Ross Taylor: Insulting visa requirements hold Indonesia relationship back

With Australians fixated by the uproar following the second Ashes cricket test, and the breath-taking wait for the RBA’s official interest rate decision, it probably wasn’t the best time for Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo to fly into Sydney to meet Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last Monday and Tuesday.

After all, for years Indonesian and Australian leaders have been meeting to shake hands while declaring that despite the bilateral relationship being “underdone”, there was “huge potential” for our two countries to build closer business, trade and people links with each other, but with very little progress being made.