- 2) bp and partners give go-ahead for Tangguh UCC project in Papua Barat, Indonesia------------------------------------
1) War games? Let’s play peace
Nov 26, 2024Why volunteer for the military? Academics have some answers.
A benign reason is that pay and training opportunities attract, so a return to civilian life carries a qualification unrelated to combat. Family tradition is another factor.
Some claim they want to serve their nation; health scientists fighting to defeat cancers and other evils threatening society deserve the same applause, heroes all.
The problematics see a monochrome world where differences are solved through violence. They get rewarded by the myths of service, sacrifice, and warrior-saviour status – a view of the world backed by Canberra.
Military on all sides got this kick during the Indonesian-Australian week-long live fire exercise Keris Woomera this month in East Java. A keris is a traditional wavy-blade Javanese dagger.
Lots of expensive bangs but no deaths because these were games, violence for fun. They were given a massive push by Defence Minister and Deputy PM Richard Marles who powered through a “defence cooperation agreement” with his then counterpart and now President Prabowo Subianto.
It was signed in August but details have still to be released. We don’t know what he gave away to get his way.
For Defence PR this month’s show was “a component of the ADF’s wider Indo-Pacific Endeavour (which) represents the largest ever combined joint activity between Australia and Indonesia.”
It also “significantly deepened the bond between the ADF and the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI). An Indonesian added Keris Woomera increased the spirit of mutual trust.
All sweet and nice and it’s better to shoot at plywood targets than humans, but that doesn’t make for trust. Indonesian Muslim troops view Westerners as kaffir (unbelievers), while Australians overall are suspicious.
The Lowy Institute reported that for 19 years its polling had “shown Australian attitudes towards Indonesia have been – at best – lukewarm. And at worst, they betray a lurking suspicion.”
In last year’s survey, “Australians’ warmth towards Indonesia registered at a tepid 57 degrees on the thermometer used to measure feelings toward other countries.”
Melbourne Uni Professor Tim Lindsey has written that “there are no two neighbouring countries anywhere in the world that are more different than Indonesia and Australia.
“They differ hugely in religion, language, culture, history, geography, race, economics, worldview and population (Indonesia, 280 million, Australia less than 10 per cent) … Indonesia and Australia have almost nothing in common other than the accident of geographic proximity.
“This makes their relationship turbulent, volatile, and often unpredictable”.
Bases for US bombers and rocket arrays based in North Australia and pointed towards / over the archipelago worry Indonesian defence planners; imagine if Indonesia built similar facilities with Chinese support facing south.
Jakarta has only once been belligerent toward an outsider. In 1963, first president Soekarno contrived Konfrontasi against the establishment of Malaysia ostensibly as a diversion from domestic ills.
The campaign was speedily abolished by his successor General Soeharto. The death toll stood at 590 Indonesians and 114 Commonwealth troops, including 23 Australians.
Otherwise, the only battles fought by Indonesians against foreigners were with the returning colonial Dutch between 1945 – 49 during the War of Independence, aka Revolusi Nasional Indonesia. Almost 100,000 lie in Heroes Cemeteries at home.
All other “enemies” have been Indonesians ironically seeking independence in Aceh (now settled), Papua and East Timor. Should the ADF get involved as trainers?
That nation’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (CAVR) concluded that the “Indonesian military, and the Kopassus special forces in particular, were responsible for committing crimes against humanity and war crimes during Indonesia’s occupation 1975-1999.”
Australian Pat Walsh a UN-appointed adviser to CAVR has written that four separate inquiries found “that gross human rights violations were again committed against East Timorese civilians.
“Two of these inquiries were Indonesian. Both found that the Indonesian military was responsible… for starvation, forced displacement (including of children), rape, torture, killings and imprisonment.”
Are these the sort of soldiers we want as mates in a stoush – and against whom? Jakarta plays footsie with Washington and Beijing – currently favouring the latter because it invests heavily in the archipelago and is also the nation’s major trader. Trump may get insular.
The idea that people of different backgrounds should get together and learn is a splendid idea with some small programmes like the New Colombo Plan and ACICIS already in place. Cooperation also for assisting the disabled.
But why not every occupation from artists to zookeepers in their thousands, jobs where killing and destruction are not the intent.
Real combat doesn’t end at a prescribed time with backslaps and selfies; there’s a long and terrible tail for horrors once encountered can’t be unseen.
