As the resources boom continues to deteriorate, our Federal
Government is looking for other sources to boost the struggling Australian
economy. At the same time, our government is struggling to ensure our region
remains safe at a time of increased threats of
terrorism.
Although these issues may not be directly related, a long overdue
announcement by our Border Force Minister Peter Dutton, from Jakarta during the
PM’s visit recently, may help both these challenges faced by our state and
federal governments.
As from 2017 Indonesian nationals wanting to visit Australia will
have the visa application process simplified with a view to attracting more
tourists from this emerging giant and home to 255 million people. There is
enormous potential when we consider the tourist arrival figures into Australia
for the year ending May 2014 from three neighbouring South East Asian
nations:
·
Singapore:
175,000
·
Malaysia: 137,000
·
Indonesia: 55,180
The above figures are disturbing. Our nearest neighbour, with a
booming middle-class and 95 million young people, all located only a few hours
away, and we can only attract less than 60,000 to come and see our wonderful
country. And we wonder why most airlines battle to maintain direct flights
services between Jakarta and Australian cities?
So why have we failed so badly to access the Indonesian market
given that they do travel a lot; with 2.5 million Indonesians going to Malaysia
last year and over two million flying into
Singapore?
Apart from our lack of commitment to seriously promote Australia
within Indonesia, another major deterrent is the process Indonesians face when
considering a holiday here: No online visa applications allowed (yet we allow
other South-East Asian nations to apply electronically), over 15 pages of forms
and a $520.00 non-refundable fee just to obtain a visa for a family of
four.
Why bother, when Indonesians can simply fly north without any of
this red tape?
The Indonesia Institute has lobbied extensively to have the
inbound tourist visa process made simpler and easier, but often we are told that
an ‘easier’ visa system may encourage Indonesians to overstay once here. Yet
Indonesian nationals who do come to Australia, including tourists, students and
business people, have amongst the best record of any country in the world for
visa compliance in Australia. So what mindset makes us actively discourage the
growth of this market at such a critical time for our
economy?
Fortunately with the ascension of Malcolm Turnbull as PM,
relations with Indonesia have taken a sudden turn for the better. And Mr
Dutton’s Jakarta announcement last month will now see Indonesians at least have access to
online visas as from next year and the option of a multiple-entry visa. This is
a good start, but the fees and the amount of paperwork should also be
halved.
In the face of calls for tighter border controls, an announcement
such as this was kept relatively low key. But the impact of this decision,
combined with the recent decision to increase tourism promotion and staff in
Indonesia, could see this market treble within the next two years and become a
tsunami of free-spending middle-class Indonesians over the next ten years; all
pumping much needed dollars into Australia’s services and hospitality
sector.
The likelihood of Indonesia now removing the Visa-on-Arrival for
our holidaymakers heading off to Bali will now be much higher, saving
Australians $50 million every year.
But this quiet announcement of easier visa requirements for
Indonesian tourists, achieves another important goal; bringing the people of our
two nations closer.
At a national level, more Indonesians visiting us, means a better
understanding of each other’s culture. With Australians still viewing Indonesia
with great suspicion and alongside Egypt and Russia in terms of trust, there is
much to be done to correct these warped
perceptions.
More importantly for Australia though, is the threat of terrorism
from Islamic Jihadists within our region. Indonesia may be the home to the
largest population of Muslims in world, but it is also home to ‘real’ Muslims
who overwhelmingly embrace the true meaning of Islam and who detest Islamic
State who seek to inflict terror on not only Australia, but Indonesia
itself.
Indonesia must play a critical role if Australia is to thwart the
menace of IS. Our Federal Police have
already developed close relations with their Indonesian counterparts since the
2002 Bali bombings, and our anti-terrorist agencies work closely in sharing
information concerning terrorist cells and centres that have established
themselves throughout the archipelago.
Only last month Bapak A. Mustufa Bisri, the Indonesian spiritual leader
of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) – who has 50
million Muslim members – rejected the whole basis of IS adding, “..every
aspect and expression of religion should be imbued with love and compassion..and
foster the perfection of human nature..”
If we are to be successful in keeping our respective nations safe,
Indonesia and Australia must not only work closely together, but also rebuild
the trust that has been lost during the difficulties of the past few years.
Indonesia can be a strong voice in our campaign to discredit ISIS amongst our
own Muslim communities.
Opening-up opportunities for our respective citizens – including
our young people – to travel more freely and easily around our two great
countries, will go a long way to
correcting the outdated dogma that currently
exists.
Indonesia can therefore help our nation in building a strong
inbound tourist market that can provide jobs - and the need for Asian language
skills - and it can also contribute significantly to making our region a safer
place.
Ross
Taylor AM
is the President of the WA-based Indonesia Institute
Inc
December 2015
This article was originally published in The West Australian newspaper on 21st December 2015.
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