Australia and Indonesia: The long view
By blindboy.
When I was about 6 my father went to work for many months in a strange place called Surabaya in an even stranger country called Indonesia. He returned with a large thick book engraved Tanah Air Kita, Our Land And Water. I studied its images endlessly. Even before that he had often travelled through the region, which he had known in his youth as the Dutch East Indies. On a bookcase in our home stood a pair of carved wooden heads and on the bottom of one, long before I knew it as a winding, hollow right, was the word Sanur. He had travelled through so many of the islands on small merchant vessels, that even now, whenever I find myself standing in an Indonesian port, my first thought is still to wonder if he had also passed that way.
So Indonesia was in my blood long before I first travelled there in the mid-seventies as a politically naive, self-absorbed surfer. It was an education. At that time it was a military dictatorship and ordinary people feared both the military and the police with good reason; their authority was absolute and their methods brutal. Political dissent was no more than a whisper, poverty was widespread and corruption was endemic at every level. The transition to an open and accountable democracy is not yet complete but for those of us who have travelled there regularly over the years the progress has been spectacular.
Over that time Australia's relationship with Indonesia has been characterised by long periods of indifference punctuated by occasional crises and more recently, regular lip service to "our most important relationship". On the ground the attitudes of ordinary Indonesians have varied in a similar manner. It has always had its narrow minded anti-western opportunists ever ready to criticise Australia, in much as we have our own narrow minded reactionaries ever ready to criticise Indonesia. So with each crisis there has been a noticeable increase in hostility to Australians.
In particular the period following the secession of East Timor in 1999 through to the Iraq War in 2003 was not a good time to be an Australian traveller. I encountered significant hostility in southern Sumatra on one trip and on another landed in Padang just as the US attacked Baghdad. We were immediately quizzed on why we had come when everyone else had cancelled. With the first Bali bombings so fresh in the mind it was hard to answer. For me it came down to a gut feeling. I had always felt safe in Indonesia and I had been avoiding Kuta for so long the bombing never felt like a personal threat. Even in the worst of those times outright hostility was rare. More often people just wanted to talk, to express their own views and hear yours. I remember a waiter in a hotel saying how wrong it was to attack Baghdad and how much he disliked John Howard. I could only agree.
The Boxing Day tsunami was a turning point. The efforts of Australia to assist in the worst human tragedy of modern times were recognised and respected by both Indonesia's leadership and the majority of the population. Despite that there are still parts of Indonesia where Islamic fundamentalism and hostility to western influence are so strong that surfers have reported having their vehicles stoned as they drove through. The Indonesian authorities, aware of the threat from that direction, have demonstrated a real commitment to eliminating terrorism, not only by police action but through education and community work and they have been largely successful. Surfers concerned about their safety would be better served worrying about more mundane risks such as road accidents, disease, drugs and alcohol.
The recent incident in which Australia has been caught monitoring SBY's phone, that of his wife and those of other senior Indonesian politicians highlights the lack of understanding of Indonesia that has characterised our politicians over many decades. Tony Abbott's proposal some time ago to buy Indonesian fishing vessels to prevent people smuggling revealed a profound ignorance of Indonesia with its thousands of islands and literally millions of available boats. His response to the spying allegations revealed an even more concerning ignorance, or disregard, for Indonesian culture. For all the talk of the importance of the relationship, when it came to a test all our Prime Minister could do was mutter the usual diplomatic, in the worst sense of the word, platitudes.
If this genuinely was our most important relationship the response would have been different. So one of the messages received by Jakarta through this incident is that while we talk up our role as part of Asia, culturally we are still somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic. Our precedent both in perpetrating the offence and dealing with its consequences has clearly been provided by that great meddler in the affairs of other nations, the United States.
The consequence of that stance will be reduced influence in Indonesia for some time to come. It is unlikely that the affair will escalate beyond that since Indonesia is unlikely to endanger the $A650 million in aid it is receiving this financial year. That this is the underlying motivation for our Prime Minister's contemptuous response to the issue only reveals the narrowness of his perspective.
