[Kabar-Irian] News: June 30 - July 5 2006
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June 30 - July 5 2006
KABAR IRIAN NEWS
TOPICS
* Saltford on UN and Papua Act of Free Choice now in paperback
* Papua New Guinea rejects Australia on Asylum seekers
* PNG: Governor wants asylum centre to remain open
* Call for giant mine in Papua to close to allow review of its operations
* RI, Australia to start talks on defense coop (sic)
* In divvying up mineral wealth, Indonesia stumbles
* Original Carnauba airplane, a 1930s vintage aircraft, found in Papua
* Papuans honor police with hot stone ritual
* Papua in need of 340 more teachers
* Why trying to appease Indonesia doesn't work
* CNOOC says Tangguh LNG price not finalised
---
Saltford on UN and Papua Act of Free Choice now in paperback
From: Paul Barber < plovers at gn.apc.org> To: indonesia-act at igc.topica.com
Subject: Saltford
on UN and Papua Act of Free Choice now in paperback Date: Fri, 30 Jun 2006
06:24:16 +0100
The United Nations and the Indonesian Takeover of West Papua, 1962-1969: The
Anatomy of Betrayal
Author(s) - John Saltford
List Price: £20.00
ISBN: 0415406250
Publisher: Routledge
Publication Date: 26/05/2006
Pages: 256
Available
Binding(s): Paperback
Note: Only available through Routledge's "paperback direct" scheme at
http://www.routledge.co.uk/shopping_cart/products/product_detail.asp?curTab=REVIEWS&id=&pare
nt_id=&sku=&isbn=0415406250&pc=
---
http://abcasiapacific.com/news/stories/asiapacific_stories_1676746.htm
Papua New Guinea has reportedly turned down requests from Australia to
take in asylum
seekers from the Indonesian province of Papua while their refugee
applications are processed
by Canberra.
PNG's Post Courier newspaper reports, an informal approach has been made
to Foreign Minister
Rabbie Namaliu by the Australian High Commissioner.
Reports say Sir Rabbie has been asked to temporarily accommodate within
the PNG community
any Papuan asylum seekers who had made it to Australia directly from Papua.
But Sir Rabbie says the PNG government has problems with the proposal
given its relationship
with neighbouring Indonesia and the sensitive border issues.
Under the Australian government's so-called "Pacific Solution", asylum
seekers who arrive
illegal in Australia by boat have been transferred to detention centres on
Nauru or on Manus
Island in PNG.
The PNG centre is currently empty but it can be reactivated.
---
http://www.abc.net.au/ra/pacbeat/stories/s1679499.htm
Last Updated 05/07/2006
PNG: Governor wants asylum centre to remain open
In Papua New Guinea, the governor of Manus Province which hosts one of the
temporary asylum
processing centres in the region has spoken out against plans to shut down
the facility.
The centre at the Lombrum naval base in Manus was part of Australia's
Pacific solution for
asylum seekers in the Asia Pacific region. Governor Dr Jacob Jumogot was
responding to
recent statements by Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare that PNG would no
longer allow
Australia to send any more asylum seekers to the Manus detention centre.
Sir Michael's
comments coincided with Australia's decision to review its immigration
laws to ensure all
future boat arrivals would be processed offshore in an attempt to heal a
diplomatic rift
with Indonesia over the 42 Papuan asylum seekers.
Presenter/Interviewer: Caroline Tiriman
Speakers: Dr Jacob Jumogot, Governor, Manus Province
---
http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=25216
Radio New Zealand International
The Voice of New Zealand, Broadcasting to the Pacific
Te Reo Irirangi O Aotearoa, O Te Moana-Nui-A-Kiwa
Call for giant mine in Papua to close to allow review of its operations
Posted at 02:55 on 05 July, 2006 UTC
Indonesia’s Mining Advocacy Network has called for the closure of the
Freeport McMoran
copper and gold mine in Papua province.
The Network’s executive director, Siti Maimunah, says the mine should shut
down at least
temporarily to allow the government to review the impact of its operations.
Ms Maimunah dismisses the notion that the Grasberg mine has brought any
welfare or wealth to
local people in Timika or Papua in general.
