RI-Australia ties: Now time to look forward again

This article is based on address of Australian ambassador to Indonesia, John McCarthy, at the annual dinner of Ikama, The Australian alumni group, Shangri-La Hotel, Jakarta, on Nov. 12.

JAKARTA: Members of the Embassy and I have spent much of the last three months seeking to reassure Indonesians of the motives for our role in East Timor. Australia has been accused of having acted in East Timor because of some grand strategic design or economic ambition. We have sought to lay these notions to rest -- what occurred in East Timor presented us with no strategic advantage and no economic benefit. We acted as we did because of humanitarian concerns which touched a wide cross-section of the Australian people, just as they did many Indonesians. We have also stressed the importance we attach to our relationship with Indonesia, notwithstanding disagreements over East Timor.

I know that I at least have at best only partially succeeded in getting this message across. Neither Australia nor Indonesia has fully comprehended the approach in each country to the other, and the sentiments which underlie these approaches.

But I don't want to dwell at length about the crisis in our relationship, but rather, to focus on what can be done to fix things up.

Three things have happened that have in fact eased the crisis.

The People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) voted to accept the outcome of the United Nations referendum in East Timor and to separate East Timor from the Republic. This was undoubtedly painful but it perhaps also had a cathartic effect. These was a sense that a decision had been taken and that Indonesia had taken that decision.

The successful completion of the presidential elections automatically diminished the political force of the East Timor issue, which had been contentious for many of the parties involved in the election.

And, dare I say, the International Force in East Timor or Interfet (or the "Australian-led Interfet" as the media in Indonesia inevitably portrays it) has handled itself with skill. While there have been casualties -- including the death of a policeman -- which we regret, they have been few. The Australian military presence in East Timor will diminish further as an issue once our force strength is more than halved when Interfet hands over to the UN blue beret peacekeeping force in January. Already the percentage of Australian troops is much diminished as the contingents from the other 16 countries currently contributing troops have arrived and taken up duty in East Timor.

Moreover, in both countries, governments have taken steps to limit the impact in the crisis in relations.

From the outset, our Prime Minister publicly condemned flag burning and actions taken against Indonesian Government property in Australia.

While I have yet to see first hand evidence of Indonesian students in Australia being mistreated -- something which we would all condemn -- our Minister for Education publicly sought to reassure Indonesian students on Sept. 23. Our Vice Chancellor's Committee did the same on Oct. 7.

At a non-governmental level a very positive letter was sent by the Australian Council of Trade Unions to The Jakarta Post about Union policy towards Indonesia which made it clear that there are no union bans in place and spoke of the importance of our peoples continuing to work together, of visiting each other's country in peace and building a better future for all of our people and their children.

After the Indonesian presidential election, our Prime Minister welcomed the election of President Gur Dur and Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri. And expressed the desire to develop a good working relationship with the new Indonesian team.

On the Indonesian side, both the President and Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab have spoken since the election of putting the relationship with Australia back into a state of good repair. Many Indonesians have said to me that they want to put the past behind us.

We intend -- both our countries -- to restore our relationship in a careful, measured way. There are bruised feelings on each side which will take a little time to heal. But there are also vital and productive links between our two communities -- in business, education, and the friendships of ordinary people in ordinary ways. All these will ease the path towards a fuller relationship between us.

There is one important point to add here.

Given that Indonesia allowed a democratic process in East Timor, there has now been a break with the past. East Timor was the issue which hindered Indonesia on the world stage -- and from an Australian viewpoint was the major cause of friction in our relations with Indonesia. The East Timor issue should now be on the way to resolution. It is overwhelmingly important to Australia that Indonesia and East Timor now enjoy good relations. If they don't, it is in no one's interest, particularly not Australia's.

It will be important that the East Timorese leadership embark on a process of national reconciliation in East Timor and that Indonesia prevent militia activity on the border between West and East Timor and assist the return of those refugees in West Timor wishing to do so. The very positive approach which has been demonstrated by both President Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur) and by Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao to dealing with each other augurs well.

After both Australia and Indonesia have put the relationship back into a workable state of repair, it will be worth reappraising where we go from there.

In the past three months things have not been good. In both countries there were demonstrations; talk on both sides of actions which would have impacted on trade and investment; harsh press criticisms of each other. What was almost -- but not quite -- a free fall in the relationship give rise to two sets of conclusions.

Some have drawn the conclusion that the efforts of both countries to ensure understanding and partnership have failed. And that although we are destined to be neighbors and to cooperate, the cultural/societal divide between us is so wide that mutual distrust and discomfort will always be a feature of our dealings with each other.

However, I prefer the second, more positive approach. Had we not put into the relationship all the work which we have over the past generation -- and particularly over the last decade -- we would not have been able to manage the East Timor crisis. But we did manage it, albeit with difficulty. This was because both countries understood the importance each attached to the other.

What the events of the last few months suggest to me is not failure -- but the fact that over the last few years, because so much has happened that has been positive between our two countries, we tended to forget that our societies are still different. We may have expected too much. There will continue to be real potential for misunderstanding. But at the same time a layer of knowledge is being built up in each country about the other, and a network of contacts and structures has been established between the two countries. All these things have provided a substance which was not there ten years ago -- a substance upon which we can still build.

Ultimately, there are also a couple of other trends in both our societies which should benefit the relationship.

In Australia -- and let us leave aside, just for once, the question of who we are -- there is unquestionably a growing interest in and knowledge of Asia. This is a fact of life -- irrespective of what government is in power -- and reflects increased travel, education and business patterns. This is bound at the end of the day to lead to greater understanding in Australia of Indonesia.

The other noteworthy trend is the fact that Indonesia is inevitably becoming more pluralistic, more democratic, better educated and further advanced in creating a society with which Australia will find it easier to deal. As Indonesia's former Ambassador to Australia, Pak Wiryono, correctly said to a recent gathering organized by the Indonesia -- Australia Business Council," the return of Indonesia to democracy, stability and a healthy economy is best for Australia, our neighbor, and the world."

So perhaps it is now time to look forward again.