Australia names senior diplomat as envoy to RI

Australia names senior diplomat as envoy to RI

JAKARTA (JP): Australia has appointed John McCarthy, currently
ambassador to the United States, as its new envoy to Indonesia.

"I have today announced the appointment of Mr. John McCarthy
as Australian Ambassador to the Republic of Indonesia," said
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer in New York
yesterday.

He will replace the present ambassador Allan Taylor, who has
held the post since 1993.

Downer, in New York to attend the 51st session of the United
Nations General Assembly, said as he announced McCarthy's
appointment that relations with Indonesia are now on a firmer
footing than ever before.

"The government is committed to building on this solid
foundation, consolidating recent gains and further deepening and
broadening the relationship," he said in a statement which was
made available to The Jakarta Post.

A senior career diplomat, the 53-year-old McCarthy has served
ambassadorial positions in Vietnam, Mexico, Thailand and the
United States.

He graduated from Cambridge University and worked as a lawyer
in London and New York before joining the Department of External
Affairs in 1968.

His appointment closes the embarrassing saga of alternate
rejections between the two countries which began when Jakarta had
to withdraw its ambassadorial candidate last year after an
Australian public outcry.

Despite Canberra accepting retired Lt. Gen. H.B.L. Mantiri's
nomination, Jakarta was forced to withdraw his nomination after
the Australian media dug up old interviews in which he reportedly
defended actions of soldiers in the 1991 Dili Incident as being
"quite proper".

Jakarta then left the post vacant for some months before
eventually appointing career diplomat Wiryono Sastrohandoyo.

A similar episode then occurred when Canberra nominated Miles
Kupa. He finally had to withdraw after Indonesia began
questioning his candidacy on account of his reputation of being
highly critical of President Soeharto.

The announcement of McCarthy's appointment comes on the heels
of a visit here by Australian Prime Minister John Howard.

Jakarta said yesterday it "welcomed" McCarthy's appointment.
"We are looking forward to the new ambassador and a further
enhancement of relations particularly after the fruitful visit of
Prime Minister Howard," said the Indonesian foreign ministry's
Director for Information Ghaffar Fadyl.

Ghaffar told the Post that Indonesia would respond positively
to the fact that such a senior career diplomat had been chosen
for the job.

He noted that both countries are aware of their mutual
closeness and importance. He added that it was now important to
maximize the great potential of the bilateral relations.

Separately Indonesia's former Ambassador to Australia, Sabam
Siagian, said McCarthy's appointment as envoy here reflects the
importance of Jakarta as an ambassadorial posting.

"John McCarthy is one of the few senior ambassadors in the
Australian foreign service. As his biographical background shows,
he has a vast diplomatic experience both in Asian countries and
in North America," Sabam told the Post.

Sabam said he first met McCarthy during a journalistic trip to
Vietnam in the early 1980s. Sabam was editor of an Indonesian
newspaper at the time while McCarthy was ambassador in Hanoi.

"Ambassador McCarthy will face the tremendous job of managing
an ever-increasing bilateral relationship. But the geopolitical
thinking as an underpinning of the relationship is already in
place," Sabam said of the challenges ahead. (mds)