Following the powerful earthquake which struck Indonesia's west coast earlier today, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has postponed a visit to Australia this week. He will go instead to the stricken Nias island, a surfer's haven off Indonesia's Sumatra coast, to assess the damage caused by the earthquake.
The focus of his visit to Australia was to have been on security, investment and trade. Although no new date has been set for his visit to Australia, it is likely that the trip will take place in the near future, since Dr Yudhoyono reportedly believes that Jakarta has neglected ties with Australia in recent years
For more on the existing links between the two countries, Yvonne Gomez spoke to Mr Richard Wood in Australia.
RICHARD WOOD: The security relationship between Australia and Indonesia has varied over time. Under Suharto, in the last few years of Suharto, they were very close. In fact there were extensive exchanges between the militaries of the two governments and a joint defence pact between the two governments. With the fall of Suharto and the independence of East Timor, the links, at least unofficially, waned. In fact, there was significant tension. Australia played a major role in the peace-keeping movement in East Timor and the relationships between the Indonesian military and to some extent, the government generally and Australian military declined, and tensions rose. Under Megawati, things did not improve much, but things are improving significantly and indeed, it's a clear and strong policy position of the Howard government to put a large amount of effort to improve both the security and economic links with Indonesia.
YVONNE GOMEZ: A new bilateral security agreement was to be included in an official statement that would have been signed later this week. What are some highlights of this agreement, assuming that it will be signed sometime soon?
RICHARD WOOD: In the past, the agreements have included joint operations, intelligence exchange, sharing and the linking of infrastructure facilities, making sure they can communicate with each other. But I imagine a couple of new links will come in. first and foremost will be terrorism and also the funding and the inter-relationships between them, and also some of the regional defence issues, in terms of Australia's involvement or otherwise, in some of the more populist independence movements around Indonesia. Australia has a clear and emphatic goal of supporting the continuation of Indonesia as a whole. However, there are tensions there and there are issues to deal with between the two militaries that need to be ironed out. I think another one, a fading one, will be Australia's military involvement in the Aceh area following the Boxing Day tsunami, but those will be fading.
YVONNE GOMEZ: You've mentioned Australia's involvement in Aceh following the tsunami disaster. There's also an Australia-funded 1-billion dollar partnership to rebuild Aceh, which was devastated by the Boxing Day tsunamis. Can you elaborate on this?
RICHARD WOOD: There are two aspects of it. The Australian military, as well as the Singapore, Malaysian and other militaries, played a major initial role in assessing the damage in Aceh. Most of the militaries have pulled out, as agreed. The Australian government did commit to a very large $1 billion fund for redevelopment, largely in Aceh. It comes in two parts -- one is loans and the other is in grants, it's focusing largely on infrastructure priorities that will be agreed between the Indonesian and Australian governments. The military itself will play a minor role in that fund, as I understand it. It is a very important one and is also an indication of the importance Australia puts into it. Indonesia has been, for a number of years, Australia's largest aid recipient. It receives about $120 million a year, and therefore a billion-dollar fund is a very substantial one, more than double Australia's aid to Indonesia. So it's definitely a significant move.
YVONNE GOMEZ: Australia's involvement in East Timor in 1999 has been a thorn in bilateral relations but Dr Yudhoyono was reportedly hoping to put an end the any residual bitterness over the issue and wanted to revive ties with Australia. How do you see the long-term relationship between the two countries unfolding?
RICHARD WOOD: Yes, that's a statement of fact. There is still a lot of tension, particularly in Indonesia about Australia's involvement, and also in East Timor and in the Australian public. Prime Minister Howard has tried to address that. He's been to Indonesia to visit their respective Prime Ministers eleven times in the last nine years, more so than any other country. But [the issue] is one that you have to live down and work through and it'll take some time. But we're neighbours and our trade links are strong and the investment links have been strong and those will overcome tensions from the past.
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