1) Navy's
school visit 'wrong'
2) Furore over
school visit
3) Air
transportation subsidy in Intan Jaya reaches Rp 11b
4) Australia,
US Spied on Indonesia During UN Talks: Report
----------------------------------------------------
http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2013/11/02/326917_ntnews.html
NT News
1) Navy's school visit 'wrong'
ALISON BEVEGE | November 2nd, 2013
AN OUTRAGED Senator will raise a motion in Parliament condemning a recent Indonesian military marching band tour of Territory schools.
Indonesian training ship KRI Dewaruci sent a marching band into Darwin High School, Darwin Middle School and St John's College while it docked in Darwin on its way home from Perth.
The sailors performed and mingled with students, taking photos without parental knowledge or consent.
Darwin High School principal Trevor Read said it was a cultural and language learning experience and parental permission was not required as staff had supervised students.
But Senator John Madigan of the Democratic Labor Party said the military was using the schools for propaganda, with pictures and video later uploaded on social media.
"It's giving them some respectability with school children. Why are we giving them respectability?'' he said.
RELATED COVERAGE
The move is controversial because unlike the Australian military, the Indonesian military has been involved in human rights abuses for which they have not been held accountable.
The Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission revealed in a report last week that the Indonesian military had killed thousands of people in West Papua in 1977 including by aerial strafing and napalm bombing.
The report said they inflicted unspeakable horrors on indigenous West Papuans including slicing them with razors, throwing them into wells and boiling them alive.
Indonesia, which annexed West Papua in 1969, has never recognised the mass killings. The unrest continues to this day.
In June 2012 Indonesian soldiers attacked a West Papuan village, stabbing dozens of people with bayonets and burning buildings according to Amnesty International's 2013 regional report.
Mr Madigan said the Labor party and the Coalition joined forces to appease Indonesia when sensitive topics are raised.
Australia officially supports Indonesian rule in the disputed province.
The Victorian senator brought a condolence motion last year to honour Darwin refugee advocate Vikki Riley who died while riding her bike to visit detainees.
The major parties voted it down because Ms Riley supported a free West Papua campaign.
"I was told to remove those words (West Papua) and they would let it through,'' Mr Madigan said.
Mr Madigan said he would put a motion before the Senate and would raise the issue in question time.
"I'm quite confident Nick Xenophon will support it and the Greens will support it,'' he said.
NT News
2) Furore over school visit
ALISON BEVEGE | October 28th, 2013
Indonesian military marching band has been to three Darwin high schools without parents' knowledge or permission. Pictures: ST JOHNS COLLEGE FACEBOOK PAGE
The Indonesian warship KRI Dewa Ruci sent naval officers in uniform to Darwin High School, Darwin Middle School and St Johns Catholic College for a marching band performance after docking in Darwin.
Photos were taken without parental permission.
Some students were from West Papua, a region where the Indonesian military has recently been involved in human rights abuses.
Parent John Logan, who has a son in Year 11 at Darwin High, said he was disgusted.
"This is not a cultural group," he said.
"ABDUL, get your facts straight my friend. There were NAVAL CADETS (not Army) doing a Dance, Music and Acrobats display at 3 High School GROUNDS (not classes). The whole forum has gone way off course spreading propaganda. It should go along the path of SCHOOLS...AND if you take that into perspective you will know that Naval or other Cadets have not long finished DISCIPLINED Family Life, School and a perhaps a bit of Uni. for the past 22 years.Somethings our lives lack. "
Enjay
The Indonesian Consulate organised the visit in conjunction with language teachers at the schools.
Indonesian consul Ade Padmo Sarwono asked the navy to promote Indonesia while in Darwin and said he would ask for more visits next year.
"If the navy are here we want to invite the Indonesian navy to meet students," he said.
Human rights law professor and Jesuit priest Frank Brennan urged caution on allowing any military except Australia's in any school.
"Particularly when it comes to the Indonesian military," he said.
Department of Education executive director Allan Baillie said the visit was not a promotion of the Indonesian military but an opportunity for students to practise Indonesian language, listen to Indonesian music and participate in Indonesian dances.
He said parental permission was not sought because staff had supervised students.
"This protocol is observed irrespective of the cultural group visiting the schools," he said.
