1) Challenges
ahead for the Indonesia relationship
2)
Abbott tells truth in Jakarta, but will he tell Australians?
3) Petition to UN in
Support of Vanuatu PM's Call
4)
Incumbents win in Papua, Gorontalo5) West Papuan asylum seekers face tough
choice in Port Moresby.
6) The Act of Killing’
Skirts Censors With Online Download
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http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-10-02/mcrae-challenges-ahead-for-the-indonesia-relationship/4993720
1) Challenges ahead for the Indonesia relationship
Posted
Tony Abbott is off to a good start with Indonesia, but there will be plenty of challenges ahead as he navigates the bilateral relationship through the post-Yudhoyono era, writes Dave McRae.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott's trip to Indonesia this week has been a positive step for bilateral relations. Making Indonesia his first trip as prime minister signals the importance of the Australia-Indonesia relationship, both to Indonesia itself and to the Australian public.
Primarily this trip was about setting the tone for the relationship under the new government. Although there were few new announcements of substance, the trip was a chance to affirm that expanding trade, increasing investment, and identifying common interests in the cattle trade are to be priorities. Indonesia also expressed its aspiration for closer cooperation in multilateral forums. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in particular stated his desire for continuity in discussions between APEC, which Indonesia hosts this month, and the G20, which Australia will host next year.
The visit also provided a timely opportunity to move past the row of recent weeks over the government's tow-back policy. Both sides wanted to avoid prolonged discord over this issue, and Yudhoyono and Abbott's pledge to defer discussions to ministerial level provides an out for the Coalition Government to quietly drop the policy.
Despite these positive developments, four genuine challenges to good relations lie ahead.
First, much as the visit defused the tow-back row, the broader issue of asylum seekers and people smuggling remains. At present, there are an estimated 10,000+ asylum seekers in Indonesia. Most of them are likely to turn out to be genuine refugees, but they face a wait of years to have their claims assessed and be resettled in a third country, all the while living in harsh conditions. These circumstances provide powerful incentives for people to board boats to Australia. At the same time, bilateral cooperation to combat people smuggling is hampered by a mismatch of priorities. The Indonesian government has no political incentive to improve its performance on law enforcement, because people smuggling is a non-issue domestically.
Second, Papua continues to loom as a risk to good relations, as was clear from the prominence both leaders gave it in their statements to the press. Abbott stressed that the Australian Government would take "a very dim view, a very dim view indeed of anyone seeking to use our country as a platform for grandstanding against Indonesia". These comments are obviously aimed to assuage Indonesian suspicions that Australia seeks to undermine Indonesian sovereignty in Papua. In reality, there is little Abbott could do, nor should he, to deliver on his pledge to do everything possible to "discourage" and "prevent" grandstanding. People in Australia have the right to protest peacefully on this issue, to criticise Indonesia or even to express their support for Papuan independence.
Abbott's statements of admiration for efforts to improve Papuans' autonomy are also out of step with conditions on the ground. Many Papuans' grievances remain unresolved under special autonomy; separatist conflict, although low intensity, is ongoing. The Indonesian government itself acknowledges the need for new solutions. For Australia to meaningfully contribute, it needs to engage with the issues rather than sweep them under the carpet.
Third, spurred as it was by the change of government in Australia, Abbott's visit should also remind us of the looming challenge of Indonesia's leadership change next year. Indonesia goes to the polls in just six months to elect a new Parliament. In July, it will then hold presidential elections to choose Yudhoyono's successor. Many have stated that no future Indonesian president will be as friendly to Australia as Yudhoyono has been. Although overly pessimistic, genuine uncertainties do lie ahead. The current frontrunner to be next president has made a meteoric rise from small town mayor to leading candidate in little over a year. Having never held a national-level political position, his foreign policy is unclear. His closest rival in the polls is an authoritarian-era throwback, whose human rights record would cause serious disquiet for many Australians. It is vital to understand what this leadership change will mean for Australia-Indonesia relations.