This was not so much a problem as an opportunity for the new government to show that they were serious about this relationship. Had they apologised, blamed the previous government and sworn not to do it again their influence would have risen enormously. If this seems unimportant perhaps you should remember that Indonesia's transition to an open democracy, as I said earlier, is not complete. It is very much in Australia's interests that it complete that transition. Australia needs all the influence it can get to assist that process as it is far from inevitable. The reactionary elements in Indonesia will be leveraging this incident for all they are worth. Their agenda is to return to the days, not yet completely done, of crony politics and military dominance.
For travelling surfers I doubt much will change. You might cop the odd insult but our great cultural bridge to the Indonesian people has always been our shared sense of humour. Jokes that have Americans and Europeans cringing produce belly laughs in Indonesia. I have no idea why we we should share the same slightly vulgar, slapstick, self-deprecating humour, but we do, so take advantage of it. The politicians can do their dramas and the media can beat it up but we have the luxury of laughing with our neighbours. Enjoy it. //blindboy
Comments
Just saw on the tv in 1999 the Indonesia embassy was caught tapping Aust. officials and dignitaries but it was swept quietly under the carpet..Seems when we do something wrong we almost turn on our own and defend Indonesia..I think it goes both ways..the spying..bit of huff and puff from both sides?Dunno why you'd tap SBY and his Mrs though?Laurie Oakes said maybe Abbott should take a leaf out of Obama'sbook and say we've stopped and won't do it to SBY again?fair call I reckon!
One thing I've noticed over the years, was before media and tourist saturation all the Indonesians were much friendlier, they still are friendly, but now some have views about us that we can't control. Our previous government has been caught out phone tapping. Who wouldn't be pissed off Are the Indonesians spying on us. It seems like every country has a go at it
Thanks for your summary Blindboy, and yes, we will have a lot of work to do so that Tony's idiotic meanderings in foreign affairs can be patched up. But as you say, the resilient, optimistic & humourous nature of the people themselves will usually shine through. Keep cultivating democracy & understanding so our indo mates can strive for a better deal.
thanks for writing this. A great contribution to the conversation.
A well written and concise article BB.
I stand by what I said on the other thread started by Salt though. Australia needs a strong leader and not some snivelling lap-dog.
Indonesia is well deserving of an apology if their government can categorically prove that they have never spied or tried to gain intelligence on Australia in the past. They seem to be quite silent on this.
For the average surfer on the ground, I think this will have little or no impact. This is a diplomatic spat and for the most part I think Indonesians are more concerned about putting food on the table and sending their kids to school.
As visitors to their country, we should strive to be the best ambassadors that we can and prove to the people that we are not like our goverment as the majority of them are not like theirs.
hi zen. I suppose the point is the difference between the usual level of spying and monitoring a politician's personal phone. Indonesia has stated categorically that they do not do that and so they have a right to complain. The thing I find hardest to understand is why any agency would think the benefits would outweigh the risks of getting caught. Everyone knows that phones are not secure so it is very unlikely that any specific useful information would come from it. The only value would be in the call patterns.
Apologising for a stupid decision by the previous government is hardly being a lap dog and the history of the relationship, particularly over East Timor, shows that Australia does not take a subservient role. .I think Abbott has a poor grasp of Asian culture and fails to understand how seriously his failure to apologise will be taken.
Blindboy, let's consider this for a second. If we are to apologise for this incident and subsequently rule out doing such a thing again, what then happens if further leaks show Malaysia, China, Thailand, Japan etc have in fact been the subject of Australian intelligence operations. What then? Do we then issue apologies to those countries as well and rule out gathering any intelligence in the future? It just doesn't work. I think it's pretty evident this article was a thinly veiled attempt to have a swing at Abbott. His 'failure' to apologise is the right response given the circumstances so far. Especially when the country in question is known for terrorist activity.
Blindboy, let's consider this for a second. If we are to apologise for this incident and subsequently rule out doing such a thing again, what then happens if further leaks show Malaysia, China, Thailand, Japan etc have in fact been the subject of Australian intelligence operations. What then? Do we then issue apologies to those countries as well and rule out gathering any intelligence in the future? It just doesn't work. I think it's pretty evident this article was a thinly veiled attempt to have a swing at Abbott. His 'failure' to apologise is the right response given the circumstances so far. Especially when the country in question is known for terrorist activity.
namoop, there is no doubt that Australia gathers intelligence on numerous countries. The issue is the monitoring of the phones of political leaders. The reaction around the world to this has been that it is unacceptable. In refusing to accept that and apologise Abbott has seriously damaged our relationship with Indonesia, though no doubt it will recover. As for having a swipe at him, well at least I have plenty of company, as virtually every commentator has taken a similar view as have the general public according to the latest polls.
