AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW
Irian Jaya looms as fuel to
'conspiracy' suspicion
Dec 2
Peter Hartcher
You and I know that Australia had two views about East Timor, in direct conflict with each other, for 25 years. There was the view of the Australian people, and then there was official policy.
There was perhaps no other issue in Australia where the official policy was so diametrically opposed to the will of the people for so long. Successive governments endorsed the Indonesian invasion of East Timor; public opinion opposed it.
The Howard Government aligned the two by abandoning the policy of the Whitlam, Fraser, Hawke, Keating and, for a while, Howard governments. The public will prevailed.
But it looks different from Jakarta. In fact, Indonesia's political and policy leaders have now persuaded themselves that the official policy was only ever a sham, a cover for Australia's true intentions.
Australia was simply waiting for a moment of Indonesian weakness. And then it attacked, wrenching the province out of Jakarta's grasp.
Australian governments were thought to be an ally - we were the only country in the world formally and legally to endorse the Indonesian occupation of East Timor. In truth, we were revealed to be an undeclared enemy.
Worse, the Indonesian political class is persuading itself that Australia is planning to do it again. This time, Canberra is alleged to be plotting to wrest the province of Irian Jaya, also known as West Papua or Papua, away from Indonesia.
It is a suspicion so widely shared and deep-seated that it has emergedin the public pronouncements of the Foreign Minister, the Defence Minister, even the President, Abdurrahman Wahid.
This is Australia's secret long-term conspiracy against Jakarta - we lie patiently in wait for any opportunity to break up the Republic of Indonesia, then we swoop decisively and use all available means to split the nation.
The aim: to increase Australia's sphere of influence by shrinking Indonesia's.
You can see why Irian Jaya would be ideal as Australia's next target. It is waging a grim struggle for independence, many of its people have some Christian identity, and it is in one of the world's most resource-rich regions.
Irian Jaya was a Dutch colony. Its indigenous tribal leaders made a forlorn declaration of independence in 1961 - the anniversary of this declaration was on Friday.
No such luck. The Dutch ceded it to Indonesia in 1963. Indonesia doctored a vote, called it an act of free choice, and sent in the army. It's been there ever since.
Irian Jaya has enormous natural resources but, like the local men in their traditional attire of a penis gourd and nothing else, minimal infrastructure.
It hosts the world's biggest gold and copper mine, the American-owned Freeport McMoRan operation, and Atlantic Richfield's giant gas field.
John Howard and Alexander Downer have said, time and again, that Australia supports Indonesia's sovereignty over Irian Jaya and all its other provinces. To give the policy more force and credibility, Howard asked the annual summit of the South Pacific Forum leaders to endorse it. They did .
None of this seems to make the least difference to Indonesian suspicions. After all, the Australians pretended to support Jakarta's control of East Timor for 25 years. And then in a moment of Indonesian weakness, Australia suddenly changed policy and moved aggressively against the Indonesian interest.
Howard suggested that Indonesia's weak and erratic transitional leader, B.J. Habibie, allow an independence ballot. And when the killing started, Howard leaned on Habibie to permit an Australian-led United Nations peacekeeping force to land. Obviously, Australia is simply going to repeat the same ploy with Irian Jaya.
It is bad enough that the Indonesians hold this suspicion. For it means relations with Australia will remain strained, and Indonesia will continue to block Australian ambitions in the region. This year it joined Malaysia in vetoing Australian and New Zealand entry into the Association of South-East Asian Nations' free trade agreement.
But worse yet is that Indonesia's suspicion eventually may appear to be vindicated. Irian Jaya's campaign to eject the Javanese is only just beginning. If the killing gets serious, Australian public opinion will mobilise powerfully against the Indonesians again.
The Federal Government, whether this one or a successor, would come under a great deal of pressure to switch sides and support the independence movement against Jakarta. If that were to happen, it would confirm Jakarta's dark suspicions. It would seem to be a replay of East Timor, another betrayal of Indonesia, and confirmation of Canberra's conspiracy.
And Australia's poor relationship with Indonesia would become absolutely poisonous.