Finally, people-to-people ties remain a persistent challenge. Abbott's announcement of a new Australian Centre for Indonesian Studies is a positive initiative, as is the Coalition's signature New Colombo Plan. Neither though is a replacement to committing the resources required to promote Indonesian literacy in Australia. This requires both maintaining teaching infrastructure for Indonesian language in Australia, as well as promoting career options that would encourage Australians to attain Indonesia literacy.
Abbott's visit is a positive, but the outcome of these challenges will go a long way to determining the shape of Australia-Indonesia relations in the coming years.
Dr Dave McRae is a research fellow at the Lowy Institute for International Policy. View his full profile here.
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http://www.lowyinterpreter.org/post/2013/10/01/Abbott-tells-truth-in-Jakarta-but-will-he-tell-Australians.aspx
2) Abbott tells truth in Jakarta, but will he tell Australians?
1 October 2013 2:58PM
Prime Minister Abbott delivered a short speech at a business breakfast in Jakarta this morning which contained these striking words:
At present, Indonesia’s annual GDP per person is less than $4000 – or a tenth of Australia’s – but it’s growing at about 6 per cent a year. It may be many years before individual Indonesians’ standard of living equals that of Australians but it probably won’t be very long before Indonesia’s total GDP dwarfs ours.
Yes, 'dwarfs' is what he said. And just to reinforce the point: 'on present trends, Indonesia will be the number four economy in the world by mid-century.'
I don't think Australians are in any way prepared for this reality. If they think about Indonesia at all, it is in relation to illegal immigration, natural disasters, terrorism or as a holiday destination (that is, unless you belong to the 30% of Australians who don't know that Bali is part of Indonesia). We haven't, as a nation, given much thought to what it will be like to have a friendly but not allied and occasionally prickly global economic power as our near neighbour. Tony Abbott clearly recognises the urgency of the problem:
From Australia’s perspective there should be an urgency to building this relationship while there’s still so much that Australia has to give and that Indonesia is keen to receive.
But there's also a sense of fatalism about Abbott's tone. It suggests that there will come a time when Australia has nothing to offer Indonesia.
In economic terms, I doubt that's true, because it's not a zero-sum equation. As Abbott himself implied in the speech, a growing Indonesian middle class ought to be a boon for Australian business.
But in security terms? I doubt that a more powerful Indonesia will ever be a threat to Australia, but we will matter less and less to Jakarta; our voice will be smaller. That may not be a big deal if the regional security environment remains reasonably benign. But here's the thing: that future won't be ours to determine. As Australia grows relatively smaller compared to Indonesia, we will get less of a say in shaping the regional order.
We can turn this around or at least arrest our relative decline if we want to, but it would probably mean a lot more investment in diplomacy and defence spending, and a larger population. Those are huge and confronting conversations, and they can only start with an honest appraisal of Australia's position in the region. So is Prime Minister Abbott prepared to tell Australians what he just told Jakarta?
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3) Petition to UN in Support of Vanuatu PM's Call
The Brisbane Solidarity Group has set up an on-line petition calling on the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to appoint a special representative to probe human rights abuses in West Papua.
See;
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http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/10/02/incumbents-win-papua-gorontalo.html
4) Incumbents win in Papua, Gorontalo
Nethy Dharma Somba and Syamsul Huda M.Suhar, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura/Gorontalo | Archipelago | Wed, October 02 2013, 8:31 AM
The candidate pair of John Wempy Wetipo and John R. Banua has been reelected as regent and vice regent of Jayawijaya regency, Papua, for 2013-2018 after the Jayawijaya General Elections Commission (KPUD) announced their victory on Tuesday.“The outcome of the plenary meeting at the Jayawijaya KPUD on Sept. 29 established Wetipo and Banua as regent and vice regent of Jayawijaya regency for the 2013-2018 period after securing 91.60 percent of the vote,” Papua KPUD head Adam Arisoi told The Jakarta Post.
The Jayawijaya regency election was only contested by two candidate pairs, the other pair being John Way and Decky Kapisa, who only secured 8.40 percent of ballots.
