Kim Beazley is right. Proper management of the humanitarian, security and economic problems caused by boat people arriving illegally on our shores requires the full co-operation of the Indonesian government. He has promised that if Labor is elected on November 10, he will send the new Foreign Minister and other ministers to Jakarta within days to work out a lasting solution.
Kim Beazley is also lucky. He is not being asked the hard questions on this issue. Why should Labor be any more successful than the present government in persuading Jakarta to accept the return of unauthorised arrivals who have set out from Indonesia? Many in the media are acting as though fine words about "building a new relationship with Indonesia" will win over President Megawati Sukarnoputri and her government.
But while the Howard government has made mistakes in its dealings with our most important neighbour, Labor also has a lot of lead in its saddle-bags. After all, Kim Beazley was a senior member in the Keating government, and it was Paul Keating who became best mates with Suharto, Indonesia's discredited former president. Australia has sound reasons for maintaining an amicable relationship with Indonesia, but the Keating--Suharto bond went well beyond what is required.
Megawati has no cause to feel fondness for Suharto, who was forced to step down in 1998, after violent demonstrations against his corrupt and repressive regime. Two years earlier, Suharto had done all he could to destroy her. Some observers believe that it was only her popularity -- based partly on being the daughter of Sukarno, Indonesia's still revered first President -- that saved Megawati from coming to serious harm. And she was very close to her father, who was toppled by none other than Suharto, who placed him under house arrest, where he remained till his death in 1970.
Maybe Megawati can set aside personal feelings and think only in terms of her country's interests. However, even if she can forget about the unseemly enthusiasm that former Labor leaders had for her antagonist, Megawati is a strong believer in a unified nation state, and she was not happy about the loss of East Timor.
And the person that Beazley would be sending over as Foreign Minister is almost certain to be Laurie Brereton. More than anyone else, Brereton was responsible for changing the bi-partisan approach in which both Labor and Coalition governments accepted Indonesian sovereignty over East Timor.
Indeed, in early 1999 it was Brereton who was well ahead of Howard and Alexander Downer on the issue, with Labor arguing for East Timor's independence while the Coalition was still saying that the territory should remain within Indonesia. In May that year, Jakarta refused to allow Brereton to accompany a parliamentary delegation to East Timor, saying that he was not a friend to Indonesia.
Later events may have vindicated Brereton's stand -- although it is too early to tell whether East Timor can be a viable nation. And a couple of months ago the Indonesian Foreign Minister Hasan Wirayudha said that East Timor was no longer a matter of contention in relations with Australia. Nevertheless, this doesn't mean that Megawati and her government now see Brereton as their good buddy, or that they would be eager to get a new Labor government off the hook on the boat people issue.
It is not just the past that will discourage Indonesia from embracing a Beazley government. Notwithstanding its unfortunate record with the Suharto regime, Labor tends to be more preachy than the Coalition on human rights. While Beazley and Brereton are basically pragmatists who understand the difference between what is desirable and what is achievable, a Labor government will be more susceptible to pressure from activist groups and many of its own members who are committed to causes that make Jakarta very nervous.
One of these is the independence of Irian Jaya -- or "West Papua" as the province is still called in a document on Labor's official web-site, even though use of the name "West Papua" greatly annoys Jakarta. Late last year, Greg Sword, the ALP's National President, signed a "memorandum of understanding" with Jacob Rumbiak, a visiting leader of Irian Jaya's independence movement. Sword signed as a Vice-President of the ACTU, stating that "the Australian union movement wants the United Nations General Assembly to examine Indonesia's claim over the independent territory of West Papua".
Certainly, Brereton quickly disassociated Labor from Sword's actions, stating that they were not in accord with the party's policy, which accepts Indonesian sovereignty over the province. But it wasn't so long ago that Labor acquiesced in Indonesian sovereignty over East Timor. The incident did nothing to allay the suspicion of some in Jakarta's elite that Australia wants an independent "West Papua" because this would weaken Indonesia. Even Indonesians less prone to believing in conspiracies will worry about Beazley's ability to keep the lid on unions and non-government organisations who want to interfere in their country's affairs.
The dreadful loss of life in last week's sinking of an unseaworthy vessel in Indonesian waters demonstrates that it is in the interests of everyone -- apart from corrupt Indonesian officials and the people smuggling gangs -- to halt the sad trade in illegal immigrants. Irrespective of who wins on November 10, Australia must do its best to get an effective agreement with Indonesia, and Jakarta's decision to call a summit on the issue is welcome. But if Kim Beazley thinks that Labor is more likely to solve the problem than the present government, he is deluding himself.
ADVERTISEMENT
No comments:
Post a Comment