Mr Baillie would not say whether or not the military would be allowed in to Government schools in future, instead saying: "School visits to broaden the cultural awareness of schoolchildren will always be encouraged".
But NT Director of Catholic Education Michael Avery said his office would reserve judgement on future dealings.
The US State Department describes human rights as a "friction point" between the US and Indonesia.
Amnesty International's 2013 regional report states that Indonesian soldiers attacked a West Papuan village in June, stabbing dozens of people with bayonets and burning buildings.
Indonesian soldiers also tortured two West Papuan men during a 2010 interrogation.
Sydney Peace Foundation chairman Professor Stuart Rees said the display was not appropriate.
"It's a technique of trying to pretend everything is normal when it is not," he said.
"That an Australian educational institution allowed the Indonesian military to parade their wares before school children ... It's offensive in my opinion."
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http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/11/04/air-transportation-subsidy-intan-jaya-reaches-rp-11b.html
3) Air transportation subsidy in Intan Jaya reaches Rp 11b
Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura | Archipelago | Mon, November 04 2013, 10:00 AM
The Intan Jaya regency administration in Papua, which was split from Paniai regency in 2008, has allocated Rp 11 billion (US$ 970,000) from its budget to subsidize transportation.
The only way to get to Intan Jaya and its eight districts is by plane, as there are no roads connecting to its mother regency of Paniai.
A total Rp 6 billion of the subsidy is to cover flights from Sugapa, the seat of Intan Jaya regency, to Nabire regency while Rp 5 billion will be for flights from Sugapa to the eight districts. The pioneer flight routes are operated by Susi Air and Aviastar airlines.
Thanks to the subsidy, the price of a one-way plane ticket from Nabire to Sugapa will fall from Rp 900,000 to Rp 600,000.
The lack of overland infrastructure to Intan Jaya has meant high prices for goods, which has translated to astronomical development costs in the regency.
“A sack of cement in Intan Jaya costs up to Rp 2.5 million, so you can imagine how much it costs to build a building there,” Intan Jaya Regent Natalis Tabuni said in Jayapura recently.
Natalis added that the cost of building a semi-permanent structure in Intan Jaya was between Rp 15 million and Rp 16 million per square-meter while a permanent building cost around Rp 25 million per square-meter.
A bridge costs roughly Rp 20 billion to build, so the regency administration has been able to build only one foundation column per year.
“We have to build a bridge in stages because if we built it all at once it would eat our entire annual budget,” he said.
The Intan Jaya regency administration will not be crippled by its isolation forever, however, as it is currently building a road that will connect Sugapa and Enarotali, the seat of Paniai regency, spanning some 50 kilometers.
“We are working on the road to link Sugapa and Enarotali overland in order to reduce the price of basic necessities in Intan Jaya,” said Natalis.
Regarding subsidized pioneer flights, Papua Transportation Agency’s head of the air transportation development division, Nasipaut Itlay, said that Papua, especially the mountainous regions, was served by 42 pioneer flight routes subsidized by the state this year.
The 42 subsidized routes are overseen by the Authorized Budget Management (KPA) of Nabire Airport, Mopah Airport in Merauke regency, Wamena Airport in Jayawijaya regency and Moses Kilangin Airport in Timika regency.
“The amount of subsidies received by each airport depends on the length of the route and the level of need. The funds are earmarked by the central government to the KPAs, bypassing the Papua Transportation Agency,” Itlay said in Jayapura.
He added that the Papua Transportation Agency has proposed three new pioneer routes for subsidies in 2014. The routes are Nabire-Botawa, Sentani-Iuban and Sentani-Elelim.
The only way to get to Intan Jaya and its eight districts is by plane, as there are no roads connecting to its mother regency of Paniai.
A total Rp 6 billion of the subsidy is to cover flights from Sugapa, the seat of Intan Jaya regency, to Nabire regency while Rp 5 billion will be for flights from Sugapa to the eight districts. The pioneer flight routes are operated by Susi Air and Aviastar airlines.
Thanks to the subsidy, the price of a one-way plane ticket from Nabire to Sugapa will fall from Rp 900,000 to Rp 600,000.
The lack of overland infrastructure to Intan Jaya has meant high prices for goods, which has translated to astronomical development costs in the regency.
