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Australia-Indonesian relations: Making them work
How do you build bilateral relations? President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) answered this question when he addressed Australia’s Parliament in Canberra on March 10, 2010
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ow do you build bilateral relations? President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) answered this question when he addressed Australia’s Parliament in Canberra on March 10, 2010. On Australia–Indonesia relations, one way to build ties is to improve public perceptions of each other, Yudhoyono said.
Issues can be irritants. They can have an impact on perceptions and result in misperceptions. Three issues have weighed heavily on Canberra-Jakarta ties.
The first issue was Konfrontasi in 1963, the formation of Malaysia that Australia supported but then president Sukarno opposed.
The second was East Timor, which started with the killing of five Australia-based journalists in Balibo in 1975. The third was the bombings of two pubs in Kuta, Bali, which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.
The Bali bombings of Oct. 12, 2002, grimly tested bilateral relations. One backlash of this event
was the raids on the homes of Australian Muslims by the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO). This caused the negative perception that Australia was hostile toward Islam.
To gauge the present climate in relations, the Indonesian Foreign Ministry’s public diplomacy directorate invited nine media people from Denpasar, Makassar, and Ambon for dialogues with Australian media, academics and officials in Canberra and Sydney between Nov. 8-10.
Today all appears well at the government-to-government level. Canberra and Jakarta are actively cooperating in matters from counterterrorism to sharing a common stand on climate change.
Australia views the bilateral relationship as “is as good as it has ever been,” says Greg Moriarty, Canberra’s ambassador in Jakarta. Moriarty compares this to the good relations shortly after World War II when Australia supported Indonesia’s 1945 proclamation of independence and the new nation’s position in international forums.
Moriarty said building people-to-people contacts helps to improve public perceptions. More than 500,000 Australian tourists come to Indonesia annually, and Australia is host more than 17,000 Indonesian students this year.
Indeed, Indonesia’s ambassador in Canberra, Primo Alui Joelianto, shares the view of his Australian counterpart in Jakarta that relations are fine, that both governments find agreement on many issues. He emphasized enhancement of people-to-people contact, using the same phrase as Moriarty.
Primo underscored the contributions of Indonesians in Australia, in study and in other activities, which have made improvements in perceptions, at least by not drawing any bad press. On people-to-people links, Primo beamed when relating a recent function he attended where a long-time Indonesian resident in Australia won an award for entrepreneurship.
What issue now could cause misperception? Human rights. This is the short, quick answer Richard Woolcott gave in his homely Sydney apartment.
The past Australian ambassador to Jakarta (1975-1978), now 83 and still in excellent health, gave two examples. The recent torturing of civilians by Army soldiers in Papua and the Schapelle Corby case.
On the torture case, Woolcott heaped praise on Yudhoyono for acting firmly and swiftly. Yudhoyono ordered a full investigation and prosecution of the alleged wrongdoers. That act immediately stopped the criticism of Indonesia, Woolcott said.
On Corby, Woolcott said public opinion in Australia finds the 20-year sentence meted out to her in 2005 is too severe. Corby, now in Denpasar’s Kerobokan prison, has been convicted for smuggling high grade cannabis into Bali.
Woolcott, however, underscored many fields Australia and Indonesia can work together positively in. One is in cooperation in forums like the G20 and the East Asia Summit.
In meetings at the national parliament, the National Press Club, with Indonesia specialists from the Australian National University in Canberra and several media organizations in Sydney, the visiting Indonesian media group found the mood upbeat.
The intent was on mutual learning. Other than bilateral relations, talk touched on news coverage, self-censorship, media and democracy and Australia’s efforts in integration.
During the 32-year Soeharto presidency, Australian media coverage focused on the nature of authoritarian rule.
Press coverage in post-Soeharto Indonesia over the past 10 years has been on disasters, drugs and terrorism, says one Australian scholar in Indonesia studies. Reporting on political elections and bank scandals can be scant.
However, the Australian media can become keen on Indonesia with a boost from a visiting American president. The major TV stations gave much air time to President Obama’s Nov 9-10 trip to Jakarta.
The Australian newspaper in its Nov. 11, 2010 edition gave front page play to Obama’s speech at the University of Indonesia. On Nov. 10 the same paper gave two pages to Obama’s arrival and childhood link with Indonesia. “Obama and SBY seal closer ties”, blares one headline. “The homecoming king” exclaimed another.
One instructive learning session was on Australian integration. Australia is a multicultural nation of immigrant and indigenous communities. It is striving to bring and blend early and new minority groups into society. The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), the Sydney-based state-funded public radio service, showed what the media can do in integration.
SBS has 68 language programs for Australia’s diverse ethnic communities. The language programs, each at least one hour long per week, provide news and information on people’s rights, including on healthcare. “It is important people who move to Australia have a voice and have a place at the table of democracy,” content manager Mark Cummins said.
And what is the future of the Australian-Indonesian relationship? Both nations are inseparable by geography. Both value democracy and press freedom.
Both have common international interests, including a shared interest in the security of the Asia-Pacific region. Both want a secure and prosperous future. Both need to expand people-to-people exchanges to minimize misperceptions and maximize the mutual benefits.
The writer is journalism instructor at the Dr.Soetomo Press Institute (LPDS), in Jakarta. He was a member of the Indonesian media group that visited Australia.