I think you are missing the point. I quote Abdullah Mahmud Hendropriyono, the former head of Indonesia's primary intelligence agency BIN,
'Of attempts to listen to the phone conversations of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the first lady and their confidantes, for intelligence, it's normal. Tapping and counter-tapping is quite common in the intelligence life...There is no permanent friend, there is no permanent foe. However, there is a permanent interest... our nation's interest.'
So, the reaction has not been that it is unacceptable, moreover that it is an accepted practice of gathering intelligence. Abbott has not seriously damaged our relationship with Indonesia by refusing to apologise; if anyone is to blame it is the ABC and Guardian newspapers for publishing the hyper-sensitive information. As for having plenty of company, you mean other left wing/fairfax commentators (take a look at the demise of fairfax's share price for a laugh) who will always find ground to disagree with the Abbott coalition. Llet's not forget that the incident took place under a Labor government and yet Abbott has refused to politicise the issue. He is acting in the nation's best interests in a way which he sees fit.
The spying which is in the news,was 2009,so who was in govt,not tony but the labor party,so they should bloody say sorry,not tony.And i go to sumatra,and the people there,muslim or christian ,hate the indo govt and look what they have done too the irian jaya people,east timorese,banda aceh.The indo govt has and have little chips on their shoulders,they are angry children who have always acted like this and will continue,i say pull the 600 million in aid from them,did they apologise for shooting our reporters in 1975?F@#$% them!Anyways there will be a change of indo govt by next july.the current govt in indo is like the gillard rudd pliberseck govt,they are trying too make as much noise before they go down.
The real problem is that the next Gen of Indo leaders in the running for Pres are nowhere near as moderate as SBY.
They will have no prob, just like Abott did, in playing lowest common denominator cards to whip up fear and loathing amongst sections of the Indo population.
Is it really in anyone's interests, particularly Australia, as we enter what will be potentially treacherous Asian geopolitics in the medium term to have an inflamed and dysfunctional relationship with Indonesia?
You'd have to be a pretty ignorant bogan to say yes.
@jam65- It's naive to think that democratically elected governments have such tight rein on our intelligence agencies as to dictate who gets eavesdropped on. The agencies are public servants not political appointments and are a law unto themselves.
These agencies act in conjunction with their Western Allied brethren and ministers are only told what they need to know, or if they don't specifically ask they sure wont be told.
It's beyond party politics and Howard/Bush/Blair and co. sure as fuck would of been doing the same thing. As are any foreign governments with the capability to do so.
Spying on the personal calls of family members of political leaders is just plain wrong though whoever is doing it.
I think below the superficial politico wrangling is a much sinister Indo-China vs Aust-Anglo-Yank divide.
Geo-political arm wrestle on steriods.
I never believed Australia's intervention in Timor had much to do with human rights, but more leverage on the shifting of boundaries for the Timor Gap Treaty and subsequent awarding resource rights (Sunrise Gas) to Anglo-American (read inc. Australia) giant Conoco-Philips.
Huge resources and huge population in play here. Eg: Doing Oil & Gas business in Indo is err, "interesting".
At the end of the day, Australia spying on Indo is just performing it's patsy role for vested Anglo-American banking interests. Same as it ever was.
Human rights and neighbourly respect ? pffft, don't think so.
From Swellnet's Facebook page:
"Islam is the dominant religion in Indonesia, 70% of the population want Sharia law which is supported by Muslims who hate the Western world.
End of the day Indonesia is the biggest threat to our Country, they spy on us and we spy on them. I have no doubt that some of Indonesian government came illegally by boat, could say the same about Iran."
Another case against compulsory voting.
Timor -Leste are still owed $billions for overdue taxes from Conoco-Philips and other companies, that operate in the Timor Sea.
