2) Indonesia Floats International Military Training Facility in Morotai
3) Indonesia, Australia to broaden security cooperation to include Japan, Papua New Guinea
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1) Watch: 'The world should see this', say Papua deforestation doco filmmakers
6:57 pm on 12 March 2026
Johnny Blades, Journalist
Victor Mambor and Dandhy Dwi Laksono, the producer and director of 'Pesta Babi (Pig Feast)' Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
For a country with a record of large deforestation projects, Indonesia's current activities in the far south eastern corner of the republic, South Papua province, surpass all.
With 2.5 million hectares of land being cleared for sugarcane and rice production for food and biofuel projects, alongside large oil palm concessions, Indonesia's government has created a hugely consequential project right on Papua New Guinea and Australia's doorsteps.
It is transforming the shape of an otherwise forest and swamp-dominated region, as well as the environment, culture and health of local Papuan communities.
"The world should notice this. It's not the Amazon, it's just in our front door, in the Pacific here," said Dandhy Dwi Laksono, the director of 'Pesta Babi (Pig Feast)' a new documentary film about the impacts of the deforestation in South Papua, the agri-business schemes behind it and the role Indonesia's military plays in it all.
Laksono has been in New Zealand this week promoting the film with its producer, West Papuan journalist Victor Mambor, who said few people in other parts of the world know about what's going on there.
"Maybe they only know (of) the conflict, military conflict, armed conflict in West Papua. But they never know the conflict like that," he said.
The film sheds new light on the response by local Papuans in the wider Merauke region and its remote bush communities to an agri-business master plan attempted by several Indonesian presidents now.
The current president, Prabowo Subianto, has accelerated the project and committed military support for it, saying the military is needed to secure the agri-business projects in Papua because of their scale and importance to Indonesia's national food and energy security.
However, Mambor said the presence of Indonesian troops in Papua had long been problematic for Papuans, and is growing.
"This is the problem in West Papua. There will be more troops, and then of course because of more troops there will be more conflict. More troops, more conflict, more problem."
Given the ongoing armed conflict between West Papuan independence fighters and Indonesia's military in other parts of Papua region (known internationally as West Papua), this film offers a useful insight into a struggle that is less known, but no less concerning.
Papua has some of the world's largest remaining tracts of native rainforest - and clearing this large region of forest and swamp systems is likely to add to carbon emissions, pollution haze and biodiversity loss.
According to the
NGO Mighty Earth, estimates of the CO2 emissions from so much land clearance range from 315 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent (Indonesia's first state-owned inspection, testing, certification, and consultancy company) to more than double that, according to a report by the Indonesian independent research institute.
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2) Indonesia Floats International Military Training Facility in Morotai
Reporter Novali Panji Nugroho March 12, 2026 | 09:11 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia is developing an international military training facility on Morotai Island, North Maluku, according to Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin.
Sjafrie mentioned in a meeting with Australian Deputy PM and Defense Minister Richard Marles that Morotai has a long history as a base dating back to World War II, leaving behind defense infrastructure in the area.
"It still exists, and we will jointly improve and use it," said Sjafrie to the media after the meeting at his office in Jakarta on Thursday, March 12, 2026.
He stated that the initiative to develop the joint training facility comes from the Indonesian government. Sjafrie believes that Indonesia is capable of creating war training facilities that accommodate soldiers from various countries.
"The facilities could support air, naval, and ground exercises," said Sjafrie, while highlighting Indonesia's position that is surrounded by neighboring countries such as Australia and Singapore.
Against this background, Sjafrie believed the country should not block the chance to cooperate with neighboring defense agencies.
"We want this country to be open-minded," he said.
Sjafrie mentioned that several countries have surveyed the military training area in Morotai. He has also directly offered Richard Marles, representing the Australian government, to visit Morotai.
"When Pak Prabowo served as Defense Minister, he also offered it to Singapore," he said, but clarified that the offer was not accepted due to the distance between Morotai and Singapore.
"So we have obtained (war training facilities) for Singapore in North Kalimantan," he said.
Read: Prabowo Meets Australia's Deputy PM for Strategic Talks
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3) Indonesia, Australia to broaden security cooperation to include Japan, Papua New Guinea
Published Mar 12, 2026, 07:41 PM
Updated Mar 12, 2026, 08:40 PM
Indonesia’s Defence Minister said on March 12 that his country and Australia are planning to expand their security cooperation with both Japan and Papua New Guinea through separate trilateral arrangements.
“Trilateral cooperation will be developed among Indonesia, Australia and Japan,” Mr Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin told reporters after a meeting with his Australian counterpart, Mr Richard Marles, in Jakarta.
He added there will also be a similar security arrangement between Indonesia, Australia and Papua New Guinea.
During the meeting, Mr Sjafrie and Mr Marles also discussed the possibility of developing a training defence facility on the island of Morotai in North Maluku province in eastern Indonesia, which was used during World War II.
Mr Sjafrie proposed that the facility could be used by military personnel from countries such as Japan, Australia, the Philippines and Singapore.
Bilaterally, Indonesia and Australia have been bolstering their defence cooperation, having
signed a defence treaty in February in Jakarta.
In recent years, Australia has been ramping up its security ties with other countries in the region amid China’s increasing assertiveness. In 2025, it signed a defence treaty with Papua New Guinea, elevating their ties to a formal alliance. KYODO NEWS
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