Corby case must not damage bilateral ties

Michael Danby, Melbourne

The last year has seen relations between Australia and Indonesia reach their highest level. But the controversy surrounding the trial of Schapelle Corby is putting those good relations at risk. This is something both Australians and Indonesians should work to prevent.

Following the December tsunami, there was enormous sympathy for Indonesia in Australia. The Australian public donated A$280 million to tsunami appeals, the great bulk of which went to relief work in Indonesia. Australians also approved the Government's decision, supported by the Opposition, to give A$1 billion in aid to Indonesia.

Australians also greatly appreciated the speed and efficiency with which the Indonesian police captured those responsible for the 2002 Bali bombing in which 88 Australians died.

Finally Australia welcomed Indonesia's full return to democratic government with the election in 2004 of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as President.

But the arrest and trial on drug smuggling charges of Schapelle Corby has put all this at risk. Elements of the Australian media have been quick to exploit public sympathy for Corby. The commercial television service, the Nine Network, has run a strident populist campaign claiming not only that Corby is innocent, but that the Indonesian police are corrupt and Indonesia's courts are unfair.

The Sydney tabloid newspaper the Daily Telegraph also ran an anti-Indonesian campaign, claiming that Corby's 20-year sentence for drug possession was outrageous compared with the two year sentence received by the Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, who the paper said was the mastermind of the Bali bombing.

This ignored the fact that Ba'asyir has not been convicted for responsibility for the Bali bombing, but only on other charges. It also ignored the fact that those who have been convicted over the Bali bombing have been sentenced to death.

Finally a Sydney radio announcer, Malcolm Elliott, compared the judges in the Corby case to monkeys. "They don't even speak English, they're straight out of the trees," he said. (He was sacked by his radio station.)

It was these populist campaigns which inspired some anonymous person to send an envelope containing white powder to the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra. Although the powder turned out to be harmless, Australians were mortified at this stupid and criminal act, which was strongly condemned by people of all political views.

How representative of Australian opinion are these anti- Indonesian opinions in the press and on radio? I would say -- not very. Australians may think Corby is innocent, but most accept that she has had a fair trial. Many people are critical of Corby's legal team for the inadequate defense they mounted.

Most Australians accept that if Australian citizens smuggle drugs into or out of other countries, they must bear the consequences. Australia have shown little support for the nine Australians arrested in Bali in April on charges of heroin smuggling.

Most Australians will, however, oppose the use of the death penalty in these cases, since Australia abolished the death penalty nearly 40 years ago and does not approve of its use for any reason.

Australians remain strongly sympathetic to Indonesia's many difficulties. When the Nias earthquake struck in March, there was another outpouring of sympathy and donations, and support for the relief efforts mounted by the Australian defense forces.

When nine Australians were killed in a helicopter crash in Nias, Australians greatly appreciated President Susilo's visit to Australia and his meeting with the families of the service men and women who lost their lives.

Although some elements of the media have taken a populist, even racist, anti-Indonesian line, other sections of the media have been highly critical of this. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation's program Media Watch has exposed the cheap anti- Indonesian stunts of the Nine Network and the Sydney Daily Telegraph. Quality newspapers such as The Australian, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald have given fair and balanced accounts of the trial.

Andrew Bolt, a leading tabloid columnist, wrote: "What must Indonesians make of this hissing mob that threatens their diplomats and vilifies their country? And all this for the sake of a convicted drug smuggler who seems quite probably guilty."

There are still many differences between Australia and Indonesia. Australia is largely European in terms of the origins of its population, and at least nominally a Christian country. Indonesia is a developing country, an Asian country and an Islamic country. Australia has always been a parliamentary democracy. Indonesia has recently emerged from decades of dictatorship.

Australia's legal system is based on British law and trial by jury. Indonesia's legal system, based on a mixture of Dutch and Islamic law, seems very foreign to Australians -- particularly the reverse onus of proof.

But despite these differences, many Australians and many Indonesians are working for better relations between the two countries, both at the government level and at the popular level. Australia and Indonesia work closely together on security issues. Trade and investment are increasing

More and more Australians and Indonesians are traveling between the two countries -- as students, as tourists, on business. Gradually, understanding between the two peoples is improving.

This process may be set back, but it will not be reversed, by incidents such as the Corby case, which arouse strong feelings on both sides. Australians who engage in drug smuggling must expect to be punished under Indonesian law. The Australian press should grow up and stop unfairly attacking Indonesia.

But Indonesia must also ensure that such people get a fair trial, and that police and official corruption continues to be stamped out. Outbursts against Australia by some elements in Indonesia are also unhelpful.

As a member of the Australian Parliament, it has been my privilege to visit Indonesia and meet with Indonesians of all kinds. I know that most Indonesians (like most Australians) are sensible and moderate people who understand that friendship and co-operation between Indonesia and Australia is in the national interest of both countries.

We should not let that friendship and co-operation be derailed by a handful of irresponsible elements on both sides who seek to exploit incidents like the Corby case for their own commercial or political purposes.

The writer is a Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives and Secretary of the Opposition National Security Committee.