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)