A woman’s place is diplomacy
No international talkfest can be wrapped up without a bland group statement and matching photo op. The show may have been boiling to a brawl, but the closing shot cools.
But these pics also display something grins can’t erase: The gender inequality of diplomacy.
The pageants are dominated by sober-suited men. The few women who make it into these parades of power are not constrained by dark dress codes so lighten the line-ups.
Indonesia’s the biggest player in ASEAN and the only one with a woman at the top table, . Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi.
Next month (September) the world’s first conference of female foreign ministers will be held in Toronto. The hosts will be Canada’s Chrystia Freeland a former journalist, and the European Union’s Federica Mogherini, an Italian politician.
Marsudi, 55, is the first woman FM in Indonesia’s 73-year history; she was previously Ambassador to the Netherlands.
“We are more diligent, less aggressive than men, more patient, tolerant, flexible and good at multi-tasking,” commented her colleague Dewi Gustina Tobing, 54.
“Men used to dominate Deplu (the Indonesian Department of Foreign Affairs) but the imbalance is disappearing. About 40 per cent of the diplomats are now women. Change is underway.”
This is not some new century recognition of female talent. Like her Minister, the Consul General to Western Australia joined the service in the early 1990s when Soeharto’s New Order dictatorship was at its peak.
In those days large numbers of women worked as public servants, but mainly typing and filing letters written by men.
On the Perth ConGen office walls portraits of Tobing’s six male forerunners stare sternly down. The Consulate opened in 1993 to cope with WA’s economic boom. In 2010 it was upgraded to a Consulate General.
Australia has just caught up. Last month (Aug) the then FM Julie Bishop, the first woman to hold the job since Federation in 1901, opened a new ConGen office in Surabaya.
Bishop later quit following a shake-up in Australian politics which saw PM Malcolm Turnbull replaced by Treasurer Scott Morrison who visited Indonesia last week. He’s appointed another woman as FM, Senator Marise Payne, the former Minister for Defence.
Strategically-important Perth has long had a special affinity with Indonesia. The Indian Ocean city of 1.7 million is closer to Denpasar than Australia’s Pacific-facing eastern seaboard where the power resides - but 3,000 kilometers distant.
WA is the largest state in the Commonwealth. Its population of 2.6 million equals one person per square kilometer. Tobing is not deterred - she’s getting into the remote spots to explain her nation’s history, culture, attractions and values.
Before the Bali bombs shattered trust (the largest number of deaths
and casualties were suffered by Australians), WA was awash with optimism driven by a mining boom and bonhomie.
This was cemented by the 1990 Sister-State relationship with East Java. Real yields from provincial deals are rare. This one wasn’t.
Bureaucrats and businessfolk from Surabaya were feted by officials and corporate heavies. School visits became commonplace. Learning Indonesian became cool. NGOs helped with aid programs for disabled kids.
Dairy cattle and seed potatoes were exported and thrived in Java’s fertile soils. Milk
yields doubled with the infusion of new genes, and spuds did even better.
It was expected that further trade would be built on these initiatives, but the energy has slumped along with tumbling ore prices and rising terror threats.
Getting sparkle back into the relationship is going to be a challenge for the ConGen. Just ahead of talking to Strategic Review she’d been in Karratha, 1,400 kilometers north of Perth yarning with schoolchildren.
“We need to improve people-to-people relationships,” she said. “Governments can do more and we should all be taking part in the process. I want to promote openness and better awareness of Indonesia among young people, to hear their views.”
Way to go. This year the Lowy Institute Poll showed only 24 per cent think that Indonesia is a democracy. Respondents split on whether Indonesia is a ‘dangerous source of terrorism’; only 32 per cent reckon ‘the Indonesian government has worked hard to fight terrorism’.
Small majorities agreed that ‘Indonesia is an important economy to Australia’, and that ‘Australia is managing its relationship with Indonesia well’. Overall feelings towards Indonesia were ‘lukewarm’.
Foreign Affairs is every nation’s key ministry, one face representing millions, one voice reasoning during an eruption of crises Some countries reward politicians, military men and party donors with plumb positions overseas, but Tobing, like Marsudi, is a professional.
The mother of two tertiary students admits she’s ambitious but doesn’t display the pushiness often used by career-minded men. Instead she’s disarmingly cheerful, which may be more effective. Locals who have dealt with her say she’s approachable and open.
A Batak (North Sumatra) Protestant and the eighth of ten children from an ordinary family (diplomats were once drawn mainly from the elite) she was encouraged by her mother to study English and clearly excelled. “I like to learn,” she said. “I’m interested in people and can work well with anybody.”
She wanted to be a banker, scored Deplu in 1990, then to Birmingham for a Masters degree in Business Administration.
Postings followed in Belgium, Argentine and Korea (she speaks Spanish and some Korean). For four years before her Perth job she was Director for American and European Intra-regional Cooperation.
“When I joined Deplu hundreds were competing for few positions - now it’s thousands,” she said. “I’ve been on selection panels - we look at character, appearance, education, a sense of balance, language skills, an interest in following the news and knowing the policy of the government.
“Applicants need a good positive attitude; even if they don’t get in these are qualities that will take them far.
“I have a very strong belief that God will give me the best when I do my best. I know that women make very good diplomats.”
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