Rethinking Australia’s Indonesia Policy to Build Real Relations

"INDONESIA looms as the most important strategic reality in Australian defence thinking. We forget that fact when relations between Canberra and Jakarta are broadly positive." 

Peter Jennings (2013)

Executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Peter Jennings in his October 2013 article in the Australian explained why we need deeper ties with Indonesia, since the past decade of Indonesia's development has been a "quiet success story", having enjoyed "solid economic growth, managed a remarkable transition to being a stable democracy and kept under control the potential destabilising threat of jihadist terrorism." While various Indonesian scholars debate this sentiment and instead suggest that issues of violence and conflict in the archipelago are far from quiet, Jennings' article works to raise the point that while Indonesia may appear to be the stable democracy it wants to be, there are still fundamental problems in Indonesian society which need to be addressed before good relations can be built. The main issues Jennings sees as driving a wedge between Australia and Indonesia are that of Papuan independence and a perception of Canberra's wish to stop Papua being incorporated into Indonesia; the need to collaborate on the strategic level jihadist terrorist threat to prevent similar violent events as what occurred in 2002 and 2005 in Bali; and thirdly, cooperation on the 'boatpeople' issue. These three issues are all to do with mutual perception and the need for closer interaction, but do not scrape the surface of the socio-political issues that cause conflict in Indonesia.
Prime Minister Abbott has announced his intent to focus on the development of strong economic and business relations with Indonesia as a consequence of believing Australia has historically underinvested in building and maintaining close ties. Calls for strong business, economic and defence links will only scrape the surface of relationship issues between Australia and Indonesia; what is needed is a deep and honest ambition to understand one another as neighbours and not just work-mates. Such an understanding needs to be garnered at a levels across the socio-political spectrum so that Australians and the broader international community alike have access to the ground truth of the environment breaching language, cultural and religious barriers to address the underlying issues, rather than focusing on the tip of the iceberg at the policy level. A deeper understanding of Indonesian society and its issues is critical because these factors make up the rest of the iceberg that inevitably sinks the ship of harmonious inter-governmental interaction.

1. Jennings, P., (2013), "Why we need deeper ties with Indonesia", The Australian, accessed online on 16 May 14 at http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/opinion/why-we-need-deeper-ties-with-indonesia/story-e6frgd0x-1226730270637#