The specific reasons for the suspension were not given, while Indonesia's Kompas newspaper reported that the decision followed an incident at an Australian Special Air Service Regiment base in Perth. An instructor from the Indonesian Kopassus special forces group, engaged in joint training with Australian special forces, reportedly felt insulted by materials allegedly ridiculing the Indonesian military found at the base.
The material was found to be of demeaning nature against the principles of Pancasila, the Indonesian state's founding philosophy. During an earlier incident, Indonesian special forces members were allegedly taught lessons during which the Indonesian military was also demeaned.
The Kopassus unit has been training at the base in Perth for several years. Bilateral military cooperation has been improving since the 2006 Lombok Treaty, after which both sides committed to defense and counterterrorism cooperation. Relations somewhat soured in 2013, when documents revealed by Edward Snowden indicated that Australia was tapping Indonesia's then-president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's phone conversations.
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