“A sack of cement in Intan Jaya costs up to Rp 2.5 million, so you can imagine how much it costs to build a building there,” Intan Jaya Regent Natalis Tabuni said in Jayapura recently.
Natalis added that the cost of building a semi-permanent structure in Intan Jaya was between Rp 15 million and Rp 16 million per square-meter while a permanent building cost around Rp 25 million per square-meter.
A bridge costs roughly Rp 20 billion to build, so the regency administration has been able to build only one foundation column per year.
“We have to build a bridge in stages because if we built it all at once it would eat our entire annual budget,” he said.
The Intan Jaya regency administration will not be crippled by its isolation forever, however, as it is currently building a road that will connect Sugapa and Enarotali, the seat of Paniai regency, spanning some 50 kilometers.
“We are working on the road to link Sugapa and Enarotali overland in order to reduce the price of basic necessities in Intan Jaya,” said Natalis.
Regarding subsidized pioneer flights, Papua Transportation Agency’s head of the air transportation development division, Nasipaut Itlay, said that Papua, especially the mountainous regions, was served by 42 pioneer flight routes subsidized by the state this year.
The 42 subsidized routes are overseen by the Authorized Budget Management (KPA) of Nabire Airport, Mopah Airport in Merauke regency, Wamena Airport in Jayawijaya regency and Moses Kilangin Airport in Timika regency.
“The amount of subsidies received by each airport depends on the length of the route and the level of need. The funds are earmarked by the central government to the KPAs, bypassing the Papua Transportation Agency,” Itlay said in Jayapura.
He added that the Papua Transportation Agency has proposed three new pioneer routes for subsidies in 2014. The routes are Nabire-Botawa, Sentani-Iuban and Sentani-Elelim.
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http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/australia-us-spied-on-indonesia-during-un-talks-report/
4) Australia, US Spied on Indonesia During UN Talks: Report
Australian Ambassador Greg Moriarty surrounded by journalists after being summoned to the Indonesian foreign ministry on November 1, following reports that Australian embassies were being secretly used to intercept phone calls and data across Asia as part of a US-led global spying network. (AFP Photo/Bay Ismoyo)
Australia and the United States mounted a joint surveillance operation on Indonesia during the 2007 United Nations climate change conference in Bali, a report said Sunday.
The Guardian newspaper’s Australian edition cited a document from US whistleblower Edward Snowden showing Australian spy agency the Defence Signals Directorate worked alongside America’s National Security Agency (NSA) to collect the phone numbers of Indonesian security officials.
The revelation is likely to exacerbate already strained relations with Jakarta after reports last week that Canberra’s overseas diplomatic posts were involved in a vast US-led surveillance network.
Missions in Indonesia, as well as embassies or consulates in China, were reportedly used to monitor phone calls and collect data, sparking demands for an explanation from Jakarta and Beijing.
The Guardian said the 2007 operation was not particularly successful, with the only tangible outcome being the mobile phone number of Bali’s chief of police.
“The goal of the development effort was to gain a solid understanding of the network structure should collection be required in the event of an emergency,” according to an account of the mission included in a 2008 weekly report from the NSA base at Pine Gap in Australia, one of the agency’s biggest overseas bases.
Summing up at the end of the operation, the NSA said: “Highlights include the compromise of the mobile phone number for Bali’s chief of police.”
“Site efforts revealed previously unknown Indonesian communications networks and postured us to increase collection in the event of a crisis,” according to The Guardian.
While largely unsuccessful, the operation is hugely embarrassing for Australia.
At the time, Kevin Rudd was the country’s newly elected prime minister and he attended the summit — his first high-profile international foray — at the personal invitation of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
Both leaders agreed at the time to work together to advance ties.
Widespread reports of NSA spying based on leaks from fugitive intelligence analyst Snowden, including that the agency was monitoring German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s phone, have already sparked a major trans-Atlantic rift.
After last week’s report in the Sydney Morning Herald, which amplified earlier revelations by German magazine Der Spiegel, China’s foreign ministry demanded the Australian side “make a clarification.”
Jakarta summoned Australian ambassador Greg Moriarty for an explanation on Friday while Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa described the reported spying activities as “just not cricket.”
Agence France-Presse
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