Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop

DILI – Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop arrived in Dili and will meet leaders in Timor - Leste especially the new government.

“I will visit Timor-Leste, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia from 29 July to 7 August, to reaffirm Australia’s commitment to remaining a leading partner to our regional neighbours in Southeast Asia,” she said in a press statement.  

In Dili, she will meet the leaders of the new Timor-Leste Government.

“We will discuss deepening our cooperation in security, development and the economy opening a new chapter in the Australia-Timor-Leste relationship, and following the signing of a treaty establishing our permanent maritime boundaries”.

My visit to Malaysia will be the first Ministerial visit following Malaysia’s historic general election on 9 May, which saw the first change in government since Malaysia’s independence in 1957. I look forward to engaging senior members of the new government and building on our Strategic Partnership announced in 2015, reflecting our close collaboration and shared strategic perspectives on regional and global affairs.

In Singapore, I will attend the East Asia Summit, ASEAN Regional Forum and Australia-ASEAN Ministerial Meeting. The meetings are an important opportunity to demonstrate Australia’s strong support for ASEAN and its role in promoting peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region. Our discussions will build on the historic ASEAN-Australia Special Summit hosted in Sydney in March 2018. I look forward to meeting with my Singaporean counterpart.

I will visit Indonesia to co-chair with Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi the Bali Process Ministerial Conference on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime. This meeting provides an opportunity to boost practical cooperation between our regional partners, civil society and the private sector to end the scourge of human trafficking, modern slavery and forced labour.

I will also officially open the Australian Consulate-General in Surabaya. It is Australia’s fourth diplomatic mission in Indonesia and part of our priority for deeper engagement with our neighbours, as outlined in the Turnbull Government’s Foreign Policy White Paper released last year. Our Consulate in Surabaya, Indonesia’s second largest city, will strengthen our trade and investment links with Indonesia.