Australia, RI and Papua<\/p>\n
Media reports on last week's meeting between Australian Prime
\nMinister John Howard and Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Sir
\nMichael Somare were inaccurate and misleading. The comments they
\nelicited from some people in Indonesia were disappointing.<\/p>\n
Papua New Guinea and Australia have demonstrated that they
\nrecognize Papua as an integral part of Indonesia. The Australian
\nPrime Minister has been firm in asserting Australia's respect for
\nIndonesia's territorial integrity in general and its sovereignty
\nover Papua in particular.<\/p>\n
Australia supports Indonesia's efforts to deal with the
\nsituation peacefully through dialogue and special autonomy. The
\nPapua New Guinea Prime Minister shares this position. After his
\nmeeting with Howard, Sir Michael stated that Papua New Guinea
\nrespected the sovereignty of Indonesia of which Papua was an
\nintegral part.<\/p>\n
This view was repeated by Pacific Island countries at the
\nannual meeting of the Pacific Island Forum (PIF) held last week
\nin Fiji. Despite many of the countries' leaders being lobbied by
\nPapuan activists before the meeting, the Forum communiqui noted
\nthat \"Forum leaders welcomed the passing of a special autonomy
\nlaw for Papua but urged Indonesia, the sovereign authority, to
\nensure its full and timely implementation\".<\/p>\n
On his visit to Jakarta in August 2001, Howard signed a joint
\ncommunique with President Megawati which underlined the
\nimportance of a comprehensive approach to solving the problems of
\nPapua through advancing the primacy of dialogue, greater respect
\nfor human rights and the implementation of special autonomy
\nstatus within the unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia. We
\ncondemn violence and human rights abuses by any party, and
\nbelieve dialogue offers the only sustainable resolution of
\nseparatist pressures.<\/p>\n
I note that Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda has rebutted the
\nerroneous press reports. I hope those commentators who have
\nmisrepresented Australia's position take note of and report the
\nfacts, not fiction.<\/p>\n
RICHARD SMITH<\/p>\n
Ambassador<\/p>\n
Australian Embassy<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/australia-ri-and-papua-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }