Australia–Indonesia relations
bilateral relations between Australia and Indonesia
Australia–Indonesia relations are the foreign relations between Australia and Indonesia. The two neighbouring countries share an extensive maritime boundary and have a history of contact predating European colonisation. In the 18th century, seafarers from Makassar, Sulawesi made regular voyages to northern Australia to collect trepang (sea cucumbers), and these trips brought them into contact with Australia's Aboriginal communities.
During Indonesia's war of independence against the Netherlands, Australian maritime unions supported the Indonesian Republic through the boycott of Dutch shipping, and the Australian government backed the Indonesian Republic diplomatically and represented it on the United Nations Security Council. Following the transfer of sovereignty from the Netherlands in December 1949, Australia formally recognised the Republic of Indonesia.
Relations afterwards alternated between cooperation and serious disputes. Concerning the territory of western New Guinea, Australia initially supported continued Dutch control. Australian forces later fought Indonesian troops during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation in the 1960s. Indonesia's invasion and occupation of East Timor became a major source of strain after 1975, although political, economic and security ties expanded under president Suharto and successive Australian prime ministers.
Relations reached a low point during the East Timor crisis in 1999, when Australia led an international force deployed after East Timor's independence referendum.
The public source identifies “Australia–Indonesia relations” as bilateral relations between Australia and Indonesia. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Australia, Indonesia and relations.
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This entry incorporates text from “Australia–Indonesia relations” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.