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Solomon Islands ‘rebellion’ against Australia may happen in Papua
Gus Dur will be always remembered by Papuans as a president who wholeheartedly tried to restore the full dignity of the Papuan people.
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Papuan students protest against the government's plan to develop new administrative areas in the country's easternmost Papua province, in Malang, East Java, on March 21. (AFP/Putri)
I
ndonesian policymakers, from the highest to the lowest rung ladder, need to read and discuss with open minds an article that appeared in The Conversation titled “Despite its Pacific ‘step-up’, Australia is still not listening to the region, new research shows”. Published on Feb. 12, 2020, the article was based on the outcome of policy research by Western Sydney University.
The research aimed to understand the perception of the people of the Solomon Islands, Fiji and Vanuatu about Australia. The in-depth survey helps explain the decision of the Solomon Islands to sign a security pact with China because Australia treats smaller neighbors in the Pacific as “colonies” and demands their absolute loyalty in exchange for economic aid it has poured abundantly on them. They have to follow what Australia wants.
The decision to go to China is likely just “the tip of the iceberg”. Doesn’t it sound like what is going on now in Papua, where aspirations for freedom from Jakarta have been long heard?
The sentiment of the respondents in the research will likely be shared by Papuans, who have a strong background and ethnic bond with people in the Pacific. The way Australia behaves is not very different from Jakarta's attitude toward the Papuan people.
I would suggest that Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi invite the Western Sydney University team to present their findings to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and his Cabinet, then invite a group of Papuan representatives to speak about what’s on their minds with the President after the presentation.
I am pretty sure the views of the people in the tiny Pacific nations about Australia and the feeling of the Papuan people toward Indonesia will be similar.
The House of Representatives just approved an initiative bill on the establishment of three new provinces in Papua to be tabled for deliberation with the government. The House previously passed a revision of the 2001 Papua Special Autonomy Law that allows the central government to regain its dominant role in Papua, including with regard to the use of the province's huge special autonomy funds.
