For a few hours on Tuesday afternoon, it seemed just possible the Russians might be sending their planes to a base very near us.
Author
- Michelle Grattan
Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
A claim on the military and intelligence site Janes that said the Russians were seeking to base several long range aircraft in Papua, a province of Indonesia, caused a massive flurry on the election trail.
It gave heart to Opposition Leader Peter Dutton that national security might be brought into play as an election issue.
Dutton was quick to recall how in 2022 the Labor opposition jumped on the Morrison government for apparently being caught by surprise at what was going on in the Pacific, when a security agreement between China and the Solomon Islands turned into a campaign issue.
Had the Albanese government been caught unawares?
The Janes report said: "Jakarta has received an official request from Moscow, seeking permission for Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) aircraft to be based at a facility in Indonesia's easternmost province.
"Separate sources from the Indonesian government have confirmed with Janes that the request was received by the office of Minister of Defence Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin following his meeting with Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Sergei Shoigu in February 2025.
"In the request, Russia seeks to base several long-range aircraft at the Manuhua Air Force Base, which shares a runway with the Frans Kaisiepo Airport, documents that have been presented to Janes reveal.
"The airbase is situated in Biak Numfor in the Indonesian province of Papua, and it is home to the Indonesian Air Force's Aviation Squadron 27, which operates a fleet of CN235 surveillance aircraft."
The government sought urgent clarification, while Dutton - now struggling in the polls - sought to score a quick political point without waiting for confirmation. Both government and opposition agreed on one thing, however: nobody wanted to see the Russians get such a foothold.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, "We are seeking further information, we obviously do not want to see Russian influence in our region, very clearly."
"We have a good relationship with our friends in Indonesia, and we're seeking further clarification."
Dutton said it would be "a catastrophic failure of diplomatic relations if Penny Wong and Anthony Albanese didn't have forewarning" about such a Russian move before it was made public.
"This is a very, very troubling development. The prime minister and the foreign affairs minister should have the depth of relationship with Indonesia to have had forewarning of this," Dutton said.
"My message to President Putin is that he's not welcome in our neighbourhood. We don't share any values with President Putin, and we do not want a presence, a military presence, from Russia in our region, which would be destabilising for south-east Asia."
Late Tuesday, the air went out of the balloon.
In a statement Defence Minister Richard Marles said, "I have spoken to my counterpart, HE Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin the Minister for Defence, and he has said to me in the clearest possible terms, reports of the prospect of Russian aircraft operating from Indonesia are simply not true".
Earlier Marles said that last year Australia signed a defence cooperation agreement with Indonesia, "which really is the deepest level defence agreement we've ever had with Indonesia".
"We are seeing increasing cooperation between Australia and Indonesia at a defence level."
Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
