Pauline Hanson factor fails to rate Indonesia: Study

Pauline Hanson factor fails to rate Indonesia: Study

By Rob Goodfellow

WOLLONGONG, Australia (JP): A recent qualitative study
conducted in Indonesia suggests that the Pauline Hanson Factor
was not high in the minds of the average Indonesian man in the
street.

This was just one of a number of findings made in a study
involving 100 ordinary Indonesian people by Wollongong
University-based IRIS Research.

The survey group included Indonesian high school students,
retired people, university undergraduates and wage and salary
earners, and was conducted in the city of Yogyakarta in Central
Java. Yogyakarta has over 70 universities and colleges and is
widely accepted as Indonesia's "cultural and educational
capital".

The survey followed similar research conducted in Australia in
1994.

Following its release, the results of the "Australian
attitudes to Indonesia" questionnaire were widely published,
discussed and debated in both countries.

Like the Australian survey, the Indonesian-based research
asked four questions of a mixed gender sample of 100 high school
students, retired people, university undergraduates and wage and
salary earners. Twenty-five Indonesian people in each group were
randomly selected and asked the following questions -- what is
the first thing you think of when I say the word "Australia", who
is the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia, what is
the capital of Australia, and, finally, what are your feelings
about present and future bilateral relations?

In contrast to the same survey conducted with an Australian
sample in 1994, which exposed an overwhelmingly negative or
hostile attitude to Indonesia, this questionnaire revealed that
most Indonesians in the survey group had a warm or positive
opinion of Australia.

One surprising result was that 22 percent of the sample
believed that Paul Keating was still Prime Minister of Australia,
68 percent did not know or would not comment and only 11 percent
were able to correctly identify John Howard as the leader of
Indonesia's closest neighbor.

However, the most unexpected result was that "Pauline Hanson"
or the "One Nation Party" was not raised at all, as either a
negative first impression or as a criticism of Australia.

Significantly the survey team had expected Hanson and One
Nation to be major issues of concern to Indonesians but that this
had not been a feature at all. Two questions covering top of mind
impressions and the future of bilateral relationships did not
elicit any unprompted mention of One Nation from any respondent.

Martin O'Shannessy, chief executive officer of IRIS Research,
actually suggested in response to the findings of the survey that
the most striking contrast borne out by the questionnaire was the
difference between attitudes expressed in Australia and Indonesia
about the negative impact of One Nation.

The other important factor is that while the 1993 study found
that Australians were ignorant and suspicious in their attitudes
toward Indonesia, the 1998 survey showed that a warm and
optimistic view of Australia is held by Indonesians with 100
percent of respondents giving a positive or even affectionate
response when questioned on their top of mind impressions about
Australia.

Images of kangaroos, aborigines, farming, beautiful cities and
cultural landmarks were all positively mentioned as well as the
quality of education and tourism opportunities.

Significantly, 100 percent of retired people surveyed believed
that relations between Indonesia and Australia were "close" or
"good".

On the negative side, 24 percent of high school students
recorded critical responses. These included that "relations with
Australia were good before Australia confronted Indonesia at the
1998 Asian Europe Meeting (ASEM) in London. Since then, they have
been cold or distant"; and "far because the Indonesian government
is in total disorder and the Indonesian economy is ruined because
of the monetary crisis".

Two respondents mentioned that relationships between the two
nations were "distant" "because of the geographical distance
between borders".

Twenty-eight percent of salary earners surveyed made negative
comments about future relationships based on perceptions of
Australia's role in the East Timor controversy. For example,
"far apart because many people from East Timor in Australia raise
human rights issues against Indonesia. However relations can
improve if we have cooperation in the field of student and
cultural exchanges"; "not so harmonious because fugitives of
Fretilin (an opposition party in East Timor) are given sanctuary
in Australia"; "relations are far apart because of the troubles
in East Timor, especially because the hand of Fretilin can be
seen in Australia's support and Australia has combined with
Portugal to undermine Indonesia's position"; and finally
"disturbed because relations over East Timor are strained".

Finally, of the Gadjah Mada University students surveyed a 16
percent negative response was noted, including the following;
"Far apart because of the cultural differences between the two
countries and because each country must follow a different or
distinctive political path"; "rather estranged because
Australians are frightened that there are so many people in
Indonesia and that one day, Indonesia will have to expand its
territory to include Australia".

The writer is a Ph.D. research fellow at the University of
Wollongong, journalist, author and Indonesian cultural
consultant.