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began to focus on the province of Kalimantan on Borneo island, where at least four Australian companies have withdrawn expatriate staff or their families.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.