Indonesia and Australia in the 'Asian Century'

In the Asia Pacific Region Australia must maintain an unambiguous signal to the Australian public as well as to the United States and Chinese Governments that, while we are in a long standing alliance relationship with the United States and while we have different values from China, we welcome the rise of China and oppose policies directed at the containment of China. A failure to accommodate a rising China if mismanaged could lead to instability and frustrate progress towards Asia Pacific Regional co-operation. All countries in the region need continued peace and stability if they are to continue to grow economically and deal with competition within the region for resources, including food and water.

The present debate about China mainly assumes that Australia has no choice but to support American primacy in Asia against a perceived threat of a rising Chinese hegemony. Former Prime Ministers Hawke, Keating and Fraser have all argued that this is a simplistic notion which should be challenged. Similar concerns have been raised by a number of Australian business leaders, academics and commentators.

There is a danger that adversarial attitudes towards China could become a self fulfilling prophesy. While China can be expected to resist American "hegemony" over the Asian region it welcomes a constructive United States involvement in Asia. China is not a natural enemy of the United States. It is essential that both countries and other major countries in the region, including Indonesia and Australia, develop further the habit of frankly discussing difficulties as they arise within existing cooperative frameworks, such as the G20 and the East Asian Summit which is becoming a de facto emerging Asia Pacific community. No regional problem can now be resolved without the involvement of the United States, China, Japan, Russia and Indonesia.

Turning to the Australia/Indonesia relationship we need to strengthen the habit of regular, improved consultation on a wide range of policy issues, especially in advance of any major policy decision which we might take and which would affect Indonesia. A recent example of our failure to do this with negative consequences was the decision subsequently rescinded to ban live cattle exports to Indonesia. Another is the handling of the refugee/asylum seekers issue in the region, an issue which is much less of a priority to Indonesia, than it is to Australia. Another was the decision, announced during President Obama's visit last November to locate 2,500 US Marines through Darwin.

It is clear that the Australians and Indonesians need to know much more about each other. It is regrettable that many Australians still regard Indonesia as a mysterious, chaotic and corrupt country in which the rule of law is very weak. According to the Lowy polls many Australians still see Indonesia as a potential threat. This is largely because of historical fears, its size, its proximity, its potential instability and its activities in West Papua.

Many Indonesians also see Australians still as part of the Anglosphere, as uncouth in terms of their own culture and still harboring undertones of racism and religious intolerance. These suspicions go back of course to the days of the White Australia Policy and statements of politicians such as Pauline Hanson. Many Indonesians I have encountered also remain uncertain about the depth and sincerity of our commitment to our Asian and South West Pacific neighborhood. I have always found on visits that we are on a sort of "good behavior bond" in the eyes of many.

While Indonesia, like Australia, welcomes a constructive continuing United States involvement in the Asia Pacific there is some concern about the so called "pivot to Asia" – now referred to as "rebalancing". Australians in particular need to know what this will involve for us in United States strategic thinking. In respect of Indonesia there will be some concern for example as to the extent to which the Cocos Islands - so close to Indonesia and Malaysia yet now part of Western Australia - might be used for security purposes in respect of the South East Asian and the Southern China region.

While the present Government maintains that Australian strategic cooperation with the United States is not related to any containment policy, the Government's rhetoric should not be contradicted by our actions. Also we should, as a matter of course, keep Indonesia informed of what involvement we may be entering which may affect them. Australians themselves are not fully informed. Ministers, advised by their spin doctors, often obscure issues and mislead the public at press briefings and even at press conferences. This reflects residual Cold War thinking which needs to be put to one side.

It is of course of great importance to Australia that Indonesia will have parliamentary elections in April next year for the Indonesian parliament (DPR) followed by the presidential election in June. So there will be a major political change in Indonesia next year. It is too early to predict who the new President will be. Unfortunately it will not be Susilo Banbang Yudhoyono (SBY) as under the revised Indonesian constitution the President is limited to two terms.

There is no clear front runner at present who we could confidently predict will replace SBY but, whoever it is, a reelected labor government or a new coalition government in Australia will need to move quickly to reinforce and strengthen further the relationship. Personal affiliations will remain important.

I was disappointed that the Republic was not mentioned in the White Paper on Australia in the Asian Century. It should not have been overlooked. Australia is still a work in progress. The next constitutional step in the unfolding story of Australia should be the establishment of the Republic which will be, like Federation itself in 2001, a defining moment in our history.

Our anachronistic links with the English Monarchy and the fact that our Head of State is still the Queen of England, does limit the understanding overseas of Australia's place in the world.

This is not simply a constitutional issue. The establishment of an Australian Republic will have both Foreign Affairs and Trade advantages. It will also reinforce the Australian identity throughout the world.

To conclude the importance of our relations with Indonesia in the future and in the context of the Asian Century cannot be over-stated. It is essential that each country comes to know more about its neighboring country.

As a nation we need to be genuinely and continuously engaged – not in a rhetorical sense or going through the motions - with our great neighbor of increasing global and regional importance. We shall both share this neighborhood for the rest of time.