tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9083592332331184648.post3627626807388385135..comments2024-03-23T02:47:06.479-07:00Comments on Kerry B. Collison Asia News: An Embrace of Mutual Ignorance: Australia and Indonesia Kerry B. Collisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02939821793284561307noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9083592332331184648.post-42053002249725259762014-06-19T15:21:51.664-07:002014-06-19T15:21:51.664-07:00Pieties About Indonesia ‘Are Bad Psychology’
IT’S...Pieties About Indonesia ‘Are Bad Psychology’ <br />IT’S not often you hear an Indonesia expert tick off a politician for talking up the importance of the relationship with our northern neighbour.<br /><br />Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s habit of talking up relations with Indonesia was bad psychology. Former Labor prime ministers Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard were also guilty of this rhetorical excess but Fealy suggested the “homespun” language of Abbott made it more obvious.<br /><br />The Prime Minister has anointed the Canberra-Jakarta axis as “in many respects Australia’s most important overall relationship”. Last week, opening an exhibition of Balinese art, Abbott painted Indonesia as our “most important neighbour”.<br /><br />“You never hear an Indonesian say that about Australia (and its importance to Indonesia),”. “And the more we say it, the more it inflates Indonesians’ sense of self-importance. It reinforces this notion that they are now a nation that is ascendant and in a superior position to Australia.<br /><br />“Indonesia sees itself as on the cusp of becoming a global power — an economic and a strategic power — and by some reckonings it is already a top 10 nation in the world economically. This means increasingly Indonesia is looking north, it’s not looking south — it’s much more preoccupied with what’s happening in Europe, North America, north Asia and the Middle East. It’s less and less concerned about what’s happening with Australia.”<br /><br />There’s been plenty of commentary about Abbott’s off-again, on-again relations with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Those highs and lows have been exaggerated, but there may be serious difficulty just ahead.<br /><br />On July 9, Indonesia’s next president will be chosen. There are two candidates: a former special services commander, Prabowo Subianto, and Jakarta’s reformist governor Joko Widodo.<br /><br />Prabowo is talented but volatile and his campaign has taken, at times, a xenophobic turn. <br /><br />This “spells trouble for Australia”, whether it’s Prabowo or Jokowi who is installed as SBY’s successor in October. “They are likely to take a far less accommodatory role towards Australia,” . The “combustible” temperament of Prabowo — he has not taken kindly to questions about his human rights record — would make things especially unpredictable.<br /><br />Take the turning back of boats, a practice that appears offensive to Indonesia’s sense of sovereignty.<br /><br />“At the very least he could quickly whip up anti-Australian sentiment to a level not seen since the East Timor crisis of 1999 — he may have even decided he’s going to deploy naval resources,”. “What price are we willing to pay to not have any boats coming to Australia? At the moment, we’re not paying much of a price.”<br />Kerry B. Collisonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02939821793284561307noreply@blogger.com