Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister, Assistant Minister for the Public Service
The Australian and Indonesian governments reaffirmed their strong commitment to working together to protect precious water resources at the 2024 World Water Forum in Bali, Indonesia.
Both governments announced an ambitious plan for water resource projects under a Memorandum of Understanding on sustainable water resources management, signed by Minister Plibersek and Minister Suharso Monoarfa in 2023.
The renewed agreement builds upon years of collaboration under the previous MoU involving numerous projects that shared water management learnings and best practice approaches in Indonesia and Australia.
This next phase of cooperation will prioritise key areas of lake management and the development of water sensitive cities.
Both nations are taking steps to adopt water-sensitive urban design principles to prepare cities to cope with extreme water events.
Examples of projects in the agreed work plan include CSIRO’s AquaWatch pilot project in Lake Tempe, the largest lake system on the island of Sulawesi.
This project will leverage cutting-edge technology to enhance our understanding of the lake’s health and develop effective management strategies.
The Australian Government committed $83 million on World Water Day last year to expand this ‘weather service for water quality’ across Australia and with partners around the world.
Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister, Patrick Gorman represented the Prime Minister at the Forum, joining from the Republic of Indonesia, President Ir. H. Joko Widodo and Minister of Public Works and Public Housing, Dr. M. Basuki Hadimuljono, of the Republic of Indonesia in celebrating the ongoing cooperation between both countries.
Held from 18-25 May, the forum enabled countries to share expertise, challenges and opportunities in water resource management in a changing climate, and improve relationships to better tackle mutual issues.
