Albanese dodges question on Russian request to IndonesiaAnthony Albanese has dodged questions about what the Government knew about Russia’s request to Indonesia to use one of its military airbases.The Australian reported on Monday that the Government knew in February that Russia had asked to use an Indonesian airbase to “transit” military aircraft through.By April, respected defence journal Janes reported the request had been to establish a base for Russian aircraft on Indonesian soil.The difference between these two positions prompted Defence Minister Richard Marles to urgently seek clarification with his Indonesian counterpart, after which Australia said there were no plans for a permanent base.But Mr Albanese didn’t answer a question seeking to clear this up on Monday, instead going on the attack over Peter Dutton’s reference in last night’s debate to intelligence briefings the Opposition Leader had received, warning about fears of the threat from China.“What adults do on intelligence (briefings) is receive them and not conduct it through the media,” he said.“Adults, when it comes to intelligence, act like adults. They don’t engage in seeing every international issue as a domestic political opportunity.”
