Prime Minister Tony Abbott defends policy to turn boats back after Indonesian MP sais it was 'offensive' An Indonesian MP has labelled as offensive the coalition's lack of consultation on asylum seeker policy. Prime Minister Tony Abbott insists he respects Indonesia's sovereignty after an Indonesian MP condemned his plan to turn back asylum seeker boats as illegal and offensive. Tantowi Yahya is a member of the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Commission and said the first he and his colleagues knew of Prime Minister Tony Abbott's Operation Sovereign Borders was when it appeared in newspapers. "It's very offensive," he told ABC TV, adding there was consensus between Indonesia's government and parliament not to agree with the coalition's plans. What Australia should do right now in relation (to) asylum seekers is sit with any countries that will be involved in this issue ... and we have to fight against it in the spirit of friends. Mr Abbott declined to comment directly on his turn-back plan today, saying his government wouldn't conduct discussions with Indonesia through the media. Indonesian marine police officers guard Iranian asylum seekers who were caught in Indonesian waters while sailing to Australia, at Benoa port in Bali. He added that the coalition "absolutely, totally" respected Indonesia's sovereignty. "I have no argument with anyone in the Indonesian establishment or parliament," he told reporters in Sydney. My argument is with people smugglers and my point to the people smugglers is 'the game is up'. Mr Abbott said he was confident that his government would be able to work effectively with Indonesia, as former coalition governments have done. Labor MP Matt Thistlethwaite says Mr Yahya's comments reflect the Indonesian government's position on Mr Abbott's policy. "This is quickly turning into a diplomatic disaster for the new government," he told Sky News. Mr Thistlethwaite said international cooperation was important to getting a good outcome. At the moment, the government doesn't have that from Indonesia and it doesn't look like getting it. Mr Abbott has reportedly asked Australia's ambassador to Indonesia Greg Moriarty to return from Jakarta to brief the National Security Committee of cabinet on the issue of asylum seekers. Last night Mr Tantowi also said the Indonesian parliament would "fully reject" the coalition's policy to turn back boats carrying asylum seekers, indicating his country would deem such a move illegal. "I do hope this policy will not be implemented until Mr Abbott talks about this issue with our foreign minister," he said. Mr Abbott promised to put in place the coalition's operation from the day his team was sworn into parliament, which happened yesterday. The prime minister will travel to Jakarta for a bilateral visit on September 30. But the new Australian government faced a stern warning from Mr Tantowi. "It will obviously damage our relationship," he said of the coalition's policy. "Indonesia accepts all possible solutions, all possible proposals from Australia ... this case should be settled in a very modest and very peaceful way," Mr Tantowi said. He said it "annoys our sovereignty" that the coalition had floated the idea of paying Indonesians for information about people smuggling. We could employ our policemen. We could employ all the infrastructures to help," the MP said. Mr Tantowi said he and his parliamentary colleagues were happy with the former Labor government's Papua New Guinea solution as long as asylum seekers were happy to remain in the country, and "not end up back in our territory." But just what is the new PM's plan? In his first 100 days in office, Tony Abbott has promised to: Turn the boats back where it is safe as part of Operation Sovereign Borders Increase the capacity of offshore processing centres Lease and deploy more vessels to help patrol boats transfer asylum seekers Send ministers to visit Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Nauru and PNG to talk about "operational matters" (regional cooperation) Set up Operation Sovereign Borders HQ and a joint agency taskforce to deal with this issue Re-establish the controversial temporary protection visa system first adopted by the Howard Government READ more about its six-point plan to turn back the boats here.