New govt to improve Australia ties

New govt to improve Australia ties

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is looking to mend ties
between Jakarta and Canberra, which have been strained since
Australia led a multinational peacekeeping force in East Timor in
1999.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said on Thursday
that his office was looking into the possibility of Susilo making
his first foreign bilateral visit to Australia.

"We have to pay attention to our neighbor to the southeast ...
we have to give Australia priority," Hassan said after
accompanying the President in a meeting with East Timor's Prime
Minister Mari Alkatiri.

He did not say when the visit would take place, but hinted
that it could take place soon after Susilo's first 100 days in
office.

"The President has said that he will not take any bilateral
visits outside Indonesia (so he could focus on domestic issues)
during his first 100 days," Hassan said.

Bilateral relations between Jakarta and Canberra were put to
the test during and after Australia led a multinational
peacekeeping force in East Timor to end widespread violence in
the immediate aftermath of that country's independence referendum
in 1999 after the Indonesian military was not able to curb the
bloodshed.

While Australian Prime Minister John Howard has made at least
five visits to Jakarta since 2000, only once has an Indonesian
leader, former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, made an
official visit to Australia.

Gus Dur visited Australia just one month before he was
impeached by the People's Consultative Assembly in July 2001.

Hassan said Indonesia appreciated Howard's attendance at the
inauguration of Susilo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla.

Howard was one of five heads of government of neighboring
countries that attended Susilo's inauguration on Wednesday. The
other four were Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi,
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Brunei Sultan
Hassanal Bolkiah and East Timor Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri.

Howard was the first head of state to hold bilateral talks
with Susilo, earlier on Tuesday.

Australia remains one of the country's main trading partners,
with Indonesia enjoying a surplus of US$375 million in the first
half of 2004 alone.

Hassan said his office had recommended that his former boss
Megawati Soekarnoputri pay a state visit to Australia, but it
never occurred for various reasons.

"We had set definite dates for the visits twice, but they
failed to materialize due to a hectic campaign schedule for
former president Megawati," he said.

Hassan was reappointed as Minister for Foreign Affairs by
Susilo, who was also Megawati's former coordinating minister for
political and security affairs.

Aside from the bilateral visit after the first 100 days,
Susilo is slated to attend the multilateral conferences, the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Chile and the
Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Laos next
month.

"He has confirmed his attendance to the two Summits," Hassan
said.