James Crafti, Canberra
"Over the years our relations have experienced many twists and turns, highs and lows ... Prime Minister Howard and I are heralding a new era of Indonesia-Australia bilateral relations ... the security, prosperity and stability of Indonesia and Australia are interconnected."
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) made clear, in an April 4 address to parliament in Canberra, his intentions for closer "security" relations with Australia. Australia has a history of military ties with Indonesia that have never fully been vanquished. In late 1998, joint Indonesian-Australian military training exercises were suspended as violence in East Timor escalated.
Harold Crouch, Pacific and Asian studies professor at the Australian National University, pointed out this relationship on the April 5 edition of ABC Radio's The World Today. "Before East Timor in 1999, Australia was giving training in jungle warfare ... that's the sort of thing that would add to the Indonesian military's capacity to repress rebellion and so on." Crouch went on to point out that "right now, Indonesian officers [are] attending staff colleges and that sort of thing".
Howard and SBY are couching the negotiations for a new security agreement in terms of "counter-terrorism". Crouch argued that support for the Indonesian military (TNI) is legitimate, provided it is done in certain ways. He said that he supports the "TNI in [Australian military] staff colleges. I have no objection to that at all, but I think we should not be engaged in providing training and so on for the Indonesian military of a sort that aids in its repressive activities."
Former head of strategy in the defence department Allan Behm argues that the new pact is a significant step forward. When asked about corruption in the TNI on ABC Radio's AM on April 5, his response was, "I don't think corruption in the military will affect intelligence sharing". Yet he went on to argue "that is something that does need to be tackled".
Max Lane from Action in Solidarity with Asia and the Pacific and a researcher at the Centre for Asia Pacific Social Transformation at Wollongong University sees a real contradiction in training the TNI. "It's not really a question of the nature of the training ... the issue for most Indonesians relates to the whole legitimacy of the TNI forces. People who are still in the leadership of the TNI were put on trial for human rights abuses. There should be no links with war criminals."
SBY was to be charged with human rights abuses in East Timor, where he served under General Wiranto. SBY underwent military training in Australia, as did former Indonesian President Suharto.
The Australia West Papua Association (AWPA) issued a media release on April 3 stating, "until Jakarta can control its military in West Papua, any defence treaty with Indonesia is premature". Human rights abuses by the TNI are frequently reported in Aceh, West Papua and Maluku. While AWPA urges "Mr Howard and Kim Beazley to find the courage to stand up for these forgotten people", the Labor leader has shown no indication of any greater willingness than Howard to criticise SBY. Beazley openly praised the Indonesian leader on ABC's PM on April 4, saying "There is now an Indonesian leader who comprehends us completely. This is a prize for this country beyond measure."
The Australian government is by no means blind to Indonesia's role as an occupying force. In an interview after SBY's visit, John Howard said he "made it very clear to the president that Australia fully respects the territorial integrity of the Indonesian Republic ... In relation to such issues as the Papua secession movement and also Aceh, we respect Indonesia's integrity, and that is something that is mentioned in the overarching agreement."
Just as Australian government support for the two-and-a-half decade occupation of East Timor resulted in gas and oil deals worth billions of dollars for Australian corporations, the new deal is also set to benefit corporate Australia. The April 6 Age suggested that Howard is using this new deal with Indonesia to win its support for Australia to attend the East Asia Summit later this year. The Australian government needs this support in order to be let into the conference, as countries such as Malaysia are concerned about Australia's role as a bully, with its policy of advocating "pre-emptive strikes" in the region.
From Green Left Weekly, April 20, 2005.
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