Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi’s late-night flurry of angry text messages to Australian counterpart Marise Payne was the first direct contact between the two over the Morrison government’s controversial Jerusalem announcement.
Extraordinary exchanges in a Senate estimates hearing on Thursday morning have also revealed the government decided to announce its review of Australia’s stances on Jerusalem and the Iran nuclear deal without consulting a single official from the departments of Foreign Affairs, Defence or Prime Minister and Cabinet.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne acknowledged under questioning from Labor foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong that she had not initiated contact herself with Ms Marsudi.
Read the article by David Wroe at The Sydney Morning Herald.