Albanese refuses to spout ‘Russian propaganda’, but questions remain on Indonesian base request

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has stressed he will not promote “Russian propaganda” while denying his Government is underplaying reports Moscow requested access to an Indonesia Air Force base 1,300km north of Darwin.

Russia’s alleged moves on Australia’s doorstep became a wildcard election issue last week when respected defence journal Janes reported Moscow asked Jakarta to station “long range” military aircraft at the Manuhua Air Force Base in the province of Papua.

The Coalition is ramping up pressure on Labor to reveal what it knew and when about the reported proposal but the Government and Indonesian authorities have only confirmed Russian warplanes will not enter the base, not whether a request was made.

Russia’s ambassador to Jakarta, Sergei Tolchenov, added fuel to the fire on Sunday by accusing both sides of playing the “so-called Russia card” in the election.

“You have no cards,” he added.

“It is clear that the leaders of the two main political parties, replacing each other in power and calling it democracy, are now trying to outdo each other, heating up the situation,” he said in a letter to the Jakarta Post.

Mr Tolchenov said it was hard to imagine that ordinary Australians would be concerned about bilateral relations between two sovereign states, charging that regional stability was more likely to be challenged by the deployment of US forces to the region.

“Particularly alarming are the plans to deploy the US’s intermediate-range missiles in Australia, as well as the acquisition by the Royal Australian Navy of nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS trilateral partnership,” he wrote.

Defence experts have warned that even if Russia were to deploy its military assets on a rotational basis in Indonesia that it would compromise Australia’s national security and raise the risk of joint Russian-Chinese intelligence gathering operations.

However, the Prime Minister on Monday denied his Government was talking down the seriousness of Russia’s ambitions to expand in the region.

“Russia wants propaganda to be promoted by Australians. Of course, they want propaganda and Russia engages in that,” he told a press conference on the election trail in Batemans Bay.

“I have no wish to help promote Russia’s propaganda messages and I’d suggest that that’s not in Australia’s national interest either,” he said.

Mr Albanese sought to turn the tables back on the Coalition’s misstep after Opposition Leader Peter Dutton was forced to concede last week that he had made a “mistake” by stating the Indonesian President had confirmed the Russian request when he had not.

“The Indonesian President didn’t make a statement. What has occurred here is that the alternative Prime Minister of Australia has verballed the president of one of our most important neighbours,” he said, referring to Mr Dutton.

The Prime Minister repeated Labor’s refusal to brief the Coalition on something that doesn’t exist.

But Mr Albanese dodged several questions asking for clarity about whether Moscow did approach Jakarta about stationing its warplanes on Indonesian territory.

Employment Minister Murray Watt muddied the waters on Sunday when he told Sky News that “there is no proposal from Russia to have a base anywhere in Indonesia,” in a statement that put him at odds with the Government line.

Asked if his minister misspoke, Mr Albanese deflected again to Mr Dutton’s error about the Indonesian president.

“They raise issues about briefings. I’m waiting for them to ask for a briefing on who faked the moon landing,” he said.