Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce has signed an agreement to combat illegal fishing with one of Indonesia's most popular - and colourful - ministers.
Indonesian Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Susi Pudjiastuti - whose trademark policy of blowing up illegal fishing boats has won strong local support - said without Australia's assistance it was difficult for Indonesia to see what happened in the eastern part of the vast archipelago.
She said Australia had recently provided Indonesia with a photo of the Thai-owned Silver Sea 2, which was allegedly loaded with slave-caught fish, when the vessel tried to escape Indonesian security before it was arrested in Aceh.
"We want to increase cooperation," Ms Susi said after meeting Mr Joyce in Jakarta.
"Australia will sign a declaration in Indonesia and the Pacific with Timor Leste, PNG, Fiji and us. This visit strengthens our cooperation and ensures there will be no more illegal fishing (at our) border with Timor Leste, PNG, and Australia."
Mr Joyce said he was happy with the work Australia was doing with Indonesia to "find out who is sneaking into other people's places and stealing their fish. Some of the work we have done with Indonesian fisheries has assisted with that."
Mr Joyce said Ms Susi had shown him a photograph of one of the vessels that had been caught.
"All I can say is lucky that we caught them before Ibu Susi could bomb them," he joked at a press conference with Indonesian and Australian media.
"I'm looking forward in the future to doing further work to make sure fishermen in this area get a fair deal," he said. "Otherwise they are just going to get fished out and other people will steal the produce that sustains their way of life and that's just not fair."
A high school dropout, who ran a successful fisheries business and started her own airway before being elected to Joko Widodo's cabinet, Ms Susi won the highest approval rating among ministers early this year.
"Ibu (Ms) Susi is famous. We know about her in Australia where she is seen as a lady who is incredibly determined to make sure Indonesian fisheries are well protected," Mr Joyce said.
The agriculture minister, who has been keen to visit Indonesia for some time, has been a popular guest in Jakarta.
Two of the most senior officials from the Indonesian ministry of agriculture attended an event in his honour on Tuesday night and he is expected to meet with Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman on Thursday.