Twenty years of fighting in Afghanistan killed 46 diggers. Between 1997 and 2020 about 1,600 serving and ex-serving Diggers suicided – 79 in 2020.
The idea of any nation invading Indonesia is currently cuckoo. Only China, India and the US have the capacity though not the will. The most significant flash point would be in the South China Sea where Chinese customs craft have allegedly threatened ASEAN fishers in waters Indonesians call the North Natuna Sea.
Till this century the police were controlled by the army. Last month President Prabowo appeared standing in a jeep as though about to launch a jungle assault. But he was drilling the 48-member civilian ministry (five females) five ministerial-level officials, and 59 vice ministers including a dozen women, all in camouflage and big boots.
This was apparently to encourage discipline. Salutes replaced handshakes.
Whatever his fantasy, it stirred fears the cashiered former general plans to bring back the military’s dwifungsi (dual function) role in government, as it was under his former father-in-law Soeharto.
Indonesia has about 400,000 men and women in uniform full-time and a similar number of reservists. Why focus here?
There are about 85 million under-18s in Indonesia. Some might enjoy Exercises for Peace with a few thousand unarmed Okkers of goodwill.
Duncan GrahamDuncan Graham has been a journalist for more than 40 years in print, radio and TV. He is the author of People Next Door (UWA Press). He is now writing for the English language media in Indonesia from within Indonesia.
Duncan Graham has an MPhil degree, a Walkley Award, two Human Rights Commission awards and other prizes for his radio, TV and print journalism in Australia. He lives in East Java.
- Investment is expected to unlock around 3 trillion cubic feet of additional gas resources
- Project features Indonesia’s first at-scale enhanced gas recovery through carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS), aiming to sequester around 15 million tonnes of CO2 in its initial phase and potentially more considering the large CO2 storage capacity of area
- Another example of bp’s near-term priorities in action: to deliver growth as a simpler, more focused, higher value companybp, on behalf of the Tangguh production sharing contract partners, today announced a final investment decision on the $7 billion Tangguh Ubadari, CCUS, Compression project (UCC), which has the potential to unlock around 3 trillion cubic feet of additional gas resources in Indonesia to help meet growing energy demand in Asia.
The announcement was made by Murray Auchincloss, bp’s chief executive officer, during a meeting with Indonesian President H.E. Prabowo Subianto in London today. This major investment highlights bp and partners’ strong confidence in Indonesia’s investment climate and strengthening their business activities in the country.
“This project not only unlocks a fantastic gas resource, it also represents an Indonesian first through the use of CCUS to maximise gas recovery. bp has operated in Indonesia for more than fifty-five years, and the strength of our relationships enables us to bring deep technical experience in helping to deliver this innovative development. We deeply appreciate the continued support of the Government of Indonesia and partners and look forward to helping the region meet its growing energy needs.”
Murray Auchincloss, bp CEO
The UCC project, which comprises the Ubadari gas field development, enhanced gas recovery through carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) and onshore compression, expands and utilizes existing infrastructure at the Tangguh LNG facility in Papua Barat, Indonesia. Production at the Ubadari field is expected to start in 2028.
Murray Auchincloss, CEO of bp, said: “This project not only unlocks a fantastic gas resource, it also represents an Indonesian first through the use of CCUS to maximise gas recovery. bp has operated in Indonesia for more than fifty-five years, and the strength of our relationships enables us to bring deep technical experience in helping to deliver this innovative development. We deeply appreciate the continued support of the Government of Indonesia and partners and look forward to helping the region meet its growing energy needs.”
Tangguh CCUS aims to be the first CCUS project developed at scale in Indonesia, with potential for sequestering around 15 million tonnes of CO2 from Tangguh’s emissions in its initial phase.
The UCC project has been designated as a national strategic project by the Government of Indonesia and represents the continued development of Tangguh, following the addition of the third LNG train which began operation in 2023 and brought total plant liquefaction capacity to 11.4 million tonnes per year.
The investment meets bp’s returns hurdle rates and is fully accommodated within bp’s disciplined financial framework, reflecting bp’s drive to focus on value and returns. Tangguh is in a strategic location to access high value regional markets, and the investment reflects bp’s commitment to continue to meet energy demand for Indonesia and the region.
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