http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/we-feel-the-pain-of-balibo-killings/story-e6frg6zo-1225840197257
'We feel the pain of Balibo killings' Greg Sheridan, Foreign editor From: The Australian March 13, 2010 12:00AM THE Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, discussed the ongoing controversy over the Balibo five - the five Australian journalists killed at Balibo during Indonesia's invasion of East Timor in 1975 - with his Foreign Minister, Marty Natalegawa, and other senior officials before deciding to make a serious gesture of sympathy to their families on his visit to Australia this week. Natalegawa, in an exclusive interview with The Weekend Australian, revealed that this was a considered and deliberate action by the Indonesians to take somecontrol of the issue to help put it to rest. "We thought about this a lot," Natalegawa told me in the course of a long discussion. "We don't want to deny what we have been saying in the past - that we want to remain forward looking, not looking backwards. We have a mechanism for addressing the past with Timor Leste (East Timor), the Truth and Friendship Commission. "So we didn't want to contradict everything we have previously said, but there was an urgent need to reach out in a personal way to the grieving families. We want to show them that we feel their pain, we feel their grief. "We are looking forward but, in looking forward, we don't want to be insensitive to the sufferings of the families. We want to express our sensitivity to them." SBY's gesture on the Balibo Five was precisely calibrated. A statement was issued from the office of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd saying that the two leaders - SBY and Rudd - both expressed their sympathy for those bereaved by the tragedy "including Shirley Shackleton". Shackleton, the widow of Greg Shackleton, attended the formal lunch in parliament house for SBY as a guest of independent senator Nick Xenophon. SBY and Rudd had discussed the fact that she had a letter for the President and during the lunch one of the President's officials approached her and received the letter on SBY's behalf. The Indonesian official extended his condolences to Shackleton. This demonstrates the political maturity and self confidence of SBY's presidency. It also displays a growing willingness of the Indonesian political culture to deal with the Balibo Five issue, that has plagued Australia-Indonesia relations for 35 years. When the Australian film, Balibo, came out, Tempo, Indonesia's most prestigious news magazine, ran a cover story which interviewed a witness to the killings. Although the Tempo account pointed out some of the many inaccuracies in the film, it did support the narrative that the journalists were captured by Indonesian soldiers and shot after being captured. Although the film was banned in Indonesia it has received countless private and even semi-public screenings. The editor of the English edition of Tempo later wrote: "While Indonesians do not condone the tragic incident, they feel there must come a time to move on." But Natalegawa's revelation demonstrates the reality of the new, democratic Indonesia. It also demonstrates the depth of SBY's commitment to the relationship with Australia. There are no domestic points for him in this issue, and there are some risks, but he is willing to acknowledge the wrongs of the past and ask Australians to look at the new Indonesia and judge it fairly. In a substantial interview, Natalegawa offered a range of positives on the relationship but also gently suggested some limitations. I asked him when Indonesia was likely to pass a law making people-smuggling a criminal offence. SBY, in his speech to parliament, promised such a law, and that it would contain prison terms of up to five years for people-smugglers. But Natalegawa was cautious: "I don't think I can put a time line on that. I would say the earlier the better, but I can't put a time on it. People understand it's not an insignificant decision on our part. We understand more than anyone the need for urgency in this matter. "But I'm certainly not in a position to be in control of the legislative calendar of our parliament. But as far as the executive is concerned, we have taken the decision." This law was first proposed in 2008 and according to news reports out of Jakarta it is still only in the drafting stage. There is no need to doubt the good faith of the Indonesian administration in saying they will present such a law to parliament, but there is every prospect the law could take years to pass in a feisty parliament where the President does not control the numbers and cannot automatically rely on legislation passing. There are also lengthy internal Indonesian procedures to go through before the law even gets to parliament. Natalegawa believes the new framework agreement between Canberra and Jakarta on how to respond to people-smuggling - the details of which remain secret so as, according to Canberra, not to help the people-smugglers - will make the battle against people-smuggling a little more orderly: "It (the agreement) basically sets out procedures to handle situations like those we have been facing recently. It provides a more structured