Max Lane responds<\/p>\n
When I saw a letter by Geoffrey Gold, a well-known advisor to
\nAustralian business and mining interests, in The Jakarta Post on
\nNov. 5 responding to my articles on Australia-Indonesia
\nrelations, I was quite excited. However, I was disappointed that
\nnone of the issues being raised were discussed. Instead, there
\nwas a series of data, not always correct in detail but generally
\nflattering, about my own political and human rights activities.
\nGold certainly seems to pay a lot of attention to the activities
\nof dissidents and human rights activists, in both Indonesia and
\nAustralia. But then his firm is a consultant providing analysis
\nto business interests.<\/p>\n
Does he oppose the cancellation of Indonesia's foreign debt?
\nDoes he disagree that the West owes the exploited countries for
\ncenturies of exploitation? Does he support the fire sale of
\nIndonesian productive assets to foreign companies? Does he
\nsupport the IMF policies ending price subsidies on basic goods
\nfor the common people? Does he agree that Australia, in the IMF,
\nshould stop supporting the lowering of import tariffs and the
\nending of import regulations on rice and sugar, threatening
\nlivelihoods in these sectors? Does he join the Australian
\ngovernment in standing opposite almost all Indonesian human
\nrights groups which oppose the introduction of repressive
\nantiterror laws in Indonesia, mirroring the repressive laws in
\nAustralia used to justify armed ASIO raids on peoples' homes
\nwithout any public accountability?<\/p>\n
These are some of the real issues that relate to the
\nexploitative character of Australia's relations with Indonesia.<\/p>\n
All Australian businesses that operated during the Soeharto-
\nGolkar dictatorship benefited from the absence of trade unions
\nand environmental laws. The real issue is to end the conditions
\nwhich operate against ordinary people: to build strong trade
\nunions, environmental laws and protective legislation.<\/p>\n
Indonesians will need the maximum unity in facing the
\npredatory West today just as they needed unity from \"Sabang to
\nMerauke\" to fight the predatory colonialism of the Dutch. The
\nstrongest form of unity will be that resulting from voluntary
\nagreement on both principle and form. Coercion and violence is
\nthe enemy of unity. This is the lesson of Aceh and Papua. Unity
\namong the 250 million people of the Indonesian archipelago,
\nincluding in Aceh and West Papua, will be best achieved by
\nrespecting everybody's rights to self-determination. Where does
\nGold stand?<\/p>\n
MAX LANE, Visiting Fellow, Centre for Asia Pacific, Social
\nTransformation, Studies (CAPSTRANS), University of Wollongong,
\nAustralia<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/max-lane-responds-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}