Australian unions lift Indonesia trade bans

Australian unions lift Indonesia trade bans

SYDNEY (Reuters): Australian dock workers loaded wheat on
Monday on the Indonesian ship Bogasari Lima in Brisbane after
Australian unions ended weeklong bans on seaborne trade between
the neighboring countries.

More than A$5.5 billion (US$3.5 billion) a year of trade
between the two countries resumed at the weekend when unions
began handling cargo ships carrying Indonesian goods and moving
containers from docks.

"It's very positive," a senior Indonesian businessman in one
of the country's biggest enterprises said by telephone from
Jakarta, asking not to be identified.

"Very pleased about that," said a spokeswoman for Australia's
Wheat Board.

The Australians had refused to handle Indonesian goods to
protest against the deteriorating situation in East Timor.

The Australian Workers Union (AWU) said bans on unloading
crude petroleum from Indonesian ships were likely to be lifted on
Tuesday after a meeting of delegates. No ships were affected at
the moment.

Australian union officials said bans on Indonesian trade would
be reimposed quickly if Indonesia hindered the United Nations
multinational force which began arriving in East Timor earlier in
the day.

Relations between the countries remained tenuous despite
lifting of the bans, and Australians began to focus on the
province of Kalimantan on Borneo island, where at least four
Australian companies have withdrawn expatriate staff or their
families.

The withdrawal follows protests against Australia's leading
role in the international military force that has moved into East
Timor. Pro-Jakarta militias are believed to have killed thousands
in the territory since an independence vote last month,
triggering the union bans in protest.

According to the Australian embassy in Jakarta, a Maritime
Union of Australia ban on the shipment of cargo to and from
Indonesia was lifted at midnight on Sept. 18.

The spokesman also said the ban on mail services to Indonesian
diplomatic missions in Australia was lifted at midnight on Sept.
16.

Bans on mail deliveries to the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra
and Indonesian consulates around Australia, and selective bans on
transportation links between the two countries were imposed by
Australian unions to protest the violence in East Timor following
the announcement of the results of the United Nations-sponsored
self-determination referendum.

"A protest picket action mounted by local unions at the
Indonesian Embassy in Canberra was due to officially end today
(Monday)," the embassy spokesman said.

The spokesman added that the Australian Council of Trade
Unions earlier issued guidelines to all affiliate organizations
that their criticism and protests should not be directed toward
the Indonesian people, but those responsible for the violence in
East Timor.

The spokesman also confirmed that in relation to incidents at
Indonesian diplomatic premises in Melbourne, Darwin and Perth,
and a flag burning incident in Darwin, a number of people had
been charged.

Northern Territory police arrested and charged three
individuals in relation to the burning of an Indonesian flag. In
Victoria, police said five people were to be charged with causing
criminal damage by fire, and in Perth charges were expected to be
filed as a result of an investigation by the Western Australian
police.