"Australians remain wary of Indonesia," said a headline on the eve of the recent meeting of the Prime Minister of Australia Tony Abbott with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on the industrial island of Batam in burying the hatchet on a spying row.
Is it serious distrust between the two neighbors? Certainly not between Australians and Indonesians with strong personal ties or professional. But most people in the two countries do not have such links. Suspicions are often based on ignorance and fueled by politicians and journalists in search of attention to research of a sensational story.
The latest claims of malaise stem from a telephone survey of 1,150 Australians in February. It found that 57% to Indonesia relationship with Australia as friendly, while a "feeling thermometer" measured the Australian heat in Indonesia to 52 degrees on a scale of 0 ° (very cold, unfavorable) to 100 ° (very warm, favorable).
Most Australians know little or nothing about Indonesia. The media told them time to time on terrorism, smugglers unpunished, natural disasters and drug busts. About a third of Australians believe Bali is a separate country. The figure was even higher before the arrest of Schapelle Corby there nearly 10 years.
When I say that I am Australian Indonesians, the most common response I get is: Harry Kewell. He is an Australian football player recently retired, who seems to enjoy a higher profile abroad. Before Harry Kewell, the top answer was Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, and before him, Mick Doohan, a motorcycle racing champion.
At the highest political level, the Indonesia-Australia relationship is prone to occasional crises, which are necessary for the development of a better understanding. Disputes are usually settled amicably without escalating threats of war.
Indonesian ambassadors were recalled in Australia a few times, but this action is more for public consumption to give the impression of a difficult leadership. When Yudhoyono completes his second and final term in October, Australia will lose one of his best friends. He has already forgiven Australia to try to exploit his mobile phone, even if the two countries have yet to formulate a "code of conduct on espionage" promised. The bilateral relationship could become more difficult if the former general Prabowo Subianto is elected president, although he rejected the view of many Indonesian politicians that Australia supported the Papuan separatism and attempts to violate Indonesian sovereignty.
Some Australians are unhappy that the Indonesia is the largest recipient of Australian aid: more than 500 million a $ annually They believe that Indonesia is becoming the richest countries Indonesia has foreign exchange reserves of 105.56 billion.. $, compared to Australia's forex only $ 57.36 billion. in addition, the external debt of Indonesia amounted to $ 276.5 billion in March, while the debt of Australia was $ 1510000000000.
savings "both countries are highly dependent on the exploitation of natural resources. The big difference is in the per capita income, which averaged $ 3,557 in Indonesia in 2012 and $ 67,442 in Australia. The flip side is that the cost of living is much lower in Indonesia, unless you live on wine and imported cheeses.
There are only about 3,500 Australians working legally in Indonesia. Most foreign workers here are China (14 371) and Japan (11,081), South Korea (9075), India (6047) and Malaysia (4962). Yet geography makes the relationship with Australia crucial.
Australia and Indonesia continue to suffer from future crises. Differences of opinion are inevitable, but they can always be discussed with the aim of promoting understanding and friendship.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia (R) shakes hands with Prime Minister Tony Abbott Australia (L) after a joint statement at the presidential palace in Jakarta September 30, 2013 . Abbott began a visit to Indonesia on September 30 for talks on its policies relating to difficult refugees who angered Jakarta, his government faced criticism on a boat wreck that left dozens of people dead or missing .
Lowlights & Highlights
April 1942: In an early act of solidarity with Indonesian workers, the Union of Australian sailors will on strike to protest against the treatment of Indonesian sailors who were interned for refusing to work on Dutch vessels for low wages.
September 1945: The Australian dockers Federation begins a Dutch ships prevention policy loaded with ammunition and food from Indonesia. Many Australian unions are joining the anti-Dutch blockade in the coming years.
July 1947: After a certain ambivalence, Australia recognizes the Republic of Indonesia, limited to Java, Madura and Sumatra. Australia accounts of Indonesia to the United Nations.
in September 1950 :. Australia co-sponsors of the admission of Indonesia to the United Nations
1959 :. Prime Minister Robert Menzies became the first Australian leader to visit Indonesia despite its concerns about the rise of the Indonesian Communist Party
January 1962 Australia fall in line with America reverses its support for the Dutch government continues to western New Guinea. Australia had previously hoped that the country would eventually unify with Papua New Guinea.
March 1965: After initially kept out of the conflict, the Australian troops join Commonwealth forces in Borneo in the fight against the undeclared war of Indonesia's confrontation against Malaysia . Twenty-three Australians killed in the conflict, which ended in 1966 after Suharto overthrew Sukarno.
