Scott Morrison has warned Indonesia that “only Australia” will decide on the government’s potential relocation of its Israeli embassy to Jerusalem.
But the Prime Minister also left the door open to a change of heart, noting that “no decision” had been made.
Mr Morrison’s comments followed the extraordinary intervention of Malcom Turnbull, who warned from Bali on Monday that the world’s largest Muslim nation, Indonesia, would be angered by the plan to move the Australian embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
“Australia will always make our decisions on our foreign policy based on our interests and will do that as a sovereign nation,” the Prime Minister told reporters Tuesday.
“My views haven’t changed. We will follow a proper process before making any decision on this matter. I stress a decision has not been made on this matter. We will follow a proper process but let me stress, Australia decides what our foreign policy is and only Australia,” he added.
“We will listen to others, but Australia will always make decisions about our foreign policy on our terms and in our interests.”
Asked if Mr Turnbull’s comments had undermined him, the Prime Minister offered a one word answer: “No.”
Mr Turnbull delivered on predictions that the decision to send him to Bali to represent Australia was “pretty wild” by publicly rebuking the Mr Morrison’s Israeli embassy plan.
Mr Turnbull publicly contradicted the government after a meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Bali, where he was representing Australia at the personal request of the Prime Minister.
Read the article by Samantha Maiden in The New Daily.