Canberra summit marks new era in RI-Aussie ties
Canberra summit marks new era in RI-Aussie ties
S.P. Seth, Sydney
Indonesia is currently the flavor of the month with the
government and the media in Australia. Canberra feels good with
its generous tsunami aid package and humanitarian aid. The
government is satisfied that it will be able to effectively
supervise how its $A1 billion five-year aid package (half in
grants and half as low interest loans) will be spent to prevent
it from ending up in corrupt deals.
The state visit of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is a
heartening development for Australia, because such visits in the
past have been rare occasions. In the past, the political traffic
was largely one way with the Australian prime ministers visiting
Indonesia much of the time.
For Prime Minister John Howard it is a vindication of his
foreign policy towards Indonesia and the region. Which is that
Canberra will not kowtow to its Asian neighbors and nor will it
engage with them by compromising its special relationship with
the United States. Howard believes that his predecessor Paul
Keating's excessive focus on Asia was wrong because it sought to
define Australia's "place in the world too narrowly."
Speaking recently at an Australian think tank, he said, "My
government has rebalanced Australia's foreign policy to better
reflect the unique intersection of history, geography, culture,
and economic opportunity that our country represents."
When John Howard came to power in 1996, Asia-Pacific region
was on a high economically. President Soeharto was still secure
in his position. But soon after, in 1997 and 1998, Asia was hit
by an economic tsunami. Soeharto resigned and Indonesia plunged
into economic and political crisis. The Asian economic miracle
seemed over, and with it all the hype about Asian values and the
incoming Asia-Pacific century.
During this period when Asian economies were in doldrums,
Australia managed to come out pretty strong which reflected well
on it. It gave Canberra new confidence to deal with its Asian
region.
Indonesia was hit the hardest with its polity and economy in a
shambles. Even as it was trying to cope with the new disaster, it
was also hit with East Timorese independence movement. Australia
played a role in it, with its peacekeeping force deployed after
the independence referendum in East Timor. This has poisoned
Australia's relationship with Indonesia, which is only now
emerging from under an enveloping cloud.
But East Timor saga gave Canberra a new confidence about its
regional status tempered, though, by the realization that it
wouldn't have been possible without U.S. political and logistical
support. Hence, the much talked about U.S. "deputy sheriff" role
for John Howard, indicating Australia's derivative status.
Therefore, when Howard recently said that Australia's close
links with the U.S. "are a plus, not a minus, in forging stronger
links in Asia", he was apparently referring to the regional clout
Canberra exercises in view of these special ties, further
reinforced after Australia became part of the "coalition of the
willing" to invade Iraq.
In other words, Jakarta's new interest in revamping relations
with Canberra seems part of Susilo's larger agenda of forging
closer relations with the United States. But there will be
problems in the parliament where there still is considerable
bitterness about Australia's role in East Timor.
But at the level of the governments in both countries, there
is a desire to improve and expand their bilateral relations. And
this is leading them, as first suggested by Australia's Foreign
Minister Alexander Downer, to work on a security treaty.
However, President Susilo is not keen on a full-fledged
defense pact between the two countries.
The idea is to formalize and expand existing cooperation
between the two countries in the areas of counter-terrorism,
transnational crime and military training.
Fortunately, the developing ties between Indonesia and
Australia is happening at a time of general improvement in
Australia's relations with other ASEAN countries. Indeed
Malaysia's Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi will be the next
visitor from an ASEAN country.
However, in an interview with Australian TV he didn't mince
words about the problem areas. Commenting on John Howard's
greater interest in Asia, Badawi felt that he "was perhaps
changing some tunes." But he still found upsetting Howard's
statements like "pre-emptive action" against terrorists in
regional countries.
Badawi doubted if East Asia was Canberra's primary focus,
considering the centrality of its ties with the United States.
At the ASEAN level, Canberra's refusal to sign its Treaty of
Amity and Cooperation might hinder an otherwise promising
relationship with the regional organization.
The former Prime Minister Paul Keating has written in a
newspaper article, "Back in 1996 (when John Howard came to
power), Howard set about wasting our relationships with Asia,
while overdoing our relationship with the U.S."
He added, "His flirtation with Pauline Hanson and race, the
deputy sheriff, the triumphalism over Timor, the resignation over
International Monetary Fund intervention in Indonesia, the Tampa
debacle (the refugee ship that was not allowed in), the 'we
decide who comes here', have all left scars...which will have
long-run consequences."
But Canberra is making a good start. And the new mood in
Australia and Indonesia might be the harbinger of a new era
between the two countries and the region.
The author is a free-lance writer based in Sydney and can be
reached at SushilPSeth@aol.com.