1969: Australia has two independence activists in West Papua for eight months to prevent them from protesting at the UN against the incorporation of Papua in Indonesia
.October 1975: Five television journalists based in Australia, were killed by Indonesian troops in Balibo, East Timor, to prevent them from reporting on the invasion of Indonesia 's former Portuguese territory. Indonesia claims five were killed inadvertently in against fire. Successive Australian governments support the cover-up, not wanting to risk damaging ties with Indonesia.
September 1981: afraid of upsetting Indonesia, the Australian embassy rejects Max Lane aid agent after translating a banned books of Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Bumi Manusia English
April 1986 the Sydney Morning Herald published an article on the front page of its corresponding Indonesia David Jenkins, entitled "After Marcos, now for the billions Suharto "exposing corruption linked to Suharto's wife. Indonesia responds by expelling Jenkins suspending visas for Australian journalists and the freezing of diplomatic cultural, and military. A planeload of Australian tourists refused entry into Indonesia. The Indonesian army accuses Australia of seeking to damage the international image of Indonesia.
February 1988 :. Australian journalists are allowed to open offices in Indonesia
November 1991: Indonesian troops massacre of at least 250 unarmed East Timorese in a cemetery in Dili. The carnage galvanize solidarity for the struggle for the independence of East Timor, although the Australian Government continues to support Indonesian sovereignty over the territory.
October 1997. The Australian newspaper upsets Indonesia Suharto by publishing a cartoon in an orangutan trying to escape forest fires and labeling an "endangered species"
September 1999: Australia leads a peacekeeping force for peace mandated by the UN in East Timor in response to killing sprees by Indonesian troops and their proxy militia, after the independence referendum in the territory. Relations reached a low level.
October 2002: The Jemaah Islamiyah terror network bomb two nightclubs in Bali, killing 202 people, including 88 Australians. The incident led to the anti-terrorism cooperation.
March 2003: Australia joined the US invasion of Iraq, leading to demonstrations outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta. Radical groups are threatening to sweep the Americans and Australians on Indonesia.
in September 2004 :. The Australian Embassy in Jakarta was bombed by terrorists Jemaah Islamiyah, killing nine Indonesians, including the suicide bomber
October 2004: Australian Schapelle Corby was arrested at Bali have tried to pass in 4.2 kilograms of hydroponically grown marijuana. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison and released on parole in 2014.
January 2005 :. Australia announces $ A 1 billion aid program for reconstruction and development in Indonesia after the December 2004 earthquake and tsunami that killed about 170,000 people in Aceh
April 2005: an Australian helicopter accidents navy while providing humanitarian assistance to the earthquake devastated Nias island, killing nine people. The tragedy brought Indonesia and Australia closer.
April 2005: Nine Australians were arrested in Bali for attempting to smuggle 8.3 kilograms of heroin out of Indonesia. They received sentences ranging from 20 years to death.
October 2005 :. Jemaah Islamiyah bomb three locations in Jimbaran and Kuta, Bali, killing 20 people, including four Australians
March 2006: Australia granted protection visas to 42 Papuan asylum seekers who had accused the Indonesian military of genocide. Indonesia requires that they be returned and denies there is a crackdown in Papua. The Rakyat Merdeka operates daily an Australian Prime Minister John Howard caricature representative and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer as copulating dingoes with designs on Papua. The Australian newspaper answers with a cartoon showing President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as a dog copulating with a Papuan. Indonesia recalls ambassador.
in November 2006 :. Australia and Indonesia signed the Treaty of Lombok, cooperation covering security issues and "non-interference in the internal affairs of another"
March 2007: . Garuda Indonesia Flight 200 crashes at Yogyakarta airport, killing 22 people, including five Australians
July 2009 :. Jemaah Islamiyah bomb the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta, killing seven people, including three Australians
June 2011 :. Australia suspends live cattle exports to Indonesia after TV footage shows cattle flogged, lacerated and clumsily slaughtered in Indonesian abattoirs
October 2013: The media Australian issued a document leaked by former contactor US National Security Agency Edward Snowden, showing that Australia in August 2009 attempted to monitor telephone calls made by President Yudhoyono and his inner circle. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott refuses to apologize, prompting Indonesia to withdraw its ambassador to Australia. One of the main strategists Abbott likens the Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa to the Filipino porn star. Indonesia freezes military cooperation and intelligence.
January 2014: Indonesia requires the suspension of the maritime border protection policy in Australia after Australia admits some of its warships made inroads "inadvertently" in Indonesian waters
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