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LINKS - Tony Abbott (West Papua, Indonesia)


Mr Abbott today insisted the activists left of their own accord after a “lengthy discussion” and warned Australia would not be party to protests aimed at undermining Indonesia's authority over West Papua.
“We have a very strong relationship with Indonesia and we are not going to give people a platform to grandstand against Indonesia,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the APEC summit.
“And people seeking to grandstand against Indonesia, please, don't look to do it in Australia. You are not welcome.” (The Australian, 07 Oct 2013)


As a very early sign of good faith to the Indonesians, I had West Papuan activists, who’d arrived in the Torres Strait claiming asylum, quietly returned to Papua New Guinea. A protest boat seeking to sail from Australia to Indonesian West Papua was prevailed upon never to leave. Quite rightly, the Indonesians regarded vessels leaving Australia for Indonesia without lawful purpose as an affront to their sovereignty—and that exactly matched my government’s attitude to vessels bound for Australia in defiance of our law. [Quadrant, April 2016]