Scott Rochfort – Eight Australians detained by Indonesian police after attending a Labor rights conference in Jakarta returned, relieved, to Australia today.

Speaking at Sydney Airport, the group criticised the Australian Government for not taking a harder line towards the Indonesian Government on their detention. One member of the group, John Percy, said he was "shocked that [the Australian] government could be so dishonest because this was not a visa misunderstanding ... this was an attack by the police on a peaceful seminar".

Sydney resident Peter Boyle praised the courage of the Indonesian delegates attending the conference "who put themselves between us and the military" and of five Indonesian lawyers who stayed with the detainees and advised them throughout the ordeal. The lawyers, representing the Legal Aid Institute of Jakarta, had been attending the conference.

Mr Boyle was met at the airport by his partner, Pip Hinman. Ms Hinman and her four year old daughter Zoe had been detained in Indonesia but were freed to return to Australia on Saturday on "humanitarian" grounds. At their reunion this morning, Peter Boyle said: "I am going to write down before I forget the extremes of emotion I felt. "I feel extremely happy now but on the Saturday afternoon when Zoe and Pip were allowed to leave ... to see the back of them, it was very hard to control myself".

Mr Boyle said during the police raid on the conference on Friday afternoon, the delegates had been threatened by a group of 50 militia, armed with sickles and swords, chanting Islamic slogans. The militia then attacked the Indonesian delegates at the conference, putting two in hospital.

Mr Percy said the 18 Australians and 14 other foreign delegates were taken to the Central Jakarta Police Station. They spent the night asleep on a tiled floor. The Australians had their passports handed back to them yesterday after Indonesian immigration officials admitted the group had committed no offences in relation to their visas.

The New Zealand Government has expressed concern over allegations of ill-treatment of delegates attending the conference. Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff said he has demanded answers from New Zealand's consul and is considering summoning the Indonesian ambassador to explain the detention of foreigners, including New Zealanders and Australians.

The conference had been organised by the Indonesian Centre for Social Reform and Emancipation.