97% of the state's expenditures are paid for with money from the Petroleum Fund. But the oil companies cheat – they pay as little as they can get away with.
spot on wellymon, the Timorese got a right royal raw prawning from the Timor sea, shifting of boundaries and resource allocation, courtesy of Alexandra Downer & Co.
They get literally peanuts, whilst as such a small country should now be stinking rich.
That said, I have no doubt Indo views those resources as still "theirs".
Classic Islamophode post c/p from SN Fb.
A really well-written and interesting piece. Thanks. For me the way Australia regards Indonesia and indeed Malaysia and Asia in general is typified in the Abbot response - a kind of cultural arrogance which privilege and wealth beyond the dreams of all but the wealthiest 1% Indos, creates. I wonder what the public response would be if the USA was found to be tapping Abbot's family phone calls??
groves I am not sure about the public response but mine would be profound sympathy for those who had to listen.
Haha, touche.
Well, Indonesia has just called an end to joint co-operation in stopping people smuggling, which was one of the platforms - probably the major platform - that got Tony Abbott into power.
Abbott as opposition leader is a very different politician to Abbott as Prime Minister.
As Labor forecast, he'd undone our good relations with Indonesia in less than a couple of months..
Excellent well written article blind boy.
ha ha cg, the NSA taps EVERYBODIES phone calls and your every key stroke.
but you are right, IMO the west still views such nations as 3rd worlds waiting to be exploited and piliaged for their resources and productivity.,
and of course load them up to the gills with Debt courtesy of IMF, World Bank etc., to garuntee, regardless of their determination or success, they remain Debt Slaves indefinitely.
did rudd know this was coming ? chucked it in ..what a week ago.
All that said, Australia is grand central for all Anglo-American spying via Pine Gap & other locations.
---On 11 July 2013, ex-CIA contractor and CIA employee Edward Snowden revealed documents which showed Pine Gap, amongst three other locations in Australia and one in New Zealand, are amongst those used in the PRISM surveillance program conducted by various United States intelligence agencies.---
I was in Jakarta on Monday and Tuesday, got a few opinions from the cabbies who were all pretty indifferent. Best quote I got was this... "Why should we worry about Australia spying on Indonesian Government, our government is corrupt!"
Classic Yocal
narnoop21 wrote re Abbott: "He is acting in the nation's best interests in a way which he sees fit."
The problem is the tack he is taking is an insult to our large and powerful northern Asian neighbour, the most populated Muslim nation on earth.
Asian culture has a big component of pride so saying a patronising thing such as "I regret that this incident has caused embarrassment to Indonesia" Tony has put his foot in his mouth again making it difficult for SBY to save face in the eyes of his people? Look at the Indonesian Foreign Minister's outraged response "we have nothing to be embarrassed about....."
A diplomatic and clever political response would have been a simple" I apologise for the actions of the previous Labor government".
All this would have gone away in an instant. Abbott has no idea about dealing with foreign governments, cultures and sensibilities and how would he? He is more comfortable on his bike, running marathons or posing for photo opportunities.
If we had a decent Foreign Minister Abbott could stick to what he does best(?) and let them handle this stuff.
It's ironic that Abbott forged his political reputation with half-truths, lies, and "don't believe everything I say" statements, yet now he's in power and something real is at stake he decides to be brutally frank. International diplomacy should be second nature to modern politicians. Fuck, even half a clue about Asian culture will do.
Since every single country on the planet run spying programs as integral parts of their regimes, one would be quite naive to think that Indo politicans are not doing the very same sort of spying on Australians....
On the subject of naivete, Indo politicians are going to wear that batiked look well. As fighting asylum shoppers by cutting off Austrailian shoppers will produce nothing but an epic fail for all involved.
In case you hadn't noticed, Abbott has trouble thinking on his feet.
so, Indo is going to shut the shop to Australians because Australia is prosecuting shoplifters in their own shop.
got it. right. thanks.
insert Paul Fisher laugh here.
Found this article on Time magazines website. This guy is the kind of moron Tony Abbott is getting to advise him?
http://world.time.com/2013/11/22/aussie-pm-advisers-best-twitter-rants/
Is it really about recent news,... cell tappers, people smugglers, or asylum shoppers? or is that just an easy excuse?.... apparently it's been festering for ages.
Haha, one of you're better links, classic!
fucking brilliant.