From issues such as Timor Leste’s struggle for independence to Papua,
Australian Cabinet papers have revealed that Australian policies in the
region have always taken Indonesia’s reactions into consideration.
The
1983 Australian Labor Cabinet’s papers revealed for the first time on
Sunday that while the Australian public was critical of Indonesia’s
actions, for instance in the annexation of East Timor (now Timor Leste),
the Australian government always attempted to take flexible approach
toward Indonesia.
The Cabinet papers of 1983, released by the
National Archives of Australia, showed how then foreign minister, Bill
Hayden, had argued for a more flexible approach, Australia’s 9News
reported.
Hayden said East Timor had strained Australian relations with Indonesia since 1975.
For
Indonesia, the incorporation of East Timor was an irreversible fact
supported by all Indonesian political groups and no action by Australia
or anyone else would in any way induce Jakarta to relinquish its hold,
he said.
“I suspect it is often overlooked that a full-blooded
attempt by Australia to change this situation would not only be certain
to fail but would also guarantee tough and punitive retaliatory measures
by Indonesia,” Hayden said in a Cabinet submission in March 1983.
Former prime minister Bob Hawke stood by the position that Labor embraced in the 1980s.
“The
analysis my foreign minister Bill Hayden gave to the Cabinet was a very
sane, practical analysis,” he was quoted as saying by 9News at the
launch of the 1982 and 1983 Cabinet papers.
“I reflected his
analysis of the importance of establishing good relationships with
Indonesia by the fact that in my first overseas visit, I went to PNG
[Papua New Guinea] and Indonesia.”
Hawke said Labor could not undo history.
“I think it was a very sane and rational decision and that’s what we did. It was the right one.”
Australia-Indonesia relations have see-sawed over the years.
They
reached rock bottom in the period 1964-1966 as Australian and
Indonesian soldiers fought in the jungles of Borneo in response to
Indonesian president Sukarno’s policy of confronting the new federation
of Malaysia.
Relations soured again over Indonesia’s brutal
invasion and subsequent annexation of East Timor, even though successive
Australian governments acquiesced in the takeover.
Relations
steadily improved through the 1980s, reaching a high point with Paul
Keating’s 1995 security treaty. They nosedived again when Australia led
the 1999 military intervention after East Timor voted overwhelmingly for
independence.
During President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s
tenure, many have said that relations between Australia and Indonesia
peaked again, with both governments successfully managing sensitive
issues from questions of human rights abuses in Papua, boat people, to
the recent Australian live cattle export ban and the US Darwin base.
Analysts
from both countries have said that although Indonesians and Australians
have been critical toward each other on several issues, both
governments have developed a strong understanding and a channel of
communication to clear up misperception.
Prime Minister Julia
Gillard, for instance, was quick to explain to Yudhoyono in relation to
Australia’s “good intentions” with the US Darwin base, while the latter
publicly announced that the base was no threat to Indonesia.
Comments (1)
john | Tue, 03/01/2012 - 22:01pm
RI may have mattered to Australian governments, the peoples under its rule clearly did not.