Bilateral relations between Indonesia and
Australia are like a teenage love story. While it’s normal that any
relationship experiences its ups and downs, ties between Australia and
Indonesia can change particularly quickly from great to very bad
Just several months ago, Australian officials and media
called President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono Australia’s biggest friend. The
president was welcomed with a standing ovation at the Australian parliament,
with most lawmakers in Canberra concluding that relations were at a historic
high.
Many of us here in Indonesia also believed that Australia
was finally putting enough trust in Indonesia and that suspicion left over from
the New Order era — when Australians believed the Indonesian Military was about
to invade — had faded.
But just weeks later, relations fell to a historic low, with
reports of Australia spying on Yudhoyono, his wife and other officials making
headlines in both countries. Indonesia quickly ordered its envoy to return to
Jakarta indefinitely. Now, we are witnessing a further blow, as Australia has
admitted it breached Indonesian waters, sparking more anger in Jakarta.
The series of incidents shows that there is a lack of trust
and maturity in both nations. And that is a shame, because the people of the
two countries have so much to gain from strong and healthy relations.
Indonesian people and officials should work harder to prove
our trustworthiness and sincerity to the Australian media and people, who
should in return ask their political leaders to act genuinely toward Indonesia.
We expected Australia to believe that Indonesia now is very
different from the previous era, when impunity prevailed, and that Australia
doesn’t need to spy on us for security reasons. But until this belief is firmly
rooted, it will be impossible to strengthen ties permanently. Editorial ‘Jakarta
Globe’
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