well it was a rescue operation on an indonesian boat in indonesian waters crewed by indonesians with indonesian resident passengers on board
seems reasonable to me to try and hand them over to indonesia after rescuing them (it was their search and rescue area)
i suspect the spying allegation politics had more to do with the indonesian stonewalling
i wonder which aust government initiated that decision
btw indonesia has accepted the return of some boats lately but as is usual their position is a moving one
things aren't quite as black and white as you would like to convey, hood