. Photo: via AP

Albanese has also said he visited Indonesia “more than any other country” while a government minister, while his first overseas trip after becoming opposition leader in 2019 was to Indonesia.

“Indonesia will grow to be an economy that’s substantial in the world,” Albanese said last week, before winning the election. “We live in a region whereby in the future, we will have China, India, and Indonesia as giants. We need to strengthen that economic partnership.”