Australia supports RI's territorial integrity: Howard

Australia supports RI's territorial integrity: Howard

Annastashya Emmanuelle and Viva Goldner, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In a apparent bid to deflect strong criticism from both the House
of Representatives (DPR) and the People's Consultative Assembly
(MPR), visiting Australian Prime Minister John Howard said on
Wednesday that his country fully supported Indonesia's
territorial integrity.

Emerging from an almost one-hour meeting with President
Megawati Soekarnoputri, Howard said that his country respected
autonomy packages offered to the country's two restive provinces
-- Aceh and Papua.

"Australia strongly supports the territorial integrity and the
unity of the Indonesian nation ... we respect very much the
autonomy packages (for Aceh and Papua) that have been developed
to deal with particular regional issues," Howard told reporters
at the joint press conference in Merdeka Palace on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Howard arrived here on Wednesday for a two-day
official visit, in which the two countries are to discuss
political and security issues along with trade, agriculture, and
technology and research cooperation.

Leaders of both the House and the Assembly expressed
opposition on Tuesday to Howard's visit to Indonesia, arguing
that Australia has been meddling too much in Indonesia's domestic
affairs, such as supporting a referendum for Papua. Howard denied
the allegation.

Meanwhile, Megawati emphasized on Wednesday that the future
relationship between the two countries must be based on a
"realistic and rational" approach.

Commenting on Megawati's statement about creating more
realistic relations in the future, Howard expressed his
agreement, especially considering that Indonesia and Australia
are near neighbors.

"The President rightly said the relationship is to be based on
realism ... and there will be areas that we will agree more than
others," Howard said.

While illegal immigration was also addressed by the two
leaders, Howard said more comprehensive talks would be held at
the regional people-smuggling conference in Bali later this
month.

The people smuggling issue has strained the relationship
between the two countries recently as Howard rejected 433 mostly
Afghan asylum seekers who tried to enter Australian territorial
waters.

Howard said the matter must be tackled on a regional basis as
many people from many countries were involved.

"We recognize that although there are bilateral issues between
Australia and Indonesia, it is nonetheless an issue that must be
tackled on a regional basis," said Howard, adding that the
country was looking forward to the outcome of the people-
smuggling forum in Bali on Feb. 25.

The Australian government has also pledged five patrol boats
to complement Indonesia's equipment in tackling illegal migrants,
as well as promising A$1 million in flood assistance.

In a gesture to appease lingering resentment over East Timor,
Howard announced that a conference would be held between
Australia, Indonesia and East Timor on Feb. 25, but did not give
further details of what would be discussed.

"This is another important example of the cooperation between
our two countries, and importantly, between Australia, Indonesia
and East Timor," Howard said.

Relations between Australia and Indonesia have been shaky
since 1999, when Australia urged Indonesia to allow East Timor to
decide its future through a United Nations-sponsored popular
consultation, and later sent a peace-keeping force to East Timor
after the former Portuguese colony's vote for independence from
Indonesia.

During the meeting, Megawati also proposed building
cooperation in fighting against international terrorism in the
country. This was welcomed by Howard, who said that discussions
between government officials were underway.

"If an agreement can be reached, there's a possibility this
memorandum of understanding could be signed while I'm here on
this visit," he added.

On the sidelines of the official visit, Indonesia's Minister
of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirajuda said the MoU would cover
intelligence information exchanges as well as capacity building.

Howard is scheduled to meet with a number of Indonesian
ministers today including Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan
Wirayuda and Coordinating Minister for Political and Security
Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

He will depart for Yogyakarta on Feb. 7 to visit Borobudur
temple and hold a dialogue at Gadjah Mada University in
Yogyakarta before going to Bali on Feb. 8 and returning to
Australia on the same day.