The days of jarred emotions and grudging feuds are, for now, behind us. The (too) often thorny and emotive relationship between Indonesia and Australia — Jakarta and Canberra, to be more exact — has hit a rather purple patch over the past few years not least with the peaked interest and understanding of leaders from the two nations.
In the greater theme of Indonesia-Australia relations, the arrival of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to Australia for a four-day visit should not be regarded a historic milestone anymore. As closest neighbors, such visits should be rudimentary in the same way one visits the house next door.
Nothing special, but no less important.
There are several outstanding issues in the continuing dialogue that needs immediate attention from the two leaders. Trade must be boosted from the current unacceptable levels between two giant neighbors proclaiming to be closely associated.
The issue of people smuggling is another issue that needs constant revisiting as fears rise that Indonesia is a frontline for those looking to land on Australian shores.
The two leaders may also spend a few moments to discuss broadly their respective perceptions on a future regional security architecture to ensure the stability of the Asia-Pacific.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd last year forwarded his vision for such an arrangement. While his proposal needs modification, it is at least a starting point, which has sparked discussion and further thinking. Indonesia has consistently been an innovator in regional cooperative frameworks, hence it is natural that it helps synthesize the need to tackle the new challenges of the coming decade.
Both countries have an obligation toward preparing a future that is not riddled with tension or competition.
Undoubtedly, Yudhoyono and Rudd will expound on the statistical impulse of greater “people-to-people” ties. They will expand on cooperation in education, disaster relief, cultural programs, religious dialogue, media exchanges and even anti-terrorism efforts.
We should be proud that at this level, the cooperation and interaction has probably reached a new peak not seen before in the last seven decades.
Yet one cannot escape the fact that in spite of these positive trends, there is a niggling feeling that the ties are not, and do not seem set, to cast into full bloom. The reasons are as inquisitive as they are unexplainable.
Much of the political barriers, which were landmines to dodge in the Soeharto era, have been defused. As democratic states, we can now talk bluntly about the issues that were unspoken but of concern in the past.
But the more suppressed psychological barriers remain.
The emergence of Rudd and his vision of Australia as being truly part of Asia has helped sooth many psychosomatic drawbacks. Nevertheless there is still too much that needs to be done.
One recent study by the Lowy Institute think-tank calls for “dramatic leadership gestures to provide a much needed jolt to the relationship”.
While leadership accounts for much, it has not been able to eradicate the barriers that encumber the two peoples. Recall how Prime Minister Paul Keating was accommodating toward visits to Indonesia to improve ties with the Soeharto regime. Or how Abdurrahman Wahid broke the ice by visiting Australia.
Now we have two leaders, Yudhoyono and Rudd, who are committed to taking the relationship up another level. Yet, can they?
It is time for both nations to look at themselves and discover the obstacles within. Without being honest in perceiving ourselves and each other, Indonesia’s neighbor to the south can never be in comfort and ease as Indonesia’s neighbors to the north.
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