Indonesia a friend not foe to Australia

Indonesia a friend not foe to Australia

This article is based on a farewell speech by Indonesian
Ambassador to Australia S Wiryono at the 1999 Merdeka Luncheon,
organized jointly by the Australia Indonesia Business Council
(AIBC), New South Wales branch, and the Consul General of the
Republic of Indonesia in Sydney on Aug. 20, 1999. This is the
second of two articles.

SYDNEY (JP): Indonesia now faces the twin challenge of economic
recovery and democratization but, in addition, Indonesia must
also be able to satisfy the demands for justice and a more
equitable sharing of the resources and wealth of the regions,
such as in Aceh and Irian Jaya, and resolve ethnic-based
disturbances that have surfaced in places such as Maluku and West
Kalimantan.

We, of course, realize that developments in Indonesia are
interesting subjects of scrutiny, and while we know that
basically the Indonesian problem needs to be resolved by
Indonesians themselves, it is also important to recognize that
the recovery of Indonesia and its return into the family of
healthy nations would be in the interests of its neighbors, in
the region and the world. So our neighbors, such as Australia,
also have a stake in the success of Indonesia.

As Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas has stated: "What we
had hoped was that public opinion would not forget Indonesia's
constructive role in world affairs. We are not a pariah country
that is looking inward or that deserves to be hit on one issue
only. Yes, we have an issue, we have East Timor, but that's a
complex issue with a long history that we are trying to resolve.
We are a huge society and it is not an easy country to govern. We
have come very far."

Indonesia, it might be added, is a friend of Australia's, not
an enemy. It is important that it does not become an opponent.
Because an Indonesia that is feeling unjustifiably pushed around,
an Indonesia that feels that Indonesia-bashing is going on,
reaches a point where it may well say, "Well, OK, we've done what
we can. If that's not understood then we'll just shrug our
shoulders and continue on."

Richard Woolcott, former Australian ambassador to Indonesia,
revisited Indonesia last month and one of his observations bears
sharing with you. "One change since my last visit was the growing
view among leading political figures in all parties that
Australia was becoming rather boastful about its role in
assisting Indonesia and too intrusive in seeking to shape
Indonesian policies, especially in relation to East Timor". He
goes on, "A feeling was also evident that, unlike Indonesia's
ASEAN colleagues, Australia may be inadvertently distancing
itself from Indonesia because of our preoccupation with East
Timor, a preoccupation not fully understood in Indonesia and not
shared by other countries in the region".

As in all human relationships, that between Australia and
Indonesia has not been without its difficulties which, as I noted
earlier, was due primarily to the differences in our cultural
ways and political styles. But being such close neighbors at a
time when the world has radically globalized through a revolution
in communications technology and other developments, it is only
natural that the frequent and the intensive exposure in the two
countries of one another may lead to critical scrutiny, which
could sometimes occasion irritation and lead to misperceptions
and misunderstandings that are magnified by unbalanced and unfair
media reporting. However, we should not be discouraged by this as
it is all part of the cross-cultural dialog and, in the end, both
countries have no choice but to try and understand each other,
appreciate each other better and help each other more
effectively.

There continues to be many difficult problems confronting our
relations, but it is reasonable to be optimistic about the future
of Australia-Indonesia relations. These are excellent government-
to-government and over time, together, we have developed friendly
and dynamic contacts at all levels. This has been proven in both
the good and the bad times, such that the relationship now
assumes the character of irreversibility.

The fact that only a relatively small number of Australian
companies did not opt to stay on in Indonesia during the crisis
period lends weight to this contention as does, for example, the
exciting new initiative of the listing of the first fully fledged
Indonesian company, PT Aneka Tambang, on the Australian Stock
Exchange.

In the education field, from 1998, and for the first time,
there were more Indonesians studying in Australia than from any
other Asian country. Ninety five percent of these were private
students. There may well come the day when a majority of
Indonesia's new band of leaders in government, in the bureaucracy
and in business have received at least a part of their formal
education in Australia. Coordinating Minister for Development
Supervision and State Administrative Reforms Hartarto
Sastrosoenarto, presidential assistant Dewi Fortuna Anwar and
prominent businessman James Riady are three well-known current
examples, but I sense it will soon emerge as a fairly commonplace
occurrence. In the area of tourism, according to the latest ABS
statistics, there are now more Australians traveling to Indonesia
than to any other destination apart from New Zealand, surpassing
the traditional tourist havens for Australians of the United
Kingdom and the United States.

Looking at the current Indonesian situation, we see that there
are many opportunities there for mutually beneficial cooperation
in the business as well as the services sectors. But naturally,
one has first to think positively about Indonesia, and also be
forward looking. The recent highly profitable and innovative
experiences of the ANZ Bank in Indonesia in my view stands out as
a splendid example of what can be achieved.

As I ready myself for my return to Indonesia, there still
remain some very important areas of unfinished business. I am
referring in particular to the popular consultation in East Timor
on Aug. 30, the make up of the governing coalition and opposition
parties and the coming session of the People's Consultative
Assembly in November, when it meets to elect a president to take
Indonesia into the next millennium. Doubtless, we are all eagerly
awaiting the final outcome of these events. On the East Timor
question, we are basically relaxed about the outcome. If
independence is what the people decide, then we will not stand in
the way, but should the people choose independence, the obvious
corollary of this is that neither can we be expected to stay
there for long after the vote has been declared. But even with
the popular consultation resolved it is still not be the end of
the story. There are serious concerns over the longer-term
sustainability and stability of this half an island with few
resources.

On the election of the fourth president of the Republic of
Indonesia, the views could conceivably be divided between the
supporters of those who seek continuity and experience, those
that want a fresh team, unencumbered with the burdens of the
past, and those who support an outsider for the position,
especially if there is a deadlock.

What the outcome will be, only time will tell, and that choice
will be made by the 700 members of the People's Consultative
Assembly. Indonesia can no longer afford to have it played out on
the streets. What more could we ask for than the election of a
legitimate president leading a stable government and in a
politically stable environment. If we can achieve this, there's
no reason why we can't soon once again become a major player and
contributor to the prosperity and stability of the region.