Reform boosts Indonesia-Australia ties

Reform boosts Indonesia-Australia ties

By Al Busyra Basnur

JAKARTA (JP): The meeting of Indonesia's President, B.J.
Habibie, and Prime Minister John Howard of Australia in Bali on
April 27, 1999, indicates Australia's well-intentioned desire to
help solve the problem of East Timor. The dialog between the two
leaders was very meaningful to the future of East Timor.

Habibie's agreement to hold this meeting was not only a
recognition of the close relations between Jakarta and Canberra
but also an acceptance by Indonesia of Australia as an important
player in the process of a solution for East Timor.

In Australia, the responses to that summit varied. For
example, The Australian Financial Review (April 20), wrote that
the summit meeting was obvious and urgent. It said the ongoing
events in East Timor now constitute the gravest threat to
Australian-Indonesian relations since a "confrontation" nearly 40
years ago. Another Australian leading newspaper, The Canberra
Times (May 1), praised Howard by saying that he stuck his neck
out when he requested a summit, calling it a gamble, a risky one,
which turned out to be a winning one.

However, beyond the good offices and the role that Australia
has played in the search for a solution for East Timor, the
meeting has a significant implication to the future of
Australia's foreign policy toward Asia, especially in the
Southeast Asian region. These Australian initiatives substantiate
what Benjamin N. Mugeno wrote 10 years ago about Australia's
foreign policies and Canberra's interest in Asian development.

In his article titled Inter-State Rivalry and National
Security Dilemmas in Southeast Asia, Mugeno said that because of
its wealth, ample resources and high level of industrial and
technological development, Australia has the potential to become
a major military and economic actor in Southeast Asia. This will
be especially true if the United States scales down its military
presence in Southeast Asia or withdraws from the region
altogether.

Moreover, Canberra's wish to participate in the Asia-European
Meeting (ASEM) as part of the Asian side is one indication of
Australia's intention to be closer to Asian communities.

Australian relations with Asian countries, so far, are without
any significant obstacles. This is a plus factor for Canberra.
Australia's wide-ranging involvement in many sectors of Asian
social and economic development, especially in Indonesia, have
resulted in Asians being well-acquainted with Australians. In the
Asian economic crisis, Australia's helpfulness has benefited many
countries in the region. Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong of
Singapore even urged Australia to take a leading role in
convincing the West to assist more actively in resolving the
Asian crisis.

However, some of the Asian communities still regard Australia
as an exclusive country. It is claimed that Australian knowledge
and understanding of Asia is not equal to that of Asia toward
Australia. In addition, racism on the part of a few Australians
(exemplified by Hanson and her One Nation Party) is a source of
friction in Australian-Asian relations albeit Prime Minister John
Howard has convinced Asians that Australia is a tolerant and
compassionate society.

The lack of Australian knowledge toward Asia was clearly shown
in a survey held in the early 1990s, which indicated that more
than 95 percent of Australian children can complete university
education without learning anything about Asia. Meanwhile, in the
entire Australian Parliament there is only one person who is
fluent in an Asian language.

In connection with these findings, it is interesting to note
the comment of Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew who was once asked to
come to Australia to stir the Australian "possum" about Asia. He
said "I do not know about that. If I am approached by the
Japanese who want to add something to what they know I'd say 'I
accept', because the Japanese will listen and try to do something
to change. I've been to Australia. I've talked bluntly about
Australia and Asia. But I see no change." (see S.F. Gerald,
1997).

As an old friend and immediate neighbor to the north,
Indonesia has indeed a great potential to play a better role in
bridging Australia with Asia, especially Southeast Asian
countries. The white paper published by the coalition government
two years ago which cited Indonesia as one of the most important
countries to Australia aside from the United States and Japan is
an indication that Indonesia is very significant to Australia's
interests. The Indonesian economic crisis definitely will not
shatter the nation. Indonesia may now look like a candle
flickering in the wind, but the candle will soon become a set of
power plants that will restore Indonesia's status as a "giant".
Australian Ambassador to Indonesia, John McCarty has said that he
believes Indonesia has the potential to be a great nation and
prosper albeit it has plenty of economic, political and social
problems.

Indonesia's long-standing closeness with other countries in
Southeast Asia and East Asia as well as with regional
organizations in the region, will enable it to help bridge
Australia and Asia. This hopefully can be seen more obviously
after Indonesia's general election and a new Indonesian
government is established, and whatever the result of the Aug. 8
ballot on the status of East Timor, in which Australia plays an
important role. But this is not the sole factor. Indonesia's
capability to help Australia in its drive to integrate with Asia,
however, also depends a great deal on Indonesia's capability to
solve its many current problems in the economic, social, and
political spheres.

Jakarta and Canberra have a friendship based on history.
Starting from the period of Indonesia's struggle for
independence, Australia has been very supportive and helpful.
Since the opening of their diplomatic relations in 1949, both
countries have maintained good bilateral relations and benefited
from each other, particularly in economic and social affairs
(Basnur, Indonesia-Australia Ties on Never Ending Roller Coaster,
The Jakarta Post, July 21, 1998)

The major agreements on bilateral cooperation that both have
signed include agreements on the Timor Gap (1989), Mutual
Security (1995), Australia Indonesia Development Area (AIDA -
1996) and the Seabed Boundaries (1997).

Other important achievements are sister state/city
cooperations between Queensland and Central Java, the Northern
Territory and the Eastern Indonesian Provinces, West Australia
and East Java, New South Wales and Jakarta's Special Territory,
South Australia and West Java, Lismore and Ujungpandang, Darwin
and Ambon, Brisbane and Semarang and Jakarta and Sydney.

If a number of "incidents" irritated bilateral relations in
the past, these were the consequences of differences in culture,
language, race and historical background as well as limited
knowledge about each other. Two incidents in 1986, involving an
article in the Sydney Morning Herald and Richard Robinson's book
on the Soeharto family's wealth, caused some negative vibrations
in the two countries' bilateral relations, but with the political
reformation in Indonesia, incidents like these will hopefully
never happen again.

The writer is an alumnus of the University of Santo Tomas
(IST), Manila, Philippines who now works at the Foreign Affairs
Ministry. The opinions expressed here are entirely his own.