Jakarta-Canberra: It's time to be open with each other

Jakarta-Canberra: It's time to be open with each other

Dewi Anggraeni, Contributor, Melbourne

Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda appears to believe
that if the relationship between two countries is worth
maintaining, a certain amount of frankness is necessary. That was
the impression he gave the audience at the Asia Society Australia
Asia Center luncheon last Friday in Melbourne.

The foreign minister obviously made a fine judgment of timing,
because the guests and the media present, while a little taken
aback at his forthrightness, seemed to have taken it with some
grace.

The minister began with a brief historical overview of the
relationship between Indonesia and Australia, back to the
struggle for independence in 1947, when Indonesia had benefited
from Australia's goodwill as it represented the country on the
United Nations' Three Power Commission. He then went on, listing
forums and dialogs where the two countries had worked together
effectively and successfully in the region's peace process,
despite the fact that they had to continuously address their
differences in political background and outlook.

The crunch came when he touched a sensitive area, the recent
cause of Indonesian resentment against Australia.

He recalled the previous (Labor) government's platform as
"unapologetically committed to a future with Asia" with its
foreign policy being that no issue was more important than
advancing its engagement with Asia.

"And the Labor government's initiatives left no doubt in the
minds of its Asian counterparts that it was truly and deeply
committed to such an approach to foreign policy," he concluded.

He then compared the Labor government's stance with the
present Liberal (Coalition) government. As soon as it came to
power, it was seen as moving to align itself with Europe and
increasingly with the United States, at the expense of its close
ties with Asia. The foreign minister even mentioned "reports that
Prime Minister Howard had voiced Australia's aspiration to be the
sheriff's deputy of the United States in this part of the world"
-- which now seems to be a source of embarrassment to all in
Australia.

Digging deeper into the metaphorical sore, he reminded the
audience how Howard had intimated that Australia was considering
preemptive strikes against terrorist networks in other countries,
presumably Asian or Southeast Asian countries, and stressed the
outrage and resentment this had caused in the region.

"This is the kind of assertion that Asian nations have come to
expect from the United States, but not from a close regional
neighbor that is usually more considerate of their
sensitivities," he said, implying that Australia had quickly lost
the image of a friendly neighbor and had instead gained that of
someone who would unscrupulously betray their friends.

Hassan said that until 1999, Indonesia continued to play a
bridging role for Australia not only in the Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC) forum, but also in other forums where it was
economically and diplomatically beneficial for Australia to be
associated with Asia.

Yet instead of reciprocating, Australia continued to show a
lack of respect for Indonesia. On the eve of its federal
elections in 2001, for instance, Indonesia was blamed for not
doing enough to stem the flow of illegal migrants to Australia,
which eventually brought about the Tampa crisis.

However, he did admit that Indonesia's reaction had been just
as emotional and irrational, with some circles in the legislature
and the public demanding the government sever its ties with
Australia.

Going on to reminiscing moments of goodwill and evidence of
success in the perseverance of bilateral cooperation, the
minister deftly allowed the guests to recover from being winded
by his backhanded -- albeit gloved -- delivery.

The good news is, despite this unexpected candidness from a
serving senior minister of a country -- which Australia, from all
its public statements and policy initiatives, seems to regard as
a junior partner -- there has not been any negative reactions,
from either the politicians or the media.

Maybe they see a much more pressing issue looming over the
horizon: Combating terrorism, in which Indonesia's cooperation is
sine qua non.

As for Indonesia, now that its resentment has been voiced, it
no longer needs to feel slighted and frustrated. What is more,
the relationship between the two countries seems to have
sufficiently matured for each to be more open with the other.

It is about time, too, if we want to work together in
something as difficult and as demanding of mutual trust as
combating terrorism, in which the exchange of intelligence plays
a central role.