She says that by dumping illegal levels of toxic waste from the mine in
nearby rivers,
Freeport is robbing the livelihood of local fishermen.
Ms Maimunah adds that Freeport is also contributing to human rights
violations because of
its relationship with Indonesian security forces...
“Because Freeport is paying the military there. And it’s already
reported by the Human
Rights Commission - evidence that human rights violations happen in that
mine area. It’s
relating with how the company is paying the military there.”
Siti Maimunah of the Mining Advocacy Network
---
RI, Australia to start talks on defense coop (sic)
http://www.antara.co.id/en/seenws/?id=15728
*Jakarta (ANTARA News)* - Foreign Affairs Minister Hassan Wirajuda has
said that the Indonesian Government and the Australian Government will
start talks on defense cooperation in July 2006.
The talks on defense cooperation were expected to conclude at the end of
2006, the minister said here on Tuesday in a seminar and book launching
on "Different Societies, Shared Future: Australia, Indonesia and the
Region".
At the event taking place in the Center for Strategic and International
Studies (CSIS), the minister said that there would always be differences
of point of view between Indonesia and Australia, due to different
cultures which have shaped the respective countries` communities.
"We must accept the fact that there will always be differences based on
different cultures between Indonesia and Australia. Our communities will
never become identical to a mirror reflection," the minister said.
However, although the two countries would never see the world from the
same point of view, it did not mean that they could not share interests,
Wirajuda said.
Indonesia and Australia could share objectives as friends and
collaboration colleagues, he said,
Meanwhile, Australian Ambassador to Indonesia Bill Farmer said that his
government planned to build some 2,000 schools in Indonesia within the
period of five years to promote cooperation in the education sector.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Australian Prime
Minister John Howard recently met in Indonesia`s Batam Island to discuss
the directions of the two countries` ties after they got strained
following the granting of temporary visas by Canberra to 42 Papuans
seeking asylum in Australia early this year.
In Batam, Howard affirmed that his country respected Indonesia`s
territorial integrity and sovereignty, including in Papua province.
Howard also stated that no Australian development assistance had ever
been used to finance political activities or separatist movement in
Papua. (*)
Uploaded on Jul 05 09:30
Copyright © 2006 ANTARA
---
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/07/04/bloomberg/sxmuk.php
Commentary: In divvying up mineral wealth, Indonesia stumbles
By Andy Mukherjee Bloomberg News
Published: July 4, 2006
In Siti Maimunah's Jakarta office, on the wall behind her spartan desk,
hangs a placard.
"Decolonize Freeport's imperium in Papua," the poster says, its ire
targeted at
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold's Grasberg gold mine, the world's largest,
in eastern
Indonesia. "Thirty five years is enough."
Maimunah is the executive director of Mining Advocacy Network, which
claims to represent the
rights of indigenous people affected by extraction of minerals in their
natural habitat. She
is even angrier than the posters in her office.
"It's a myth that mining brings welfare to the people," Maimunah says,
citing as evidence
Papua's human-development record, which she says is one of the worst among
the 33 Indonesian
provinces.
Decisions related to harnessing Indonesia's abundant natural wealth - oil,
gas, gold,
copper, nickel, tin, coal, rubber, palm and timber - are emerging as a
bone of contention
between environmentalists and human rights activists on one side and
mining and exploration
companies on the other.
The Indonesian government, befuddled by the difficulty of accommodating
divergent interest
groups in this young democracy, is somewhere in the middle, its balancing
act complicated by
the growing hunger for resources in China and India.
Investors want the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to
honor the country's
contractual obligations to mining and exploration companies and protect
them from what they
perceive to be harassment and propaganda, not to mention arbitrary local
taxation that has
become rampant since regional governments were given a say over mining in
2001.
Investors say they aren't tightfisted about sharing the wealth from
booming metal prices.
Freeport paid $880 million in taxes, dividends, royalties and other levies
to the Indonesian
government last year, more than triple what it paid in 2004.
Can't the government use its newfound riches to rehabilitate affected
communities after
giving them new skills? Maimunah is skeptical. What's the point of first
robbing the
livelihood of fishermen by polluting the rivers with scrap and then
supplying them with
sewing machines? "Who'll go to them for sewing their coats?" Maimunah
asks. Let there be no
mining, she says, until Indonesia learns to manage it better.
