Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor has discussed the so-called East Timor solution with Indonesian officials as Australia prepares to make its case for the plan at the Bali Process meeting in less than two weeks.
Mr O'Connor, following a series of meetings in Jakarta today said the matter had been discussed with Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, adding that both countries shared concerns about the need for a regional solution to the asylum-seeker problem.
The visit to Indonesia comes ahead of a meeting of senior ministers from around the region in Bali on March 29-30, and follows a visit on Monday to Malaysia, another country which is seen as key in helping reduce the flow of asylum seekers to Australia.
"Australia and Indonesia share the same concerns about developing a regional protection framework and I spoke to the foreign minister about our shared concerns," Mr O'Connor told reporters in Jakarta. "These matters of course will be considered in more detail at the Bali Process later this month."
Asked if the East Timor plan was raised, he said: "We discussed the regional protection framework and the elements that go to providing a regional solution to a regional problem."
Mr O'Connor confirmed both Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd and Immigration Minister Chris Bowen would attend the Bali Process meeting to push Australia's case for a regional processing centre to be built in East Timor.
However, the visits by the home affairs minister to both Indonesia and Malaysia, where he announced on Monday that Australia would boost its investment in measures aimed at helping the country combat people smuggling, come after recent criticism of the East Timor solution.
The plan to build a regional refugee processing centre in East Timor has faced heavy criticism in recent weeks after reports that it has little support from political leaders in Dili.
When asked directly about the East Timor solution last week, Mr Natalegawa said that it would be up to Australia to make the case for the plan at the Bali meeting.