Speech delivered on 12 November 2025 at Admiralty House, Sydney.

Selamat Siam.

I acknowledge the Cammeraygal people as traditional owners of the land we are gathered on, Sydney.  

[Brenden Kerin – Welcome to Country]

I pay my respects to elders, past and present.

Acknowledgements

• His Excellency Prabowo Subianto, President of the Republic of Indonesia
• The Honourable Margaret Beazley AC KC, Governor of New South Wales, and her husband, Mr Dennis Wilson
• His Excellency Airlangga Hartarto Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs
• His Excellency Djamari Chaniago Coordinating Minister for Political, Security Affairs  
• His Excellency Sugiono Minister for Foreign Affairs, Minister for Economic Affairs
• His Excellency Bree-an Yuliarto, ⁠Minister for Higher Education, Science and Technology
• His Excellency Rosan Roeslani, Minister for Investment
• His Excellency Teddy Indra Wijaya, Cabinet Secretary
• Donny Ermawan, Vice Minister for Defence  
• And members of the Indonesians Parliamentary Service
• Her Excellency Betty Pavlich, The Dean of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassador of Croatia
• His Excellency Siswo Pramono, Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia
• Mr Rob Brazier, Australian Ambassador to Indonesia  
• Members of the Diplomatic Corps  
• The Hon Michael McCormack MP, Deputy Chair of Standing Committee on Industry, Innovation and Science, Representing the Hon. Sussan Ley MP, Leader of the Opposition, the Honourable Richard Marles MP, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, Senator the Hon Penny Wong, Foreign Minister, the Honourable Chris Bowen MP, Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Parliamentarians and departmental secretaries  
• Admiral David Johnston AC RAN, Chief of the Australian Defence Force  
• Distinguished guests 

Atas nama pemerintah dan rakyat Australia – selamat siang dan selamat datang di Australia; Yang Mulia Prabowo Subianto, Presiden Republik Indonesia.

[On behalf of the Australian Government, and the Australian people, good afternoon and welcome to Australia, The Honourable Prabowo Subianto, President of the Republic of Indonesia].

Tidak ada negara yang lebih penting bagi Australia daripada Indonesia.  

[There is no more important country for Australia than Indonesia.] 

In the early 1980s, I was an enthusiastic student of Bahasa Indonesia at the Australian National University.

It has been many years since I have practiced my speaking skills, so thank you for being such a patient and generous audience.  

President Prabowo, I am honoured to welcome you to Sydney, and so pleased that you are visiting Australia at this beautiful time of year.  

It has also been an important week for Australians – just yesterday we commemorated Remembrance Day at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.

Your visit is an opportunity for us to explore, celebrate and deepen the bonds of friendship between our countries which have existed for many hundreds of years.

From the 18th century trade between the Makassar from the Island of Sulawesi and the Yolŋu of Arnhem Land, to our modern dynamic relationship today, Australia and Indonesia share unbreakable bonds.  

Not far from here, on the coast south of Sydney, is Bundanon, an art museum bequeathed to the nation by one of our greatest painters Arthur Boyd.  

Part of the museum’s collection is an artist book of prints created by Boyd with Indonesian artist Indra Diegan in 1993, and based on the Indonesian folk tale Sangkuriang, from West Java.

This was in the same year Arthur Boyd gifted Bundanon to the Australian people.  

It is a remarkably beautiful rendering of the tale, and only one example of the countless ways in which our cultures and people are entwined.

In September, I had the opportunity to invest Emeritus Professor Anthony Johns AM, a leading scholar in the fields of Islamic and Southeast Asian studies with his insignia as a Member of the Order of Australia.  

Professor Johns and his wife, Yohanni Johns OAM, made a lifetime contribution to the study of Indonesian language and literature in Australia, and represent the generations of Australians who have built bridges of friendship, scholarship and cultural connection between our countries. It was Mrs Johns who taught me Bahasa Indonesia at the ANU.  

My predecessor and your good friend, General David Hurley, was proud to celebrate your friendship and connection dating to your time on exchange to, RMC-Duntroon. My father also was a graduate of RMC in 1955.

As Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief, I am delighted that our defence ties continue to flourish today through ongoing exchanges and the Australia–Indonesia Defence Cooperation Agreement, which you championed as Defence Minister.

I saw this myself at Exercise Talisman Sabre in July, to which Indonesian defence personnel made an important contribution along with partners from countries around the world.

In a complex global context of challenge and change, which we feel acutely in our region, we are working together towards the stability, security and prosperity of our countries, and in support of the rules-based order.

And, as Australia and Indonesia know so well, economic progress in a dynamic region relies on the kind of partnership we celebrate through our bilateral trade agreement, IA-CEPA, which has almost tripled our two-way trade since 2020.

Australia’s recent Southeast Asia economic strategy, so perceptively titled Invested, is an ambitious and innovative document driving an enhanced economic relationship and opportunities for our business communities.

And I know that, as Business Champion to Indonesia and Chancellor of Western Sydney University, my good friend Professor Jennifer Westacott AC -- who played a significant role as a member of the Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce, which I chaired -- is working hard to promote the commercial opportunities that are so abundant in our shared economic interests. In fact, she is in Indonesia today doing just that.  

So many of the deep, personal relationships we celebrate today were born out of education exchanges that bring our young people together to listen and to learn from one another.

Through the Australia Awards scholarship program, we have built a foundation to nurture and expand those relationships long into the future.

In 2024, Australia and Indonesia celebrated 75 years of diplomatic relations.

In 2025 we enter another era, embedded in the history of those 75 years, and full of the potential for ongoing progress born of the strong ties we have built through the generations.  

President Prabowo, thank you for joining us here today, you are so welcome in Australia.

Atas nama rakyat Australia, saya berharap kunjungan Bapak Presiden sukses. Terima kasih.  

[On behalf of the Australian people, I wish you every success for your visit. Thank you.] 

END