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Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott (C) walks to a government party room meeting surrounded by supporters in Canberra's Parliament House February 9, 2015. Abbott survived a challenge to his leadership after his ruling Liberal Party on Monday voted down an attempt to unseat him after weeks of infighting. A secret party room ballot to declare the positions of party leader and deputy leader vacant was voted down 61 votes to 39, chief party whip Philip Ruddock told reporters. REUTERS/Sean Davey

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has said in a statement on Thursday that he believes there is enough scope for Australia and Indonesia to become “trusted partners” despite the events in the recent past that have affected the bilateral ties between the two countries.

The execution of the Bali Nine duo, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, by Indonesia has led to a strained relationship between the two nations. The execution was followed by a number of other developments like Australia’s decision to turn back migrant boats and slashing down live cattle import from Australia by Indonesia. But situations have been improving and it is apparent in a number of recent moves taken by each sides.

Mr Abbott said he is expecting to meet with the Indonesian President Joko Widodo at the numerous summits that are about take place in the coming months. "Occasionally there are ups and downs, but certainly under this government, there will be no gratuitous offence given, there will be no shocks," he told reporters in Melbourne on Thursday.

The prime minister also expressed his gratification at the improving trade relations with Jakarta. Beef shortage has led to high prices of beef in Indonesia, which compelled it to go back on its decision to cut down on cattle import from Australia. More than 2,300 live cattle has already reached Jakarta port on Thursday morning.

Mr Abbott also said that Australia is willing to build strong ties with Indonesia so that the former becomes the first choice for overseas education for the latter and the latter becomes one of the most favourite holiday destinations for the former.

Indonesia on Wednesday announced waiving visa fees for Australia and 46 other countries in a move to boost its tourism industry. But Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop dismissed any possibility of scraping visa charges for any country. The issue was discussed between Bishop and her Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi in Sydney on Monday.

"She explained that Indonesia would love to provide Australia with visa exemptions, but unless they got reciprocity, they wouldn't be able to do so," Bishop said. "Our policy is across the board -- there are no exemptions."

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