The policy flip-flops concerning mining in protected forests and the
resultant confusion are
the inevitable "noise" of a democracy where rule of law is yet to be
established.
This uncertainty is something new for Indonesia, though not wholly
unwelcome. In the three
decades to 1998, the period in which most of the large mining concessions
were awarded,
General Suharto's military would suppress any unrest, acting almost like a
hired army. Now
that the Suharto era is over and the military is in the barracks, the
pent-up resentment is
coming to the fore.
A human rights group, acting on behalf of 11 Indonesian villagers, sued
Exxon Mobil in a
U.S. court in 2001. The lawsuit claimed that Indonesian troops providing
security to the
company-operated Arun gas field in the troubled Aceh province committed
murder, torture and
rape. Exxon Mobil denies the allegations and says it bears no
responsibility for the conduct
of the forces.
In March this year, a group of protesters in Indonesia's Sumbawa Island
burned down an
exploration camp set up by Newmont Mining, the world's largest gold miner.
Earlier this year, Newmont settled a civil suit related to pollution
claims by agreeing to
pay $30 million over 10 years for environmental monitoring and assessment.
The government
had sought $117 million in compensation.
Foreign investors aren't the only ones under the gun. A May 29 gas leak
from an oil well
linked to Aburizal Bakrie's business group has caused hot mud to spew out
of the ground,
flooding houses, factories and paddy fields in densely populated East
Java. Bakrie is the
coordinating minister for welfare.
There aren't any easy solutions to Indonesia's predicament.
Sure, the government needs investments. And yes, any talk of going back on
Suharto-era
concessions is bound to cause international outrage about lack of
protection of property
rights in Indonesia. At the same time, a democratic government can't be so
preoccupied with
its international image that it gives short shrift to the domestic
constituency that
legitimizes its rule.
Ultimately, the Constitutional Court, which was set up in 2003, will have
to balance the
interests of investors and communities. The court did try to strike just
such a balance in
its ruling last year about allowing open-pit mining in protected forest
areas.
The root of the conflict goes deep. When it was a Dutch colony, all land
in Indonesia that
was declared as unused by the state became government property. And this
included forest
land.
This unfair practice was replaced in 1960 by an explicit acknowledgement
of the customary
property rights of indigenous communities. But there was a catch: no right
could supersede
national interest.
As the interests of the nation became alloyed with those of Suharto's
family and cronies,
indigenous people were easily evicted from their habitats, often without
compensation.
Systematic plunder, including rapacious mining, illegal logging and
rampant smuggling, has
gone on for too long.
With rule of law, Indonesia can avoid the resource curse. Freeport and
Siti Maimunah don't
have to like each other. And neither has to like the government. But they
all may be able to
coexist.
In Siti Maimunah's Jakarta office, on the wall behind her spartan desk,
hangs a placard.
"Decolonize Freeport's imperium in Papua," the poster says, its ire
targeted at
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold's Grasberg gold mine, the world's largest,
in eastern
Indonesia. "Thirty five years is enough."
Maimunah is the executive director of Mining Advocacy Network, which
claims to represent the
rights of indigenous people affected by extraction of minerals in their
natural habitat. She
is even angrier than the posters in her office.
"It's a myth that mining brings welfare to the people," Maimunah says,
citing as evidence
Papua's human-development record, which she says is one of the worst among
the 33 Indonesian
provinces.
Decisions related to harnessing Indonesia's abundant natural wealth - oil,
gas, gold,
copper, nickel, tin, coal, rubber, palm and timber - are emerging as a
bone of contention
between environmentalists and human rights activists on one side and
mining and exploration
companies on the other.
The Indonesian government, befuddled by the difficulty of accommodating
divergent interest
groups in this young democracy, is somewhere in the middle, its balancing
act complicated by
the growing hunger for resources in China and India.
Investors want the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to
honor the country's
contractual obligations to mining and exploration companies and protect
them from what they
perceive to be harassment and propaganda, not to mention arbitrary local
taxation that has
become rampant since regional governments were given a say over mining in
2001.