On Sept. 19 Jayawijaya election, 186,098 eligible voters from 40 districts and 322 villages cast their votes at 457 polling stations.
Arisoi said the outcome of the plenary meeting at the Jayawijaya KPUD was accepted by Way and Kapisa, so the Jayawijaya KPUD immediately requested the Jayawijaya Legislative Council to send a letter to the Papua governor, and later report the election result to the home minister, to arrange for the swearing-in ceremony.
“Jayawijaya is the only regency in Papua whose election outcome was not contested at the Constitutional Court,” Arisoi said.
Jayawijaya is the oldest regency in Papua province and is located in the Central Highlands. It is also well-known for its Baliem Valley Festival, which has been held annually since 1992.
Meanwhile in Gorontalo, incumbents Regent Indra Yasin and his running mate, Deputy Regent Roni Imran, were also reelected in the North Gorontalo election on Sept. 21.
Indra and Roni, who were nominated by a coalition comprising the National Mandate Party (PAN), Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), United Development Party (PPP), Democratic Party, People’s Conscience Party (Hanura) and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), won 34,311 of the total 81,874 votes (51.46 percent).
Independents Thoriq Modanggu and Hardi Hemeto came second with 24.43 percent of the vote, followed by Idrus Thomas Mopili and Risjon Kudjiman Sunge, nominated by the Golkar Party, who obtained 24.11 percent.
The plenary meeting held at the North Gorontalo KPUD on Sept. 30 was tense and marred with interruptions. The two losing pairs — Thomas-Risjon and Thoriq-Hardi — raised their objections to a vote recap and refused to sign a form approving it.
The inauguration of the elected North Gorontalo regent and deputy regent is scheduled to take place on Dec. 6.
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http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=79561
Posted at 06:58 on 02 October, 2013 UTC
Seven West Papuan asylum seekers deported by Australia to Papua New Guinea say they’ve been given the option of being refugees in PNG.
The seven, who arrived in the Torres Strait last week claiming to be fleeing persecution by Indonesian security forces for their work as activists, were transferred to Port Moresby by Australian Immigration officials.
One of the group, Yacob Mandabayan says that having processed their details, PNG Immigration officials gave them two options.
“First, if we want to go back to Indonesia, they will send us and they will accomodate and everything until we arrive in Indonesia. Option number two, if we still want to pursue to (be given status of) refugee, we have to stay in Papua New Guinea as a refugee.”
Yacob Mandabayan says they fear they will be killed if they return to Indonesia, but they also do not want to stay in PNG - he says they fled Indonesia seeking asylum only in Australia.
He says Immigration has given them until tomorrow to decide.
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http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/act-of-killing-skirts-censors-with-online-download/
6) The Act of Killing’ Skirts Censors With Online Download
Director Joshua Oppenheimer has made his acclaimed documentary “The Act of Killing,” based on Indonesia’s 1965 anti-communist purge, available as a free download in the hope that the controversial film will reach a wider domestic audience.
The documentary, previously only seen in underground screenings, can now be downloaded from theactofkilling.com. Oppenheimer stated on the home page that the crew came together to make “The Act of Killing” free for all Indonesian people.
“It’s to fight forgetting the cruelty of the 1965 genocide. From today on, ‘ Jagal’ [the Indonesian title of the film] can be downloaded freely,” the director said.
“We would like you to play it, discuss it, and spread it to your friends across the country,” he added.
Oppenheimer said that he and his crew had worked for seven years to make the movie so there would be room for discussion without fear, with the hope that it would help in the country’s fight for truth, reconciliation and justice.
The chilling documentary — about a period of Indonesian history many would prefer to forget — made waves at film festivals worldwide and has spurred interest at home. The film focuses on Anwar Congo and Adi Zulkadry, two Medan-based preman, or gangsters, who re-enact their brutal roles in the mass killings that left up to a million dead nationwide.
The self-described thugs play themselves and their victims, addressing their violent history through the lens of popular American films in the disturbing, and often surreal, documentary.
While Indonesia’s Film Censorship Board has not banned the film, “The Act of Killing” was never officially released in domestic theaters.
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