mixed messages
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DEWI FORTUNA ANWAR is a leading political scientist in Indonesia who was advisor to former president B.J.Habibie in 1998–99 and now advises
Vice-President Boediono. The views in this essay are her own.
The Asialink Essays 2012 Vol. 4 No. 6 Published by Asialink, Sidney Myer Asia Centre www.asialink.unimelb.edu.auAugust 2012 The University of Melbourne Parkville 3010 Australia essays@asialink.unimelb.edu.au
Indonesia is edging back into Australia’s foreign policy debate. The near-northern neighbour may not carry the hopes and fears about transformational trade and strategic weight that China and India do, however the growing relevance of Indonesia to Australia’s interests is not well understood.
After a period of complacency that relations between Australia and Indonesia have never been better – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s conciliatory style smoothing bilateral frictions over drug arrests, terrorism, asylum seekers, and cattle trade – there now seems to be a sense Indonesia has more to offer Australia, and that Australia is not making the most of the opportunity.
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A PROBLEM OF MIXED MESSAGESAn Indonesian insider’s view of the Australian relationship
Dewi Fortuna Anwar
Partly this results from Australia’s
opposition searching for ways to
differentiate itself from the government
in foreign policy. Partly it stems from a
realisation by both Australian Labour and
the Coalition that Indonesia must play a
role in any solutions to the wave of asylum
seekers reaching Australia’s outlying
territories, most of them coming by boat
from Indonesia.
And increasingly, it derives from the
growing sense among strategic thinkers,
not just in Australia, that in the search for
“counterweights” to the growing power of
China, Indonesia cannot be ignored. With
its huge population and fast expanding
economy straddling strategic choke points
between the Indian and Pacific Oceans,
Indonesia is not only projected to become
one of the major world economies in a few
decades, it is also regarded as a global swing
state that will have increasing influence in
international affairs. Many other large and
small countries are already courting Jakarta
with trade and strategic interests in mind.
President Yudhoyono and his ministers
receive a queue of foreign leaders, and make
frequent visits abroad.
At government level, Australia is considered
to be a very close partner, and in fact the
two countries have signed a comprehensive
partnership agreement. They cooperate
very well in regional and international
forums, and on many issues Canberra and
Jakarta count on each other for support and
coordinate diplomacy to back each other up.
But it is fair to say that the relationship
− in terms of the attention paid to it − is
still quite asymmetrical. Australians,
particularly the media, tend to pay more
attention to happenings in Indonesia,
especially negative ones, than the other
way around. Except when there is high
bilateral tension – over East Timor, Papua,
or (in previous times) perceived media
insults to the Indonesian leadership − it
is hard to think of a time when relations
with Australia have become a contested
issue or even a topic of discussion among
Indonesian chattering elites. On any given
day it is quite rare for Australia to figure
prominently in the Indonesian media.
Many countries figure in Indonesia’s
international relations and Australia is just
one of many.
At the same time there is still some wariness
about Australia, a sense that dormant
issues can quickly flare up. Many people in
Indonesia are still suspicious of Australians
in general − not so much the Canberra
government, but elements of the Australian
public that make critical comments,
especially those questioning Indonesia’s
territorial integrity.
This is a leftover of the East Timor issue.
There is still a strong belief in some
Indonesian circles that the separation of
East Timor from Indonesia resulted partly
from Australian pressures. To add to this,
despite the 2006 Lombok Treaty between
President Yudhoyono and then Prime
Minister John Howard, there are continuing
concerns about Papua. We know there
are people in Australia who support the
Free Papua Movement. When something
negative happens in Papua it becomes an
issue in Australia.
There is a sense in Jakarta that too much
is expected of it around the ongoing issue
of asylum seekers. From the Australian
perspective, it always seems Indonesia
is not doing enough. From the Jakarta
perspective, Indonesia is a very open
maritime country, with naturally porous
borders. It also has a relaxed visa system in
order to promote tourism. It is, therefore,
quite easy for people from West Asia and
other places to enter as tourists or even
to enter Indonesia illegally then join the
refugee underground.
The capacity of Indonesian authorities
to monitor all the many small ports and
simple fishing boats, and pick out those
engaged in refugee smuggling, is still
limited. The capacity of Indonesian
page 2 / 4the asialink essays vol.4 no.3 — 2012 Australia and Indonesia dewi fortuna anwar
There is still some
wariness about
Australia, a sense
that dormant issues
can quickly flare
up. Many people
in Indonesia are
still suspicious
of Australians in
general.
agencies to tackle transnational threats to
security such as people smuggling and the
plunder of fishery resources is something
that needs to be built up and will take time
to become effective. Corruption among
officials has also made law enforcement
more difficult.
