No Indonesia, people smuggling link: PM

Malcolm Turnbull has declared Australia's relationship with Indonesia has never been better, after his deputy linked a live cattle export ban with an increase in asylum-seeker boat arrivals.

The prime minister stepped in to defend his deputy Barnaby Joyce on Thursday, insisting there was no link between the Indonesian government and people smuggling.

But Labor's temporary ban in 2011 was an "outrageous affront" to Indonesia, he told reporters in Rockhampton.