Asia | Australia and Indonesia

Boats, cows and grass

Trying to move relations beyond the old bugbears

Oct 3rd 2013|NUSA DUA, BALI

IN HIS election campaign Tony Abbott, Australia’s new prime minister, promised “more Jakarta” (focus on Asia and bilateral ties) and “less Geneva” (historic Western links, multilateral bodies). So it was important that he fulfilled his promise to make his first foreign trip in office to Indonesia, Australia’s closest neighbour. He also probably needed to do so before attending the annual meeting of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation group in Bali on October 7th-8th. Of all multilateral talking-shops, APEC struggles most to justify its existence.

This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Boats, cows and grass”