"The worst we can do is to take this partnership for granted," Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono declared more than six years ago, when he became the first Indonesian president to address Australia's Parliament in 2010.
"We have to continue to earn each other's trust, for trust is at the heart of our bilateral relations."
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Indonesia suspends military ties with Australia
Military co-operation between Australia and Indonesia has been suspended temporarily for "technical reasons", according to Indonesia's military spokesman Major-General Wuryanto. Vision courtesy Ten Eyewitness News.
What Yudhoyono didn't know when he uttered this warning was that, just a few months earlier, that trust was breached when Australia attempted to bug his, his wife's and several of his most senior colleagues' mobile phones.
The reaction, when the story was broken in 2013 by the ABC and Guardian Australia after being leaked by Edward Snowden, was swift and emphatic, with Yudhoyono recalling his ambassador and placing all military and intelligence co-operation on hold.
What compounded the sense of betrayal was the response of then prime minister, Tony Abbott, whose initial statement to Parliament was directed more at the domestic audience than the aggrieved friend and ally.
After making it plain that no admissions or apology would be forthcoming, Abbott expressed his regard for Indonesia and its president and declared: "I sincerely regret any embarrassment that recent media reports have caused him."
The contrast between that sorry episode and the latest fissure could hardly be more stark. This time, the source, or sources, of irritation appear to be less serious and the Australian response less likely to make matters worse.
Wisely, after the suspension of military cooperation was announced by Indonesia's military spokesman in Major-General Wuryanto, Malcolm Turnbull left it to Defence Minister Marise Payne to talk on Australia's behalf until President Widodo made his remarks.
![Defence Minister Marise Payne holds a press conference in Sydney after Indonesia ceased all military operations with ...](/web/20170107193346im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/m/d/g/d/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtmmww.png/1483617581011.jpg)
While several questions remain unanswered, Payne's measured, respectful and assured response invites confidence that any hurt damage can be contained and undone reasonably quickly.
As Payne explained it, concerns were raised by an Indonesian officer who was participating in a language training activity in Western Australia late last year; those concerns were raised with the Australian Defence Force and taken seriously; prompting an inquiry that will soon be complete.
What is not yet clear is whether there is more to it, and whether the decision of the Indonesian military to escalate the issue was driven by domestic political motives.
But the stakes are clear. With a push under way for a more fundamentalist, unforgiving interpretation of Islam across the Indonesian archipelago, this is not the time for a breach of trust and a more distant relationship.
If Australia's resettlement deal with the United States is finally going to end the misery of those on Manus Island and Nauru, Indonesian co-operation in combating people smuggling is similarly more important than ever.
Back in 2010, Yudhoyono lamented that the most persistent problem in Australian-Indonesian relations was the persistence of age-old stereotypesâ"misleading, simplistic mental caricature that depicts the other side in a bad light".
"Even in the age of cable television and internet, there are Australians who still see Indonesia as an authoritarian country, as a military dictatorship, as a hotbed of Islamic extremism or even as an expansionist power," he said.
"On the other hand, in Indonesia there are people who remain afflicted with Australiaphobiaâ those who believe that the notion of White Australia still persists, that Australia harbours ill-intention towards Indonesia and is either sympathetic to or supports separatist elements in our country."
He was right then. Sadly, he is right now.