PM in gaffe-strewn Indonesian TV interview
Scott Morrison has given a rambling error-littered interview to Indonesian TV where he fudged the
figures of casualties in the 2002 Bali bomb
blast.
The Prime Minister told English-speaking journalist Andini
Effendi that “more Indonesians were killed than Australians” when the reverse
is true.
The final death toll of 202 men and women in the 12 October
terrorist attack was 88 Australians, 38 Indonesians, 23 Britons and 53 from
other nations.
In the six-minute clip telecast Monday night on the nation’s
top news station Metro TV, the Prime
Minister explained that he’d been to memorial services in Coogee, though
apparently not in Kuta on Bali. The terrorist attack took place where the
main monument is located on the Jalan Legian tourist strip.
Coogee means nothing to most Indonesians and was translated
as ‘Quci’ on the screen.
Later in the interview Morrison referred to Indonesian
President Joko Widodo as the former ‘mayor’ of Jakarta.
Widodo, who this year won a second five-year term as
president, was the governor of Jakarta
between 2012 and 2014.
When asked about his personal relationship with Widodo, who
he described as a “cheeky character”, the PM said he talked about his family and a
new dog. Widodo is a Muslim. Dogs are considered unclean in Islam and
rarely kept as pets.
In North Sulawesi, Bali and
other parts of the country canines are cooked and considered a treat. Hopefully Widodo’s advisers are more culturally
aware than those in the PM’s office, so wouldn’t recommend raising these
culinary habits in any future jolly chat.
It’s unlikely Morrison would try to build mateship by
telling Israel’s
PM Benjamin Netanyahu that he’d just enjoyed a bacon burger, or that his ALP
opponents carry on like pork chops.
Although the questions in the interview shot in Sydney were
unchallenging, Morrison seemed poorly
briefed so padded out time with bland statements.
He said the relationship between the two countries “isn’t just
about economics, it’s about security, it’s about regional strategic objectives,
it’s about the environment” – which is curious; Indonesia is a case-study mess
largely a domestic issue where foreign governments fear to tread,
Or perhaps Morrison was referring to the containers of
Australian waste being repatriated after dumping was exposed.
Jungle-clearing fires in Kalimantan are smoking Singapore. Java’s
rivers are streams of plastic trash.
Reliance on coal-fired power stations and failure to control vehicle
emissions have put Jakarta
atop the world’s most unlivable cities.
The relationship is also about education and trade training
and people-to-people contacts.
Unfortunately these issues didn’t get highlighted though Australian
universities and vocational trainers are bidding against European providers for
work in Indonesia.
Widodo has been pushing hard for outside expertise to boost skills
and Morrison could have alerted Indonesian
viewers that his country is keen to help.
Nor did the PM use his time to talk about Widodo’s ‘Ten New
Balis’ plan to boost visitor numbers and which is being supported by Australian
advisors.
The PM’s experience as a former managing director of Tourism Australia means that in this
industry he should know what he’s
talking about.
The Lowy Institute has been polling Australians on their
views about Indonesia
for the past 15 years. This year it
reported that respondents’ answers ‘continue to demonstrate a lack of knowledge
about our largest neighbour.’
In their door-knocking the researchers must have included Kirribilli House.
First published in Pearls & Irritations, 18 Sepember 2019: https://johnmenadue.com/duncan-graham-pm-in-gaffe-strewn-indonesian-tv-interview/
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