No quick fix for Australia-Indonesia ties

By Vivienne Stanton

CANBERRA (Reuters): Australia sees the election of a new president in Indonesia as a chance to mend battered ties, but domestic pressure on Abdurrahman Wahid will make it difficult for him to respond.

Wahid, a frail, almost blind Muslim cleric, was quoted by Australian newspapers recently as describing Canberra's policy towards East Timor as "pissing in our face" and a betrayal of the Indonesian people.

"Wahid has got to be seen as a fierce defender of Indonesia's national integrity," said Richard Robison, director of the Asian Research Center in Perth in Western Australia.

"He's aware that people in the leadership are a bit sensitive about Timor and Australia's role and I think that he has to be sympathetic to that feeling and portray that to the nationalists. I don't think there's going to be any short term reconciliation."

Australia has a lot at stake in mending the relationship.

Indonesia is its 10th largest trading partner, taking about A$1.4 billion (US$900 million) of goods last year, and is Australia's main customer for cotton, and a major customer for wheat and raw sugar. Strategically, Australia needs a friendly Indonesia as it is its nearest and largest Asian neighbor.

Canberra-Jakarta ties have frayed over Australia's strong support for the UN-organized ballot on Aug. 30 that saw East Timorese vote overwhelmingly for independence from Indonesia.

Australia was a vocal critic of Jakarta after the violence that followed the ballot and subsequently led a multinational force to restore peace in the troubled territory.

Since then military links between the two nations have been suspended and Australia's embassy in Jakarta has been attacked by protesters. Australian businesses in Indonesia have evacuated expatriate workers and Indonesia has threatened to stop buying Australian goods.

On Wednesday, Australian Prime Minister John Howard told parliament Canberra would offer Wahid "the hand of friendship", but conceded it would take time to reconstruct bilateral ties.

"It can't be achieved overnight. Because of Timor, there is an inevitable strain been put upon them, but over time I believe the relationship will improve," Howard said.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer also said he believed Canberra would be able to work with Wahid, dismissing his earlier criticism of Australia.

"Now he's become the president, of course, the environment in which he operates is a different environment, and we look forward over time to working with him," Downer told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio.

Working in Canberra's favor may be the fact that Wahid is no stranger to Australian shores. He has made numerous visits, some for medical treatment. "He's been to Australia on a number of occasions. He's very well known to our ambassador and our embassy in Jakarta," said Downer.

But neither Howard nor Downer plan to visit Jakarta in the near future, saying such a meeting would be premature, and analysts agree that a softer approach by Australia would probably work best to heal the bilateral rift.

"The Australian government just has to work quietly behind the scenes, no great gestures, just slowly building relationships again," Adrian Vickers, Indonesia historian at Wollongong University, said. "Time will heal this wound but it could take two or three years."

But Howard was wrong footed a day before Wednesday's presidential vote, when he said that a victory for Wahid's rival Megawati Soekarnoputri, whose party holds the most seats in the Indonesian parliament, would be the most democratic outcome.

"It was not a smart thing to do, particularly with the volatility of the situation," Robison said.