Indonesia-Australia ties on a never-ending roller coaster

By Al Busyra Basnur

JAKARTA (JP): The recent visit of Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer to Jakarta aimed at, among others, offering help to Indonesia to ease the current economic crisis being faced by Indonesians not only indicates the serious concern of a neighbor but also shows the depth of Australia's friendship with Indonesia, coming to Indonesia's aid every time it is in difficulty.

It is well-known that both countries have been close friends since way back. It was during the revolutionary period in Indonesia (1945 to 1949) that Australia first began to build a close relationship with Indonesia.

Aside from the recognition given by the Australian government to the newborn Republic of Indonesia on a de facto basis (July 1947) and on a de jure basis (December 1949), many Australian organizations such as the Australian Trade Union and individuals organized a number of rallies to collect aid for Indonesia.

Meanwhile, the Australian waterside boycotted the loading of Dutch ships destined for Indonesian ports. And when the United Nations formed a Good Offices Committee in 1947 to search for a solution to the Indonesia-Dutch bilateral conflict, Australia acted as Indonesia's representative in the commission and did a good job of protecting Indonesia's interests.

Foreign Minister Downer's visit to Indonesia perhaps reminded many Indonesians that there has been recent strain, albeit slight, in the diplomatic ties between the two countries. Australia has been seeking to participate in the Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) and, for a while, there were doubts as to Indonesia's actual stand on the matter. Although it has been explained quite clearly through high-level diplomatic channels that the Indonesian government remains firmly committed to supporting Australian participation in ASEM, many Australians still doubt that this is Indonesia's actual stand on the matter.

Geographically, Indonesia and Australia are right next door to each other but their bilateral relations have not always been perfectly smooth. The dynamics of their relationship could be compared to a loaded roller coaster, going up and down to hard rock music. A high period is usually followed by a period of decline.

For example, the warm relationship between the two countries during the Indonesian revolution deteriorated with Indonesia's efforts to regain Irian Jaya (formerly West Irian) and Indonesia's confrontation with Malaysia. In subsequent years, the harmonious relationship of the two countries at the beginning of the Soeharto era in the mid-1960s was also eroded by adverse reporting in Australian mass media. A notable instance was David Jenkins' writing on Soeharto in the Sydney Morning Herald on April 10, 1986 which Indonesian leaders considered misinformation that led to misunderstanding, which certainly strained the relationship between the two countries.

On a regular basis, negative comments and cynical information published by certain Australian media always strains Indonesian- Australian relations as these have particularly irritated Indonesian leaders. In retrospect, since the death of five Australian journalists in East Timor in 1975, the Australian media frequently have made it a habit to broadcast and print news on Indonesia that many Indonesian leaders have regarded as negative comments and misinformation that lead to misunderstanding, thereby widening whatever gap existing between the two countries at any given moment.

Basically, there are several factors that account for this roller-coaster relationship between Jakarta and Canberra: the differentiation of their political systems, security doctrines, stages of economic development and cultural values. These have sometimes led the two countries to misunderstand and harbor doubts about each other. Prof. Grame Hugo of the University of Adelaide admits that there are still many Australian bureaucrats who do not understand Indonesia very well because of cultural differences and language difficulties.

The relationship between Indonesia and Australia is indeed very important not only on a bilateral basis but also in the framework of regional stability. This is evident in the signing of a number of momentous bilateral agreements such as the Timor Gap Agreement, the Agreement for Maintaining Security, the Maritime Boundary Agreement and the Agreement to Launch the Australia-Indonesia Development Area (AIDA). Regionally, both are actively involved in the ASEAN Post-Ministerial Conferences, the ASEAN-Australia Dialog, APEC and the ASEAN Regional Forum.

Both countries realize that they are different in many ways but this has not stopped either from striving to enhance and deepen their excellent relationship. In fact, their differences have only served to spur them to strive harder to achieve mutual understanding.

In the view of Australia, Indonesia is an important neighboring country in the north and this is not only because of the size of Indonesia's territory and population, but also because of the positive role that Indonesia has played regionally and internationally. The recently leaked Australian white paper shows that the Australian coalition government considers Indonesia third in the order of importance among foreign countries, behind the United States and Japan. In fourth place is China. It is also worth noting that, since the Howard government came into power in Australia in 1996, Indonesia was the first country that the Australian prime minister and the Australian foreign minister visited. A good number of visits to Indonesia were subsequently made by these two Australian leaders.

There were indeed some worries in Indonesia before the formation of the current Australian government in 1996 because a survey had shown that 76 percent of coalition respondents believed Indonesia was a threat to Australia.

The question of East Timor is one of the most important issues in the overall Indonesian-Australian relationship. From the beginning, Australia has demonstrated a very realistic and firm stand over East Timor's integration with Indonesia. There is no doubt that Australia knew what was going on in East Timor before, during and after integration. The facts and the realities in East Timor at that time prompted the Fraser government to recognize East Timor's integration with Indonesia on a de facto basis in 1978 and on a de jure basis in 1983. Again, in 1985, prime minister Bob Hawke had occasion to reiterate that East Timorese were citizens of Indonesia. The said recognition was reinforced by the historic signing of the Timor Gap Treaty in 1989 which came into force in 1991. In his recent visit to Indonesia, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, again, reiterated his government's support for Indonesia, rejecting the idea of a referendum on East Timor as proposed by Ramos-Horta.

Australia is a country very close to Indonesian eyes. It should also ideally be close to Indonesian hearts. Hence, it is time now for Indonesia to step up its relationship with Australia for several reasons.

First, Australia has been one of our best friends since the beginning of Indonesia's independence. Canberra has also been supportive of Indonesia on the East Timor issue and has extended assistance and cooperation to Indonesia in view of the economic crisis that the country is in.

Second, Australia, one of the richest countries in the world, has been a long-time partner of Indonesia in development cooperation, particularly with reference to the eastern part of Indonesia.

Third, the wave of reform which now has Indonesia engrossed is supported by Australia. Eventually the quality of Indonesia's national reform will determine to a large extent how it will be looked upon by neighbors such as Australia.

On the other hand, realizing that Indonesia and Australia are far apart in terms of political, socioeconomical structures and cultural values, and in order to enhance relations between the two countries, Australia should be able to take a realistic view of such differences and strive for greater mutual understanding, promoting friendly exchanges and equitable cooperation.

And whatever difficulties there may be in that relationship, these difficulties can be overcome if both countries begin to regard each other with new eyes and from a new angle. Since Indonesia has entered a new era of reform, and Australian has been asserting a policy of engagement with Asia in recent years, we hope the relationship between Indonesia and Australia will grow and strengthen more as both countries face the challenges of a new century and millennium.

The writer is an international observer, alumnus of University of the Santo Tomas (UST), Manila, Philippines. He currently works at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Window A: The question of East Timor is one of the most important issues in the overall Indonesian-Australian relationship. From the beginning, Australia has demonstrated a very realistic and firm stand over East Timor's integration with Indonesia.

Window B: Australia is a country very close to Indonesian eyes. It should also ideally be close to Indonesian hearts. Hence, it is time now for Indonesia to step up its relationship with Australia for several reasons.