Portfolio — 13 July 2026

The Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Mr Thistlethwaite, is travelling to Indonesia to advance the Australia-Indonesia bilateral relationship on both diplomatic and economic fronts [TA-260712-dfat-371e695a2745]. The centrepiece of the Jakarta visit is the launch of a new phase of Katalis, the Australia-Indonesia economic cooperation programme, which is designed to maximise business gains flowing from the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement [TA-260712-dfat-371e695a2745].

Meetings with Indonesian ministerial counterparts and business leaders will also cover how the current General Review of IA-CEPA can deliver further market access and regulatory improvements for both countries — a signal that the government regards the agreement as a live instrument requiring active management rather than a settled baseline [TA-260712-dfat-371e695a2745].

The PM media release frames the visit against the Jakarta Treaty, signed in February by the Prime Minister and President Prabowo, positioning that milestone as the political foundation on which the Katalis launch and the CEPA review negotiations now rest. The 2026-27 Budget allocation of over $33 million in new funding to strengthen institutional links — including expanding Indonesian language capability and country expertise inside Australia — provides the resourcing dimension to the diplomatic messaging, tying budget commitments directly to the stated objective of building durable bilateral depth [TA-260712-dfat-371e695a2745].

Taken together, the visit signals a deliberate effort to convert the high-level political architecture of the Jakarta Treaty into concrete economic and institutional deliverables.