NEW RI ENVOY TO AUSTRALIA, VANUATU PRESENTS CREDENTIALS

Brisbane, March 27 (ANTARA) - Primo Alui Joelianto, Indonesia's new ambassador to Australia and Vanuatu, presented his credentials to Australian Governor General Quentin Bryce represented by New South Wales (NSW) Governor Marie Bashir in Canberra on Thursday.

Governor General Quentin Bryce was visiting Africa and had appointed NSW Governor Marie Bashir to represent him, Samsu Rizal, Minister Counselor for Politics at the Indonesian embassy in Canberra, said on Thursday.
Among those present in the ceremony at Government House in Canberra was David Ritchie, the current deputy secretary of the Australian Foreign Affairs and Trade Department and a former Australian Ambassador to Indonesia (2002-2005), he said.
Ambassador Primo A Joelianto arrived in Canberra on February 15, 2009. Before his posting in Canberra to succeed Ambassador Hamzah Thayeb, Joelianto was the foreign ministry's director general for Asian, Pacific and African affairs (2006-2008) and a former ambassador to New Zealand.
Indonesia and Australia have sound bilateral relations so far. The two neighboring countries among other things signed a security agreement known as the Lombok Treaty on November 13, 2006.