Indonesia and Australia look at the region
and the world from different historical and
cultural perspectives, and this sometimes
leads to our leaders speaking at cross
purposes. This was made quite clear during
the president’s recent visit to Darwin. While
Prime Minister Julia Gillard focussed on
security issues, the strategic environment,
the asylum seeker problem, President
Yudhoyono emphasised the opportunity
for Australia to expand economic ties,
promoting Indonesia as a land of market
opportunities for trade and investment.
For Indonesia, sustaining its economic
growth in the midst of a global downturn
and increasing competition is a priority, to
ensure both its development momentum
and political stability. After all, the majority
of Indonesia’s 240 million-plus population
are young people needing gainful
employment.
There is less preoccupation in Indonesia
than in Australia about the possibility of a
new Cold War between the United States
and China, or in upholding its own interests
in the face of a rising China and India. There
is also no rush to draw the United States in
closer. Indeed, Indonesia believes it needs
to engage China, just as it also engages the
United States, on its own terms.
Thus the immediate reaction from the
Indonesian government, through Foreign
Minister Marty Natelegawa, to last
November’s announcement of the posting
of US marines to Darwin was one of great
caution: to express the hope that such a
troop presence would not lead to increased
tension or add to misunderstandings.
Indonesia continues to stay true to its “free
and active” foreign policy in which the
stress on not being allied to any particular
military power remains a key feature of its
identity.
Within ASEAN Indonesia espouses the
concept of a “dynamic equilibrium” for
managing relations with the major powers.
There is also back chatter among some
Indonesian politicians, non-government
organisations and students who see the
Darwin positioning of the US marines not
so much as a counterweight to Chinese
influence, but rather aimed at enhancing
American leverage over Indonesia itself
− even that the real “target” is Papua.
This reflects Indonesia’s prickly sense of
insecurity about its territorial integrity and
the continuing touchy problem of Papuan
unrest, as well as its historical memories of
American and Australian involvement in the
Dutch attempt to separate Papua from the
rest of the former Netherlands East Indies.
The feeling of distrust is still there, quite
often missed in Washington and maybe in
Canberra where there can be a tendency to
look at the contemporary big picture and
retain only very short historical memories.
The big picture of China and the regional
balance of power needs to be filled in with
the detail of the other countries and their
many different stories.
The central government in Indonesia is
paying very serious attention to Papua.
It is trying to accelerate its development,
and with a rising level of violence everyone
realises we cannot allow it to be business
as usual in the handling of the region’s
politics. So it is something that Jakarta takes
very seriously, and while trying to address
problems internally, it is always on the
lookout for any signs that its partners might
not be totally committed to Indonesia’s
territorial integrity.
As for the debate in Australia about
“neglect” of Indonesia, it would be hard
to find many Indonesians worried about
being neglected. This is more a factor in
the Canberra perspective, about calibrating
relations with the various foreign partners.
page 3 / 4
The big picture
of China and the
regional balance of
power needs to be
filled in with the
detail of the other
countries and their
many different
stories.
the asialink essays vol.4 no.3 — 2012 Australia and Indonesia dewi fortuna anwar
Australia should have some comparative
advantage in capturing Indonesia’s
potentials. Historically, it has put a lot
of time and energy into developing the
world’s best corps of deep intellectual
expertise about Indonesia. It should be
able to leverage that expertise, not just
for strategic security considerations but
its own economic benefits. The drop in
interest in Indonesia, just at a time when
Indonesia is rising up, is mystifying.
—
The decline of Indonesian language study
in Australian schools and universities has
been raised during the visits of Indonesian
leaders, along with the unequal people-to-
people exchange. With more Indonesians
studying in Australia than vice-versa, over
time there will develop greater first-hand
knowledge of Australia among younger
educated Indonesians than is the case
with knowledge about Indonesia among
Australia’s elite.
This asymmetry in knowledge is not a
good trend. Australia is not doing itself
any favours by neglecting its knowledge
bank on Indonesian culture and language,
and its economic and social dynamics. As
ASEAN becomes more integrated, with
Indonesia a key component – Jakarta will
pull its weight more and more, not just in
the regional arena, but internationally.
page 4 / 4the asialink essays vol.4 no.3 — 2012 Australia and Indonesia dewi fortuna anwar
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