Howard should have delayed his visit: Ambong

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.