Howard's Indonesia policy rebuffed
By Nick Everett
BRISBANE — John Howard faced a vocal, angry picket on September 22, on his return to Australia after meeting with Indonesian dictator Suharto. Howard was attending a Liberal Party meeting at the Hilton hotel.
Speakers from Resistance, Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor (ASIET) and Brisbane's West Papuan community condemned the meeting with Suharto, intended to reaffirm collaboration with Indonesia's dictatorship.
Democratic Socialist Party organiser Graham Matthews told Green Left Howard's decision to avoid discussion of the regime's continuing human rights violations makes him "complicit in the current crackdown on Indonesia's pro-democratic forces".
"Strong condemnation by the Australian people and the international community is needed to defend Indonesian political prisoners from the People's Democratic Party and independent unions from the death sentence under Indonesia's anti-subversion laws", said Matthews.
The picket ended a week's activities for Nico Warouw, overseas representative of the People's Democratic Party. Warouw spoke to a September 21 ASIET dinner, at which participants were urged to join hunger strikers on October 28 for an "International Day of Protest for Human Rights and Democracy in Indonesia" outside the Garuda airline office.
Warouw also met organisers of the Maritime Union's Queensland branch. MUA organiser Bob Carnegie and Warouw addressed a September 16 public meeting at the Paddington Workers Club. Carnegie pledged the union's support for a campaign to free jailed Indonesian trade unionists Dita Sari and Muchtar Pakpahan. MUA members are conducting rolling bans on Indonesian ships in Australian ports.
After meeting with MUA members on the wharves on September 20, Warouw said it was encouraging to see Australian trade unionists "reawaken a tradition of supporting Indonesian people's rights".