Australia supports democracy in RI
This is the second of two articles based on a presentation by Kim Beazley, leader of the opposition in the Australian Federal Parliament and chairman of the Australian Labor Party at the Indonesia Australian Business Council breakfast meeting in Jakarta on May 2, 2000.
JAKARTA: Indonesia has always been and will remain a nation of major importance in the world.
This nation's strategic location, its vast population, and its great potential wealth, dictate its significance.
There will be continuing world attention on the democratic experiment undertaken by this nation, made up of more than 17,000 islands and 200 million people.
Indonesia's transition to democracy will also fundamentally transform the character and basis of the Australia/Indonesia bilateral relationship.
It provides the platform for a deeper and more rewarding understanding of each other. It creates the potential to take us well beyond the practical dimensions of our relationship, into a new relationship of democracies cooperating for mutual good.
We should look for every opportunity to extend our cooperation into new areas -- including environmental protection, sustainable development, and for example in combating forest fires and developing sustainable fisheries.
In the area of defense and security, Australia and Indonesia have shared interests in maintaining a strategic dialogue and pursuing practical initiatives such as combating piracy.
Any future military cooperation between our armed forces should be but one strand of a broader and more diverse relationship, and must be supportive of Indonesia's democratic transition.
It is not a question of "rebuilding" a past relationship -- too much change has occurred for the better for that to be our guiding principle. In building a new relationship, we must acknowledge that democratic politics can introduce new complexities into the relationship.
And real political leadership from both sides will be vital for the relationship to move forward smoothly.
At this point, I need to situate the question of East Timor in this new bilateral framework. The resolution of East Timor's status has taken place. I should state for the record that successive governments in Australia recognized East Timor's incorporation in Indonesia. Many Australians were uneasy with it. Its situation has now been resolved.
We must now ensure that no-one draws the wrong conclusions for our regional and bilateral relationship from the role Australia played with the United Nations in East Timor.
It was an important role in stopping the violence there, under the auspices of the United Nations, and with the agreement of the Indonesian government. No more and no less.
Our actions were governed by the very same principles of human rights and democratic aspirations exercised by millions of our Indonesian friends in electing Indonesia's new government and President last year.
Now we must face the future for East Timor. Many difficulties lie ahead, as we all know, and success will not come about by accident. East Timor needs friendly neighbors and this is recognized by its leaders.
All sides have their parts to play. Indonesia is playing its part by recognizing the outcome of last year's ballot, and accepting East Timor's independence.
President Abdurrahman Wahid's reassuring meetings with Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao reverberated internationally as a true attempt at reconciliation. The president's big-hearted move did much to enhance Indonesia's international reputation.
Australia and Indonesia both have a strong interest in supporting East Timor's independent and stable development. We can and must work together to build an enduring partnership between our three countries.
A bright new future is possible for relations between Australia and Indonesia. It is the responsibility of this generation to deliver that bright future.
My country's national interest -- and Indonesia's too -- dictate no less.
Our national interests also dictate that we cannot step back from each other just because the going gets tough. Neither of us can afford to put the other on the shelf for a few years. Drift in the relationship is an option that will benefit neither of us.
Indonesia's dignity and self-respect are not diminished by pursuing good relations with Australia. Nor is Australia's dignity and self-respect diminished by our pursuit of good relations with Indonesia.
Those relations will be powerfully advanced by Indonesia's economic recovery. We note that, after two years of contraction, the economy is expected to grow by a healthy four percent this year.
In the trade context Australia and Indonesia have a great deal to gain from one another. I welcome the fact that Australia's exports to Indonesia have come back strongly from the downturn between 1997 and 1999, when they fell by a third.
We welcome the recovery in trade first and foremost for its indication of the promising new dawn it represents for the millions of Indonesians who have suffered the material deprivations of the last few years.
The Australian Labor Party supported Australia's financial initiatives to help Indonesia through this difficult period.
Our side of politics has long recognized that the bilateral trade relationship with Indonesia is one of mutual benefit.
We must work hard to build and reinforce Australia's trade and investment links with Indonesia in both the public and private sectors. I note that the balance of trade is currently running in Indonesia's favor. There are few other countries in the Asian region where this is the case.
Our two countries worked strongly together in the early days of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. And the Bogor Declaration was, of course, negotiated and signed in Indonesia. Our trade interests coincide in pushing the implementation of the Bogor Declaration on trade liberalization. We will both benefit from this.
We have so much to offer each other and there are so many opportunities for both countries in the relationship, that it makes good sense for us to be good neighbors.
Indonesia is a huge market, with improving economic growth, soon to benefit from the openness democracy will bring. Opportunities exist for both countries, as we can see from the fact that at present we both only take about 3 percent of each other's exports.
On Australia's part, nearly 40 percent of our exports are primary products. Of course, I welcome this performance. It indicates that there are huge opportunities for us to lift our exports of manufactured goods and services.
On the subject of education, a key services export, Indonesia is currently the largest source country for international students in Australia with more than 17,000 of your students studying in Australian educational institutions in 1999.
When my vision for Australia comes to fruition, and we take our place as one of the key knowledge economies in the world, as a highly skilled, highly productive Knowledge Nation, our education system will become even more attractive, with even more to offer our Indonesian neighbours.
Our education links form part of our trade relationship. But as recent history shows, education links also provide a strong cultural bond.
As our citizens, especially young people, study in each other's country and as we learn more about each other and make friends and contacts, the bonds between our two peoples will strengthen.
And this brings me to another reason I am optimistic about improved relations in the future.
And that is the solid ties between our two peoples.
The Australian people have a great deal of goodwill towards Indonesia, and followed your free elections and their aftermath with keen interest. We followed events here in great detail.
Australia respects Indonesia's territorial integrity and is aware of the difficulties of maintaining stability in such a diverse and widespread grouping of islands.
As I have remarked, we respect the brave democratization being embarked upon in this country. This courage is very much reflected in President Abdurrahman's efforts at peacefully resolving difficult challenges in Aceh and elsewhere.
President Abdurrahman is a good friend of our country, and he has Australia's respect for his far-sighted leadership during this difficult transitional time in Indonesian history.
We are closely following the President's efforts in pursuit of economic recovery, and, of course, his respect for the rule of law and universal human rights. Reform is slow, as is to be expected so early in the democratic process, but certainly, from my observation, Indonesia has made a bold start in the right direction.