'Kangaroo 95' brings neighbors together

By Dewi Anggraeni

MELBOURNE, Australia (JP): Kangaroo 95, or the K-95 defense exercise in Australia which involved 17,000 navy, army and air force personnel, 16 ships, 110 aircraft and large numbers of wheeled and tracked vehicles, just ended. Despite protests in various places in Australia, the exercise went smoothly and was visited by Indonesian Minister of Defense Edi Sudradjat and Indonesian Armed Forces Commander Feisal Tanjung.

When asked how the exercise effected the relationship between Indonesia and Australia, chief defense force spokesman, Brigadier Adrian D'Hage, unreservedly said it had been an outstanding success. Not only did it promote greater cooperation to achieve a more secure region, it also helped the two countries' forces develop camaraderie on an informal level.

Australia organizes Kangaroo exercises once every three years. This was the first Kangaroo exercise that included countries other than the U.S and New Zealand. More significantly, Indonesia was the second largest guest, after the Americans, with approximately 160 of its paratroopers taking part. The other participating countries were Malaysia, Singapore, Papua New Guinea, the United Kingdom and Canada.

Since the objective of K-95 is to test the ability of the combined force to defend Australia with little warning, there is an implicit recognition that Indonesia is not regarded as a possible aggressor. In his news release, the Chief of the Australian Defense Force, General John Baker, stated that Australia had invited regional countries to participate in K-95 in keeping with the policy of engaging "our near neighbors in closer defense cooperation as outlined in the 1994 Defense White Paper."

The Australian Defense Force seemingly regards its relationship with the Indonesian Armed Forces (ABRI) as solid.

When asked what impact the protests had on the exercise, Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Reynolds, the head of Media Liaison Office of K-95, simply answered, "None whatsoever. The Defense Force in Australia is apolitical. We only carry out what has been decided by the politicians."

It is curious that, following the first flag-burning incident in front of Defense Minister Robert Ray's electoral office in the Melbourne suburb of Nunawading, it was ABRI that denied its occurrence. Most probably, because the Australian media were not aware of the incident, ABRI thought the report had been fabricated by a mischievous stirrer with a vested interest in damaging Australian and Indonesian relations.

The flag burning was then literally blown out of proportion in the Indonesian media. ABRI's immediate damage control strategy was to deny everything. However, subsequent flag-burnings on Indonesia's Independence Day two weeks later were widely reported in Australia, and even copied by a group of protesters who burnt an Australian flag in front of the Australian Embassy in Jakarta. ABRI, however, continued to react soberly. This contrasted with the outrage expressed by many non-ABRI individuals.

In the meantime, K-95 was in full swing, seemingly oblivious to all the noise and controversy surrounding it.

Every year there are at least five protests involving public flag burnings in Australia. They have invoked nothing stronger than a frown from a passerby. This time it was different.

Robert Ray was so disgusted by the insensitivity of the flag- burners that he proposed that burning foreign nations' flags be outlawed. This warranted a reaction from the Opposition Leader John Howard, who confessed to being annoyed by the same insensitivity which disgusted Robert Ray. However, John Howard opposed a legal ban, saying it was against the democratic right of the people to protest. Howard even quoted Voltaire, "I don't agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."

In an exclusive interview, answering my question about the rather troublesome relationship between the two nations, Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Gareth Evans said, "The relationship between us is just too substantial and too important to be allowed to be blown off-course by what are essentially a few protest groups on each side. At the governmental level, whether one is talking about foreign relations, economic relations or defense relations, I still believe that the commitment is very strong. Each side realizes that we'd have an enormous amount to lose if we allowed the relationship to be blown off-course."

Indonesia helped defend Australia from the fictitious enemy Orange Land in an exercise stretching from Derby in Western Australia across the Northern Territory to Queensland on the east coast, including international and territorial waters.

"Who then is Orange Land?" wonder political observers. One thing is sure, it isn't Australia's near neighbor Indonesia.

Senator Evans assured: "The days of regarding all the countries to our north as a source of threat rather than opportunity for Australia, are over. Most Australians want friendship with Indonesia. They want a good economic and political relationships with Indonesia."