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| The Australian Embassy in Jakarta (Source: Dezeen Magazine) |
In early April, NSW Governor David Hurley spoke about
Indonesian-Australian relationships. Although largely ignored by the mainstream
media his speech was not the usual whitebread served by those elevated to
positions supra-politics.
Hurley launched some awkward statistics:
* Thirteen per cent of Australians see Indonesians as
trustworthy. Switch that around and the
figure is 53 per cent.
* Nineteen
per cent of Australians say they have a good knowledge of Indonesia. The
reverse is 43 per cent.
* Unfavourable
perceptions of the people next door?
Australians 47 per cent, Indonesians ten per cent.
The former chief of the Australian Defence Force is beyond
the range of the Australian Embassy in Jakarta. Like the Russians in Syria, diplomats chose not to retaliate
against the retired general’s missiles.
Hurley is too big and important; returning fire might escalate the
issue.
Compare this to the reaction to my review in The Jakarta
Post of Strangers Next Door? edited by Melbourne University senior
academics Tim Lindsey and Dave McRae.
Charge d’affaires Allaster Cox responded that he was
‘somewhat taken aback’ while giving no signs that he’d read the book. It’s a thoughtful collection of essays by
concerned academics and journalists, with many unhappy at the state of affairs
between Indonesia and Australia and wanting major changes.
This is Cox’s second term in Jakarta – he served in the
pre-democracy 1990s so is qualified to judge the
betterment or otherwise of the relationship.
This could have been a valuable contribution.
Instead he applied the Department of Foreign Affairs and
Trade’s stock defence against incoming dissent – to ignore the anxieties, but
if seriously provoked, fire a barrage of garbled statistics to fog the
debate. Here’s a sample:
‘More than 20,000 Indonesians
study in Australia each year, making Australia the most popular overseas
destination for Indonesian university students.’
According to the Department of
Education and Training, more students head to Australia from China, India,
Nepal, Malaysia, Vietnam, South Korea, Thailand, and even Brazil than the
world’s fourth largest country (260 million), and conveniently next door.
Brasilia is 14,400 kilometres from Canberra.
Cox also claimed that the ‘New
Colombo Plan sends thousands of Australians to Indonesia every year to live,
study and learn more about our closest neighbor.’
The NCP is a fine initiative but
the statistics are coarse - fourteen scholarships to Indonesia awarded this year. The most popular destinations for these
bright hopes are Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and China.
‘Mobility grants’ of up to AUD
6,000 have gone to 13,000 tertiary students in 2018. Around 2,100 go to Indonesia - ten per cent of their counterparts
venturing south.
Here’s another disturbing figure:
1.25 million Australians fly to Indonesia every year – mainly to Hindu Bali
rather than Muslim Java, yet only 200,000 Indonesians visit Australia.
That’s six to one. We get
visa-free entry – they pay AUD 140 per person
and have to complete a 15-page form.
Malaysians (340,000 visitors) and Singaporeans (400,000) pay AUD 20.
Whatever verbal pyrotechnics DFAT
ignites, that policy displays discrimination or
distrust or both.
Cox wrote that ‘the truth is that Australians are not indifferent to our
nearest neighbour. That does a disservice to the many ways in which our
countries and people work together at all levels and doesn’t do justice to the
very healthy Australia-Indonesia relationship’.
This misdiagnosis is BS unqualified when measured against Hurley’s
figures and his unsettling observations at the top of this page. He delivered some in Indonesian at the Fourth Indonesia-Australia Dialogue organised by the
Australian Institute of International Affairs. Ironically it was supported by
DFAT.
Hurley said Australia needs ‘ to go beyond the successful
management of incidents to one of action flowing from shared interests,
cooperative leadership within the region, support for shared imperatives and
initiatives, and binding economic interests.
‘It is therefore important
to ensure that our leaders and people gain a better insight into what motivates
and drives each country.’
Which is the general
message of Strangers Next Door? except that it’s being sent by academics
and journalists who call the shots as they see them.
Blunt assessments from NGOs
and campuses are not enemy ordnance.
Independent research and commentary may not polish the government’s
self-made image, but demeaning other views is the real disservice.
Outsiders are trying, like
Hurley, ‘… to overcome trust deficits, taking steps that will bind rather than
simply link the two countries.’
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| Source: ABC |
Here’s an early task for
new Ambassador Gary Quinlan, 67, when he settles into the five-hectare Jakarta
fortress and presumably his final posting.
It’s the biggest and most costly of our overseas missions with 500
workers well protected from the hurly-burly of the world’s third largest
democracy they are paid to understand.
Defuse the smug
we-know-best siege mentality nurtured during the past few years behind the
Embassy’s blast-proof and critic-resistant walls. If you still judge the Strangers Next Door? authors’ words
unworthy, at least tune in to the concerns of His Excellency.
Hurley’s speech: http://www.internationalaffairs.org.au/australianoutlook/the-importance-of-dialogue-in-the-indonesia-australia-bilateral/
Cox’s comments: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018/04/28/your-letters-on-strangers-next-door.html
http://johnmenadue.com/duncan-graham-finding-ties-that-bind/
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