Labor says the coalition government's insults, loose comments and lack of consultation have run Australia's relationship with Indonesia into the ground.
It is now imperative that Foreign Minister Julie Bishop rebuilds Australia's ties with Indonesia during her time at the Bali Democracy Forum starting on Thursday, opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Tania Plibersek says.
"If she doesn't come back from Indonesia with the obvious goodwill of the Indonesian government behind her, you would have to judge very harshly the series of steps that have occurred over the last few months," Ms Plibersek said.
Labor's newly-appointed foreign affairs spokeswoman says the coalition has made numerous missteps, including failing to consult with Indonesia over asylum-seeker policy such as boat turnbacks and buybacks.
She also cited Tony Abbott's lock out of Indonesian journalists at a press conference during his first visit to the country as prime minister in September.
In the past week, diplomatic relations between the countries have soured further as news leaked that Australia's top secret Defence Signals Directorate has been gathering intelligence from the country's embassy in Jakarta as part of a US-led operation.
Ms Plibersek refused to comment on security issues.
"We handed over a relationship that was in a very good working order and now we've got the Australian foreign minister having to fly to Indonesia to explain herself and apologise," she said.
"(The relationship) really has deteriorated to a great extent"
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