Indonesia-Australia ties on a never-ending roller coaster
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.