Australian leader visits Indonesia seeking deeper economic and defense ties

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Australia’s newly reelected Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto on Thursday in a visit aiming to strengthen his country’s economic and defense ties with its closest major neighbor.

Albanese arrived in the capital, Jakarta, on Wednesday evening, a day after his new government was sworn in to a second three-year term following an emphatic election victory May 3.

“I am here in Indonesia because no relationship is more important to Australia than this one,” Albanese said in a joint press statement with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto after a meeting,

Albanese did not comment on media reports that Russia had told Indonesia it wants to base its long-range warplanes in Papua, the most eastern Indonesian province, a plan that was raised as a security issue during the Australian election campaign. Indonesia has told Australia that no such Russian base would be allowed.

“This is the fastest growing region of the world in human history and Indonesia is central to that growth,” Albanese said, adding that Indonesia is projected to be the fifth largest economy by the end of the next decade.

Subianto praised Australia's support for Indonesia to become member of The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Newly elected Australian prime ministers typically make their first bilateral visit to Asia, usually Indonesia.

In his first visit to Indonesia after his inauguration in 2022, Albanese also visited Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi province with close ties to Indigenous Australians.

Given their geographical proximity, Indonesia and Australia have traditionally maintained close ties with each other, including in matters of security and defense, despite the fact that each country has chosen to respond differently to the rivalry between the U.S. and China in the region.

The two neighbors last year signed a historic Defense Cooperation Agreement, or DCA, that will allow more complex joint activities and exercises. Canberra hailed the agreement as the “deepest and most significant” defense deal in the two countries’ bilateral ties.

“This is how we can build our shared prosperity and advance our national and regional security,” Albanese said, “This treaty-level agreement, underpinned by the Lombok Treaty, will enable new cooperation in maritime security, counterterrorism, as well as humanitarian and disaster relief.”

Albanese will head on to Rome on Friday morning to attend the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV on Sunday.

Associated Press writer Rod McGuirk in Melbourne contributed to this report.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, second right, and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, right, stand during a ceremonial welcome before their meeting at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Riders on horseback arrive for a ceremonial welcome for Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, left, and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto shake hands before their meeting at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, right, walks with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, center, while inspecting a honor guard before their meeting at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, center, walks with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto while inspecting a honor guard before their meeting at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

RHO, Italy (AP) — No ice is colder and harder than speedskating ice. The precision it takes has meant that Olympic speedskaters have never competed for gold on a temporary indoor rink – until the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.

In the pursuit of maximum glide and minimum friction, Olympic officials brought on ice master Mark Messer, a veteran of six previous Olympic speedskating tracks and the ice technician in charge of the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Canada — one of the fastest tracks in the world with over 300 records.

Messer has been putting that experience to work one thin layer of ice at a time since the end of October at the new Speed Skating Stadium, built inside adjacent trade fair halls in the city of Rho just north of Milan.

“It’s one of the biggest challenges I’ve had in icemaking,’’ Messer said during an interview less than two weeks into the process.

If Goldilocks were a speedskater, hockey ice would be medium hard, for fast puck movement and sharp turns. Figure skating ice would be softer, allowing push off for jumps and so the ice doesn’t shatter on landing. Curling ice is the softest and warmest of all, for controlled sliding.

For speedskating ice to be just right, it must be hard, cold and clean. And very, very smooth.

“The blades are so sharp, that if there is some dirt, the blade will lose the edge,’’ Messer said, and the skater will lose speed.

Speedskater Enrico Fabris, who won two Olympic golds in Turin in 2006, has traded in his skates to be deputy sports manager at the speedskating venue in Rho. For him, perfect ice means the conditions are the same for all skaters — and then if it's fast ice, so much the better.

"It's more of a pleasure to skate on this ice,'' he said.

Messer’s first Olympics were in Calgary in 1988 — the first time speedskating was held indoors. “That gave us some advantages because we didn’t have to worry about the weather, wind blowing or rain,’’ he said. Now he is upping the challenge by becoming the first ice master to build a temporary rink for the Olympics.

Before Messer arrived in Italy, workers spent weeks setting up insulation to level the floor and then a network of pipes and rubber tubes that carry glycol — an antifreeze — that is brought down to minus 7 or minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 to 19.4 degrees Fahrenheit) to make the ice.

Water is run through a purification system — but it can’t be too pure, or the ice that forms will be too brittle. Just the right amount of impurities “holds the ice together,’’ Messer said.

The first layers of water are applied slowly, with a spray nozzle; after the ice reaches a few centimeters it is painted white — a full day’s work — and the stripes are added to make lanes.

“The first one takes about 45 minutes. And then as soon as it freezes, we go back and do it again, and again and again. So we do it hundreds of times,’’ Messer said.

As the ice gets thicker, and is more stable, workers apply subsequent layers of water with hoses. Messer attaches his hose to hockey sticks for easier spreading.

What must absolutely be avoided is dirt, dust or frost — all of which can cause friction for the skaters, slowing them down. The goal is that when the skaters push “they can go as far as possible with the least amount of effort,’’ Messer said.

The Zamboni ice resurfacing machine plays a key role in keeping the track clean, cutting off a layer and spraying water to make a new surface.

One challenge is gauging how quickly the water from the resurfacing machine freezes in the temporary rink.

Another is getting the ice to the right thickness so that the Zamboni, weighing in at six tons, doesn’t shift the insulation, rubber tubing or ice itself.

“When you drive that out, if there’s anything moving it will move. We don’t want that,’’ Messer said.

The rink got its first big test on Nov. 29-30 during a Junior World Cup event. In a permanent rink, test events are usually held a year before the Olympics, leaving more time for adjustments. “We have a very small window to learn,’’ Messer acknowledged.

Dutch speedskater Kayo Vos, who won the men’s neo-senior 1,000 meters, said the ice was a little soft — but Messer didn’t seem too concerned.

“We went very modest to start, now we can start to change the temperatures and try to make it faster and still maintain it as a safe ice,’’ he said.

Fine-tuning the air temperature and humidity and ice temperature must be done methodically — taking into account that there will be 6,000 spectators in the venue for each event. The next real test will be on Jan. 31, when the Olympians take to the ice for their first training session.

“Eighty percent of the work is done but the hardest part is the last 20 percent, where we have to try to find the values and the way of running the equipment so all the skaters get the same conditions and all the skaters get the best conditions,’’ Messer said.

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Serpentines are set on the ice of the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Workers clean the ice surface during a peed skating Junior World Cup and Olympic test event, in Rho, near Milan, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)