On Australian businessmen

The prominence given to the series of opinion articles contributed by Max Lane over the past year is courageous and reminiscent of the popular opinion-making newspapers of Australia's early-1970s reform period, such as The Digger, Honi Soit and Direct Action.

Lane's most recent article, Exploiter and exploited -- Australia and Indonesia ( The Jakarta Post on Oct. 31) was a special highlight.

Its references to Australia's economy prospering as a result of third world exploitation, to the "many Australian businessmen who are now extremely wealthy because of their operations in Indonesia during the Soeharto-Golkar dictatorship" and Australian companies "benefiting from the absence of trade unions, of no environmental laws, and so on", has shifted Indonesian-Australian perceptions to a new level.

Lane should be encouraged to identify each of these disgraceful individuals and corporations so that corrective action can be considered. I don't believe he would shirk that responsibility.

A gifted translator, Lane is also the foreign affairs spokesperson of Australia's large and influential Democratic Socialist Party (DSP); a Marxist, sometimes Trotskyist, revolutionary socialist organization known for its powerful physical presence during the World Economic Forum and other meetings of international capitalism held in Australia.

Lane's contemporary Indonesian political sources are also impeccable. He has worked on a documentary about Indonesia with John Pilger, inspired the creation of the DSP's "solidarity partner" in Indonesia, the People's Democratic Party lead by Dita Sari of the Indonesian National Front for Workers' Struggle (FNPBI) and continues to chair the Action in Solidarity with Asia and the Pacific (ASAP) organization.

In the context of his work with ASAP, Lane should also be invited to update his comments on "concerns about whether Indonesian unity can be maintained" (The Jakarta Post, June 11, 2002) and the progress of the popular front he proposes between the peoples of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea (the "arc of instability") against the United States, the IMF and the "War against Terror".

Formerly known as Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor, ASAP is mobilizing support throughout Australia for the Acehnese People's Democratic Resistance Front's fight for independence and the right of self-determination for the people of West Papua.

GEOFFREY GOLD, Gold Group Asia/Pacific, Jakarta