Quiet diplomacy? Albanese's post-victory call caught on camera
When Albanese spoke to Prabowo following his election victory, Albanese informed the media that they had enjoyed a friendly conversation and that he would make Jakarta his first overseas destination for his second term.
Prabowo's team, meanwhile, released a minute-long video of their conversation, accompanied by the dreamy Alphaville song Forever Young. This follows a similar move in November when Prabowo released a video of his congratulatory phone call with Donald Trump in which he lavished praise on the president-elect and expressed his desire to travel to Washington as soon as possible.
It's a departure from the convention followed by most world leaders, who prefer to keep their conversations private. A sanitised summary (also known as a 'read out') of the conversation will sometimes later be released, but that's usually as far as it goes.
In the video, Prabowo applauds Albanese for his 'great victory', saying he was 'so happy' to see him re-elected.
'I have a request for you, and I want you to say yes,' Albanese replies with a laugh.
'Which is: I want Indonesia to be my first visit. Not Washington, not Beijing, not anywhere else.'
The video then shows the leaders getting into the details, with Albanese proposing 'Monday week' as a good date if that suits Prabowo's schedule.
'I want to send a message to the world my friend: Australia and Indonesia is an unbreakable bond.'
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