Bali blast tests Indonesia-Australia ties

Bali blast tests Indonesia-Australia ties

Endy M. Bayuni, Deputy Editor, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Relations between Indonesia and Australia have never been as
good or as warm as what we have seen over this past week. For
those who have closely watched the often turbulent ties, it
simply seems too good to be true. It therefore begs the questions
of whether it will last, and what will it take to make it last.

There is a good explanation as to why Indonesia and Australia
have been working shoulder to shoulder, literally, in a way never
seen before: Both countries were rudely awakened by the bomb
blasts that killed scores of their nationals in Bali on Oct. 12.
Each government considered the attack a national tragedy. The two
nations went into a sad mourning period.

And now, their governments are now both resolute in hunting
down the perpetrators, and in bringing them to justice. And they
know they can't do it alone, and that together they stand a
better chance of success.

This is a crisis that has brought the two giant neighbors --
which have been at odds for much of these past five decades --
closer together. The worst kind of crisis has that kind of
impact. It brings communities together, and in the case of the
Bali blast, it has brought the two neighbors together.

Ever since the tragic attack on that fateful Saturday night,
the two countries have shown a spirit of community and
neighborliness. Australia has come forward with plenty of offers
of help and assistance, and Indonesia has responded positively
each time.

The sight of a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) plane on
Indonesian soil would, in "normal" times, have provoked a
xenophobic outcry from the nationalist camp, including the
Indonesian Military (TNI). We did not see or hear those
sentiments when an RAAF transport plane landed on the Sunday
after the blast, bringing the first batch of medical staff to
help the victims. More RAAF planes came and left after that,
bringing in more medical staff and flying home some of the
injured, both Australians and Indonesians, for further treatment.

And then there was the subsequent arrival of Australian police
officers, intelligence agents, forensic experts, investigators
and many others to Bali to help Indonesia deal with the aftermath
of the bomb attacks, including the investigations.

Two senior Australian Cabinet ministers came to Bali early in
the week, and then proceeded to Jakarta for meetings with top
Indonesian government officials, including President Megawati
Soekarnoputri. The two governments subsequently announced the
establishment of a joint task force to crack the case.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard came to Bali on Thursday
to attend a memorial service for the dead Australian victims.

At no time did we hear any negative remarks from Indonesian
officials or politicians as these Australian government officials
and workers went about their business on Indonesian territory.

If this had been normal times, the presence of so many
Australian government officials would have provoked an outrage in
Jakarta, and cries of suspicion of Canberra's hidden motives.

Before Oct. 12, bilateral relations had not fully recovered
from the disruption that goes back to East Timor's vote to
separate from Indonesia in 1999. Many people in this country,
particularly TNI and its supporters, are still sour toward
Australia, whom they blame for causing the loss of East Timor.

Prime Minister Howard was accused in Indonesia of stoking
anti-Indonesia sentiments when he used the issue of Central Asian
asylum seekers in his reelection campaign last year.

There has been enough progress in the relations between the
two countries over the past year to suggest that they are mending
fences. There was the joint hosting of the regional conference on
asylum seekers in Bali in January; and there was last month's
inauguration of the South West Pacific Forum of dialog in
Yogyakarta, which also included New Zealand, Papua New Guinea,
the Philippines and East Timor.

Prime Minister Howard visited Jakarta in February, during
which the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding to
jointly deal with the threat of terrorism facing the region.

But as good as the relations between the two countries are
today, we all know too well that, given the recent history of our
relations, they are not without perils.

A lot depends on how our leaders play their cards. History may
not be on our side, but who says we can't beat the odds.

This crisis has shown that the two countries, plunged into the
crisis together, are able to put aside not only their
differences, but more importantly their egos. There is too much
at stake for the two countries today to be quarreling about
national pride, and even about sovereignty.

The terrorists who attacked New York and Washington last year,
and those who attacked Bali this month, did not distinguish
people, nationality or state borders. Nations need to therefore
respond together. Indonesia and Australia realize that they are
in this together, and that together, they stand a much better
chance of addressing the threat of terrorism.

The two countries have also learned about each other's
sensitivities after 50 years of almost constant quarreling. The
two governments have approached the issue correctly. No one party
is imposing on the other. Australia offers assistance, and
Indonesia welcomes it with open hands.

But we cannot live under the pretension that Indonesia-
Australia relations will remain as good as they seem today
forever. They are still precarious enough that even the slightest
slip could send relations south.

The Australian government's travel advisory for Australians to
leave Indonesia, while acceptable given the bitter experience of
the Oct. 12 attack, cannot remain in place forever without
undermining existing relations.

Prime Minister Howard should contain the outrage that is
slowly emerging in Australia. Soon, they will be demanding
action, and some of that anger will be vented at Indonesia.

There have been attacks on Indonesian and Muslim properties in
Australia this past week, apparently in anger over the Bali
blast.

This anger is bound to spread unless the two governments crack
the Bali blast case quickly, identify the perpetrators and bring
them to justice. The pressure is on the joint task force.

Success on this front bodes well for future relations. But
failure to come up with credible answers within a reasonable
period of time would put the Bali blast on the long list of
disasters that have marred relations between the two countries.

(The writer was in Australia at the invitation of the
Australia-Indonesia Institute last week).