indonesian response to deteriorating situation, page-244

I disagree

It is a strategic comparison here between:

1/ A country with a large population (generally poor)
versus
2/ A country of massive land with plenty of potential and the wildcard will be whether Australia is able to harness its resources - agricultural, mining and scientific - the latter being an area that I believe we need to foster.

Strategically, 2 trumps 1.

By analogy, as has been stated by others, China is many multiples more important to Australia than Indonesia.