Australia's new cabinet

Australia's new cabinet

Our southern neighbor, Australia, now has a new cabinet. The 27-member cabinet of Prime Minister John Howard was sworn into office on Monday and is now officially executing its duties.

What does this mean for Indonesia? Will Australia drastically change its political course? Will the new government adopt a tougher attitude with regard to East Timor, for example, which could create tensions between the two neighbors?

Howard, in his campaign rhetoric, promised to sharply correct the political course of his predecessor. One of the major correction involves putting the country's domestic interests before foreign relations. This promise proved successful in attracting voters and Howard is now committed to keeping his word.

In liberal democratic countries such as Australia changes in policy follow a change of government, which in theory can happen once in every four years.

The presence of new people in the government always brings opportunities as well as risks. New people need time to familiarize themselves with the old patterns established by their predecessors. At the same time they have the potential of looking at the existing problems with fresh eyes and creativity. It is not impossible that they may even establish closer relations between Australia and Asia, and Indonesia in particular.

Australia cannot disregard Asia. In this era of globalization no country can afford to serve its own domestic interests while neglecting the world outside. Still, Australia under its new government will probably need some time for fine tuning, consolidation and reflection.

-- Republika, Jakarta