Indonesia says Australia needs to “urgently” explain new reports that its intelligence agencies spied on the phone calls of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, his first lady and Indonesia’s vice president.

The allegations were brought to light by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and the Guardian Newspaper, and come from the US National Security Agency (NSA) documents smuggled out of America by whistleblower Edward Snowden. 

The news organizations reported that the Defense Signals Directorate (DSD, now known as the Australian Signals Directorate) tried to listen to Mr Yudhoyono's calls at least once, and tracked calls made to and from his mobile phone.  The leaked DSD documents included a list of Indonesian “leadership targets” and the handset models used by each target.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott said, “The Australian government never comments on specific intelligence matters,” adding, “I will never say or do anything that might damage the strong relationship and the close co-operation that we have with Indonesia, which is all in all, our most important relationship.”

But it’s the second revelation that threatens Australian-Indonesian ties.  On 1 November, Indonesia summoned the Ambassador to answer for reports that the Oz embassy in Jakarta was used as part of a US spy network in Asia.