and predictable modality rather than reinventing the wheel each time. We want as speedy an approach as possible when we face these circumstances but we don't want to be too efficient, and to create a pull factor, so that people look at Indonesia as a quick way to get to Australia. There must be a balance in these factors." In his speech to parliament, SBY said: "We want to speed up the process of relocating illegal migrants now stranded in Indonesia to another country. "Now that we know much more about their modus operandi, our respective authorities will intensify their co-operation to disrupt people-smuggling activities." It seems clear therefore that both Canberra and Jakarta will ratchet up efforts against people- smugglers, but anything which gets illegal immigrants resettled in third countries more quickly from Indonesia can only increase the attraction of the Indonesian route to people smugglers. Ultimately, there is a limit to what Indonesia can do to help Australia in this now that the Rudd government has decided in effect that almost anyone who gets to Christmas Island gets to stay permanently in Australia. Certainly no Muslims from war-torn countries are being sent back from Christmas Island. There may be a lot of government activity here but with no effect on a burgeoning increase in the number of illegal immigrants coming to Australia. But on another Rudd initiative, the desire to build an Asia Pacific community embracing all the important nations from California to India, Natalegawa offered perhaps more help, indicating a new flexibility in the Indonesian position. SBY's own comments on the matter were studiously vague, offering a little encouragement to the Rudd initiative, but not too much. Natalegawa said Indonesia was not unhappy with Rudd's proposal: "We understand its rationale, to evolve an architecture marked by inclusion and good governance. We are working together on this. It's best to work with existing institutions, especially the ASEAN plus Six group, making it even more inclusive by bringing in countries that are not members now." ASEAN plus Six involves the 10 nations of Southeast Asia plus Japan, South Korea, China, India, New Zealand and Australia. The key question is whether Indonesia would support US membership of such a group, and whether the US could commit itself to attending its summits. Natalegawa said: "We don't want the discussion to be just about membership. Nor do we want to be the gate keepers of the region." However, Natalegawa's next comment was crucial: "The US presence in East Asia is a fact of life. They (the US) have been engaged in a constructive way. " We would like to see an architecture that recognises that participation. You can't imagine an architecture that excludes a country as important as the US." One area of the Australia-Indonesia relationship Natalegawa saw as seriously undeveloped was trade and economic connections: "While celebrating, acknowledging and appreciating the tremendous relationship we have, we were keen to understand there are still opportunities to do better, especially on the economic side. "This is still an obvious gap in the relationship, especially in foreign direct investment, where Australia is not only lagging behind other countries but behind other aspects of the bilateral relationship. On our side we are keen to remove any remaining blocks or bottlenecks to investment. But Australians must also be more efficient in recognising the changes in Indonesia. Australians and should not wait too long or opportunities will pass them by. Those who took the risk on us at out lowest point in 1999 are now reaping the rewards." SBY himself put a similar message to a business audience in Sydney, arguing that Australian companies could invest in areas like health care, while his investment co-ordinator outlined plans to substantially liberalise the foreign investment regime for industries such as agriculture, the creative industries, telecommunications and other aspects of infrastructure. The lack of a booming business relationship also means there is a lack of the political ballast that deep trade connections bring to any relationship. As SBY pointed out in his speech to parliament, one of the real constraints on the relationship is the mistaken stereotypes which reside in each nation's collective consciousness about the other, Australians still seeing Indonesia as authoritarian, militarist or dominated by Islamist extremists, and Indonesians convinced the White Australia policy still prevails or that Canberra supports separatist movements within Indonesia. These stereotypes can only be overcome by vastly enhanced people-to-people links and much deeper knowledge of each other. Natalegawa, a suave, supple intellectual, completed a doctorate at the Australian National University in the early 1990s. It may be the best money the ANU ever spent. Related Coverage a.. We must make the running with Indonesia The Australian, 3 hours ago b.. Indonesia shows new sympathy in politics and human grief The Australian, 2 days ago c.. Five years jail for smugglers Perth Now, 3 days ago d.. Indonesia to jail people-smugglers The Australian, 3 days ago e.. Feel-good show lacked depth The Australian, 4 days ago
