What does
the Indonesian government have in common with bikie gangs? Both reckon revenge is a dish best served
cold.
How else to
explain the restrained responses to revelations that Australia spied on a friend,
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and his wife Kristiani Herawati?
Dr Marty Natalegawa, the Australian-educated Foreign Minister and a man not known for intemperate outbursts said: “This was not a smart thing to do. It violates every single decent and legal instrument I can think of.
“It is nothing less than an unfriendly act, which is already having a very serious impact on bilateral relations.”
We braced
for furious retaliation. Would our
embassy be besieged by militant mobs while the police took a smoko? Would
outraged nationalists sweep hotels for Aussies ordering them out of the
archipelago? Trade bans, for sure. Maybe
Boeing loads of Bali-bound tourists would be turned back.
These
things have happened before, though not this time.
Despite
reports that defence and security cooperation have been diluted, and that the
live cattle trade is being reviewed, the most serious response so far has been
the recall of ambassador Nadjib Riphat Kesoema.
There could be another explanation for the limited action:
We’re not going to be punished – just ignored. As every wannabe celebrity
knows, that’s a fate too awful to contemplate.
What an insult! A rich, mature, modern nation-continent that
always punches above its weight (according to Barack Obama), snubbed by a
corruption-riddled infant democracy where half the citizens live in poverty.
Now hear this: We’re the US deputy sheriff in Southeast
Asia, a generous neighbour giving half a billion aid dollars every year. Why so rude, so ungrateful? Don’t you know who we are, how important and
influential?
Even though Tony Abbott has declared that Jakarta is our new
Geneva, the Indonesians have left Canberra where it is, a southern branch
office of the northern Anglosphere where the serious power is headquartered.
There are other distractions and all internal: Elections,
inflation, poverty, corruption, inequality, intolerance ... Foreign affairs hardly register.
The spying revelations are our collision with the rocks of
reality. We have four times more space
but one tenth of the population. The Republic ranks fourth in world population
statistics – we’re number 52.
Indonesians see us as we view New Zealand; a nice place to visit, but
not to be taken too seriously.
We claim to be big on human rights and equality, but treat
asylum seekers as criminals. Our
responses to the health and education needs of indigenous Australians are an
international disgrace.
When feeling nasty the more knowledgeable add that our
nation was settled by British criminals, our culture has been imported, our
lifestyle is godless and we’re closet colonialists.
The ruling Javanese are masters of refined behaviour and
subtle response. Reading their emotions takes time and insights. They prefer
consensus to confrontation but have long memories. Anger over our
often-misrepresented role in the 1999 East Timor independence referendum still
bubbles away, not far below the surface.
Eventually the toxin of spying will be diluted by time and
crises new. His Excellency will quietly
book a Garuda seat south and fresh bottled water will be set out in meeting
rooms. Pragmatism will rule, though wounded pride will not be rapidly healed.
This interregnum gives time to evaluate and renovate the relationship.
First step is to appreciate that recovery is too important
to be left to the lumbering politicians. They haven’t just smashed things up;
they’ve compounded their clumsiness by unapologetically trashing decades of
finely crafted goodwill.
When two such different societies live so close, navigation
errors can lead to a capsize if there’s no ballast in the relationship.
Instead of waiting for diplomats to start shuffling forward
let’s seize the opportunity to repair.
Organisations like the Indonesia Institute could take the lead
and bring together academics, journalists, businesspeople, NGOs and others on
both shores of the Arafura Sea.
Our task? To reclaim
mutual respect and understanding.
What to put on the agenda? The 2012 Asian Century
paper, a document that seems to have been trampled in the current disarray.
Despite originating in government, reception has been generally positive and
bipartisan. A place to start.
Hang on, these things can wait, it’s the Christmas break.
Not in the world’s most populous Islamic nation. The next
president might not be so friendly, and the hole we’ve dug to date even deeper.
Duncan is a freelance journalist and member of the Indonesia Institute. He runs the blog "Indonesia Now".
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