Australia calls for 'new level' of friendship with RI

Tony Hotland ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Tue, 08/12/2008 10:15 AM  |  Headlines

MATCHING MINISTERS: Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda (right) welcomes his Australian counterpart Stephen Smith at his office in Jakarta on Monday. Smith said he would seek clemency for three Australian drug smugglers on death row in Indonesia during his visit.(JP/R.Berto W.)

The visiting Australian foreign minister on Monday underscored his new government's desire to make Indonesia a top priority in its foreign agenda, calling current relations between the two nations at "an historic high".

In a lecture before diplomats, politicians and academics at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Stephen Smith described Australia-Indonesia relations as "a new partnership for a new era" and said the rise of Asia -- spearheaded by China and India -- was the reason Australia was shifting focus after decades of alienating itself from the region.

"As my predecessor once said, although I've never checked it, going from Australia to Indonesia is closer than a flight from Melbourne to Sydney. I think we can take our relations to a new level," he said.

He met with his Indonesian counterpart Hassan Wirayuda earlier for bilateral talks and raised the issue of three Australians on death row here for drug trafficking.

Smith said Australia had been "bold enough to act to support the emerging Indonesian republic" by joining forces in 1947 with India to bring the conflict between Indonesia and then colonizer the Netherlands before the United Nations Security Council -- against the wishes of "traditional allies" the United States, the United Kingdom and The Hague.

"Indonesia nominated Australia to represent its interests on the 1947 Committee of Good Offices established by the Security Council. Australia did that diligently and robustly," he said.

Smith, on his second visit after December's UN climate change conference in Bali, noted that there had been periods "in which we (the two countries) did not see eye to eye" but that bilateral relations were now at "an historic high" as Indonesia turns into "a nation increasingly engaged and influential in our region and on the global stage".

Australia led the International Force for East Timor, a peacekeeping task force mandated by the UN to address the humanitarian crisis that followed the province's 1999 referendum on independence.

In 2006, Australia granted asylum to dozens of Indonesians from Papua claiming persecution. Angered by the decision, Jakarta withdrew its envoy.

"One of the consequences of a close relationship ... is that you occasionally have differences of opinion. We talked about capital punishment and Papua today. We take them in stride today because you don't let differing views strike at the fundamentals of the whole relationship," Smith said.

He cited the Lombok Treaty, which was signed into force in February, as a document that bolstered relations between the two nations, particularly in defense, law enforcement, counterterrorism, maritime security and disaster response.

Smith added that over the next five years Australia would provide up to A$2.5 billion (US$2.2 billion) to assist Indonesia in tackling poverty and meeting development goals.

"The Australia-Indonesia Partnership has grown to nearly half a billion dollars this year and is Australia's largest development assistance program. We provide more grants to Indonesian than any other donor," he said.

Smith is to travel with Hassan on Tuesday to Makassar, South Sulawesi, to see one of the 2,000 schools in 20 provinces that will be either constructed or expanded using Australian aid.

"As (Indonesia's) voice in regional and international affairs becomes even stronger, we see a genuine partnership with a neighbor and friend," he said to end his lecture.

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