Howard should have delayed his visit: Ambong
Viva Goldner, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Australian Prime Minister John Howard's visit to Jakarta this week signals a desire to mend damaged ties, despite recent objections by some members of the House of Representatives to what they term as Australian interference in Indonesia's internal affairs.
Chairman of House Commission I, which is in charge of foreign policy and defense, Ibrahim Ambong said on Tuesday that Howard, who is scheduled to arrive in Jakarta on Wednesday, should delay his three-day visit for at least three to five months as many Indonesians were not impressed with his conservative government's engagement with the region.
"The people of Indonesia still remember the problems we have faced with Australia's approach to illegal immigration, as well as the actions Australia took in East Timor," Ibrahim said.
Bilateral relations plunged to their lowest levels in 1999, when Australia urged Indonesia to allow East Timor to decide its own future through a United Nations-administered popular consultation, and later when Australia demonstrated unprecedented eagerness to send troops to East Timor, as part of INTERFET, after the former Portuguese colony voted to break away from Indonesia.
More recently, relations between the two countries have suffered since September 2001, when Howard denied 433 mostly Afghan asylum-seekers, rescued from a sinking Indonesian boat by a Norwegian freighter, the MV Tampa, access to Australian territorial waters.
As Australia scrambled to enlist small Pacific states such as Nauru to act as outposts for processing refugee claims, Howard used the Australian media to criticize Indonesia's "lack of cooperation" in stemming the tide of thousands of immigrants arriving on Australian shores each year via boat from Indonesia.
Ibrahim said Howard's handling of the crisis had implied Indonesia was to blame for Australia's problem.
"The illegal immigrants use Indonesia only as a transit point on their way to Australia - they do not want to stay here," he said.
Foreign affairs expert Dewi Fortuna Anwar said Indonesian President Megawati's much-publicized refusal to take Howard's phone calls on the issue demonstrated the rift in bilateral relations.
"I think it was unrealistic for Australia to think Indonesia would act as a security guard -- it angered a lot of Indonesians, including the government, that there was that perception in Australia," Dewi said.
"Instead of resolving the problem, there is a tendency (for the Australian government) to talk to the media -- inform their own press gallery in order to gain political capital."
Ibrahim said Howard's public approach to foreign affairs, termed "megaphone diplomacy" by Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Hassan Wirayuda, promoted misunderstanding, and must be replaced by considered dialogue between leaders of the two nations.
"Many Indonesians think John Howard does not understand that the culture and feelings of Indonesians are not so different from those of Australians," Ibrahim said.
Dewi said there was a perception that Australian Liberal Governments since 1996 had become more aligned with North America at the expense of their relationship with Asia.
However, she said this week's visit was a timely opportunity to shore up ties before this month's regional conference in Bali on people smuggling, trafficking in persons and related international crime.
"That the governments of Indonesia and Australia have agreed to hold a regional conference is very important, because it is recognition that illegal immigration is not just a bilateral Australian/Indonesian problem -- after all, the asylum-seekers are from other countries, such as Afghanistan," she said.
Despite current difficulties, both Dewi and Ibrahim said a functional bilateral relationship was essential for regional stability.
As a developed, western democracy, Australia has much to offer Indonesia, a country still striving to emerge from a multidimensional crisis.
In turn, a modern, stable Indonesia would reward Australia with thriving regional markets and investment opportunities.
According to Australia's Ambassador to Indonesia, Richard Smith, Indonesia is the second largest recipient of Australian development assistance, with $A121.5 million allocated for this financial year.
Besides a continued focus on poverty alleviation, education and health, Smith said the Australian development program now targeted governance issues in support of Indonesia's reform agenda.
"Our two countries are also important trading partners - trade last year returned to pre-1997 levels. Bilateral trade in goods and services is some $A7.6 billion annually," Smith said.
He said frequent ministerial contact on trade, maritime and environmental issues was bolstered by "people-to-people contact" through travel, culture, education and business.
Howard will meet with Megawati and key Cabinet members while in Jakarta, as well as addressing the Indonesia-Australia Business Council and traveling to Yogyakarta to see Borobudur.