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.