Agenda of RI and Australia

By Siswo Pramono

CANBERRA, Australia (JP): Taken together, the Indonesian- Australian relationship involves about 220 million people, which represents a potentially huge market. The relationship involves hundreds of ethnic and cultural groups, which reflect at least two or three of the world civilizations, depicting a splendid multiculturalism and a way of life. It encompasses a total area of more than 3.5 million square miles, which is rich in natural resources. But, unfortunately, Australian party politics have framed this relationship based on myopic political agendas.

Indonesian-Australian relations have been reduced into one or two dominating issues. The reductionist agenda has impeded the two countries from tapping the maximum benefit from bilateral ties.

Allegations of human rights violations in East Timor and West Papua have dominated Indonesian-Australian relations. While the promotion of human rights is of primary importance for Indonesia and Australia, the bilateral agenda must not neglect other important issues which are vital to the well-being of the two peoples.

While the above human rights issues are important, a broader and enriched bilateral agenda would best serve the interests of the two peoples, and hence the promotion of human rights in Indonesia.

As issues relating to East Timor, Maluku and West Papua loom high on the political platform of the Australian coalition government and the Australian Labour Party (ALP), Australian foreign policy, including foreign aid policy, tends to heavily focused on the eastern part of Indonesia. In fact, this approach has been in line with Indonesia's policy of boosting the economic development of its eastern regions.

The Australian "East policy", however, has incited suspicions among many in Indonesia who are anxious about Australia's strong political-historical ties with Melanesian groups in the South Pacific, in particular with Papua New Guinea and West Papua.

Suspicion aside, Indonesia and Australia have managed to develop economic linkages to strengthen bilateral relations, particularly those involving the eastern regions. On April 24, 1997, the two governments launched the Australia-Indonesia Development Area (AIDA) in Ambon. Its main objective was to enhance economic ties between Australia's Northern Territory and the Indonesian provinces of West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, Bali, North Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, South Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, West Nusatenggara, East Nusatenggara, East Timor (at that time an Indonesian province), Maluku and Irian Jaya. The two countries believed that trade would not only promote welfare but also peace and stability in the eastern part of Indonesia.

If networking matters, this liberal approach should not be confined only to the Indonesia's eastern regions. A similar scheme must be developed to promote relations between western parts of Indonesia with Western Australia as well.

The two sides could employ existing regional networks, such as the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR- ARC), for bilateral purposes.

The IOR-ARC was established in 1997 with a membership of 14 countries, namely Australia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Yemen. The main objectives of the IOR-ARC are the promotion of trade and investment, and other forms of economic ties.

The scheme under the IOR-ARC would connect the trading communities of Western Australia with communities in many of Indonesia's western provinces, such as Aceh and Western Sumatra, which have long entrepreneurial traditions.

It must be noted, however, that the AIDA and the IOR-ARC were engineered by the central governments of the countries involved. The implementation of decentralization and regional autonomy raises the question of how far these schemes can best serve local and regional interests, particularly those of Indonesian provinces, regencies and cities.

Thus, it is time for Indonesia and Australia to gear themselves towards a broader bilateral agenda that is able to accommodate the broader interests of the people at all levels of governance.

For Indonesia, Law No. 37/1999 on foreign affairs offers a starting point for giving multilevel networking a central role to play in bilateral relations. Article 1 of the law stipulates that foreign relations include any aspect of regional and international activities carried out by central and regional governments, various governmental and state institutions, non- governmental organizations, corporations, political organizations, and citizens. Article 28 instructs the minister of foreign affairs to play a coordinating role in respect of foreign relations, and to give effect to foreign policy.

This means that the initiators of bilateral relations must be broadened to include various segments of society. Thus, Indonesia (and Australia) should rely more on "multitrack diplomacy", a concept which depicts engagements, ranging from government-to- government actions to those which are people-to-people.

Furthermore, the implementation of Law No.22/1999 on regional autonomy implies a more bottom-up approach in the formulation of such bilateral agendas. While the formulation of foreign policy remains the domain of the central government, with more autonomy in their hands the regions will be more active in engaging in foreign affairs. Consequently, regional interests must be well- accommodated in the bilateral agenda.

The formulation of a broader agenda requires extensive discourse in various bilateral fora. The two countries must promote effective channels of dialog between parliaments, regional and local governments, cities, and various non- governmental or community associations. As such, the grassroots calls for poverty eradication, basic education, better health services, a better environment, gender equality, basic security, good governance and other important issues can be heard and accommodated. The agenda must not become the hostage of particular issues only, no matter how important these issues are.

Now the momentum is right. Both countries have committed themselves to re-engage after the collapse of the relationship following the Australian military intervention in East Timor. The recent exchange of visits between the two countries' leaders might be a prelude for a much more normal relationship in the future between Indonesia and Australia.

Sudjadnan Parnohadiningrat, the Indonesian envoy to Australia, told The Canberra Times that Australia and Indonesia were entering a "new chapter" in their relationship. It is indeed the hope of many Indonesians and Australians that in this new chapter everyone has a share in formulating a broader and insightful agenda for a better relationship.

The writer is an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who is studying for his doctoral degree at the Australian National University in Canberra.