Security pact hits terrorism

Michael Harvey and Cindy Wockner

“AUSTRALIA and Indonesia have announced plans for a joint security agreement, but both sides deny it amounts to a defence alliance or military pact. They claim it is a co-operative plan to combat terrorism, trans-boundary crime, and illegal immigration. "This is not a defence alliance," Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer said. "There will be no secret treaty and this will not be a security alliance of the kind we have with the United States of America."