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ustralian politicians like to talk the talk in saying that relations between Australia and Indonesia are at last back on track. But are they? What is the evidence? Australia, along with India, celebrated its '€œnational'€ day on Jan. 26.

As an expat, on that day I took various angkot (public minivans) around Jakarta searching for an Aussie or two with whom to celebrate the occasion.

But to no avail. But I did meet any number of South Korean and a lesser yet surprising number of Scottish businesspeople. Aussies were conspicuous by their absence.

Obviously there must be some Aussies still here, but without hesitation, I was informed that Australians without a family connection in Indonesia had packed up and gone home. What'€™s going wrong in the relations between the two countries? These days, government policies, perhaps on both sides, seem to be counterproductive to developing sound, sensible, sustainable and good-neighborly relations.

The severe cuts to Australia'€™s foreign aid program to Indonesia over the last two years or so have been well documented. Sadly, Indonesians who are close to the aid sector tell me that Australia'€™s decision on foreign aid has had a devastating effect on their country.  

Not to be denied though, Indonesia has been actively pursuing other countries to fill the void. It'€™s no wonder that just yesterday, President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo announced Indonesia'€™s plan to diversify its imports of live cattle, no longer focusing primarily on Australia. Two negatives can'€™t be stretched into a positive.

All sectors and types of people seem to be under the thumb. To take another example, Indonesia can be applauded for making it easier for Australians and others to spend some of their retirement years in Indonesia. What did Australia do in response? It said (or the last Tony Abbott government decided, and apparently will continue under the new Malcolm Turnbull government) that, as of Jan. 1, 2017, it will pay Australian aged pensions to those travelling abroad for six weeks only.

Unless Malcolm Turnbull has another look at this policy '€” and we pray that he does '€” Indonesia could be in for a rude shock when it sees the ultimate impact on the Indonesian economy. In the light of the new policy, senior Australians will only come to Indonesia for a short period or not at all. It is no secret that spending by foreign tourists in Indonesia (part of the all-too-easily forgotten services sector) is an important contributor to Indonesian gross domestic product (GDP).  

There are many inequities in this policy. When it was first framed the exchange rate was a lot better than parity with the American dollar. Since then the value of the Australian dollar has plummeted.

Don Wilkey
Cinere, Depok