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The
Indonesian Foreign Minister, H.E. Dr. N. Hassan Wirajuda,
visited Australia on 20 - 25 August 2003 at the invitation
of the Australian Government, with his visit primarily
aimed at pushing for closer ties between Indonesia and
Australia.
On his visit to Canberra on 21 - 22 August,
Minister Wirajuda met with the Prime Minister Mr. John
Howard and the Foreign Minister Mr. Alexander Downer to
specifically discuss on the issue of the war against terrorism.
He also met with some senior Ministers of the Australian
government i.e. the Treasurer Mr. Peter Costello, the
Minister for Trade Mr. Mark Vaile, and the Defence Minister
Senator Robert Hill, to have wide-ranging discussions
about the ways and means of improving bilateral ties between
the two neighbouring countries.
On the issue of the war against terrorism,
Minister Wirajuda and Alexander Downer agreed that Indonesia
and Australia will co-host a summit on counter-terrorism
early next year, which is planned to be held in Bali.
Before his meeting with the Australian
government, earlier in the morning, Mr Wirajuda had a
breakfast meeting with leading Indonesia specialists from
the Australian National University, such as Harold Crouch,
Hal Hill, Virginia Hooker, Ross McLeod, Chris Manning,
George Quinn, Madeleine Reeve and Clive Williams. Joined
by Mrs Wirajuda, Charge d'Affaires Ad Interim Mr Imron
Cotan and Mrs Cotan, Minister Wirajuda then visited the
National Gallery of Australia to view the popular exhibition
'Sari to Sarong: Five hundred years of Indian and Indonesian
textile exchange'.
To add to what was a very busy Canberra
schedule, Minister Wirajuda in the afternoon signed a
plaque to commemorate the addition of extensions to the
meeting and entertainment hall of the Embassy (known as
'Balai Kartini), and also had a meeting with the Embassy's
staff to deliver a briefing. Afterwards, he visited the
site (in a building now occupied by the National Archives
of Australia) of Indonesia's first official representative
office in Australia, where the director of National Archives
of Australia, Mr. Ross Gibb, handed over some important
documents about the history of Indonesia's first official
site at the building.
Following the Canberra visit, the Minister travelled to
Melbourne on 22 August to address his speech at a luncheon
tendered by the Asia Society AustralAsia Centre, where
he said among other things that the fight against terrorism
had helped overcome setbacks to relations between Indonesia
and Australia after the East Timor crisis.
Some photos of the Minister's visit to
Canberra appear hereunder.
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