Investors say they aren't tightfisted about sharing the wealth from
booming metal prices.
Freeport paid $880 million in taxes, dividends, royalties and other levies
to the Indonesian
government last year, more than triple what it paid in 2004.
Can't the government use its newfound riches to rehabilitate affected
communities after
giving them new skills? Maimunah is skeptical. What's the point of first
robbing the
livelihood of fishermen by polluting the rivers with scrap and then
supplying them with
sewing machines? "Who'll go to them for sewing their coats?" Maimunah
asks. Let there be no
mining, she says, until Indonesia learns to manage it better.
The policy flip-flops concerning mining in protected forests and the
resultant confusion are
the inevitable "noise" of a democracy where rule of law is yet to be
established.
This uncertainty is something new for Indonesia, though not wholly
unwelcome. In the three
decades to 1998, the period in which most of the large mining concessions
were awarded,
General Suharto's military would suppress any unrest, acting almost like a
hired army. Now
that the Suharto era is over and the military is in the barracks, the
pent-up resentment is
coming to the fore.
A human rights group, acting on behalf of 11 Indonesian villagers, sued
Exxon Mobil in a
U.S. court in 2001. The lawsuit claimed that Indonesian troops providing
security to the
company-operated Arun gas field in the troubled Aceh province committed
murder, torture and
rape. Exxon Mobil denies the allegations and says it bears no
responsibility for the conduct
of the forces.
In March this year, a group of protesters in Indonesia's Sumbawa Island
burned down an
exploration camp set up by Newmont Mining, the world's largest gold miner.
Earlier this year, Newmont settled a civil suit related to pollution
claims by agreeing to
pay $30 million over 10 years for environmental monitoring and assessment.
The government
had sought $117 million in compensation.
Foreign investors aren't the only ones under the gun. A May 29 gas leak
from an oil well
linked to Aburizal Bakrie's business group has caused hot mud to spew out
of the ground,
flooding houses, factories and paddy fields in densely populated East
Java. Bakrie is the
coordinating minister for welfare.
There aren't any easy solutions to Indonesia's predicament.
Sure, the government needs investments. And yes, any talk of going back on
Suharto-era
concessions is bound to cause international outrage about lack of
protection of property
rights in Indonesia. At the same time, a democratic government can't be so
preoccupied with
its international image that it gives short shrift to the domestic
constituency that
legitimizes its rule.
Ultimately, the Constitutional Court, which was set up in 2003, will have
to balance the
interests of investors and communities. The court did try to strike just
such a balance in
its ruling last year about allowing open-pit mining in protected forest
areas.
The root of the conflict goes deep. When it was a Dutch colony, all land
in Indonesia that
was declared as unused by the state became government property. And this
included forest
land.
This unfair practice was replaced in 1960 by an explicit acknowledgement
of the customary
property rights of indigenous communities. But there was a catch: no right
could supersede
national interest.
As the interests of the nation became alloyed with those of Suharto's
family and cronies,
indigenous people were easily evicted from their habitats, often without
compensation.
Systematic plunder, including rapacious mining, illegal logging and
rampant smuggling, has
gone on for too long.
With rule of law, Indonesia can avoid the resource curse. Freeport and
Siti Maimunah don't
have to like each other. And neither has to like the government. But they
all may be able to
coexist.
---
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/07-05-2006/0004391301
&EDATE=
Johnson Family and Company Celebrate Rediscovering the Adventure
RACINE, Wis., July 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, SC Johnson Chairman and CEO
Fisk Johnson announced success -- the wreckage of the original Carnauba
airplane, a 1930s vintage aircraft that is a beloved icon of SC Johnson's
early history, has been found off the shores of Manokwari Bay, Papua,
Indonesia in 90 feet of water in a debris field.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060705/SFW050 )
Johnson was joined on this dive trip with his brother and sister, Curt
Johnson, Chairman of JohnsonDiversey, Inc. and Helen Johnson-Leipold,
Chairman and CEO of Johnson Outdoors and Chairman of Johnson Financial
Group, as well as their mother, Gene Johnson, the widow of their father the
late Samuel C. Johnson.
After finding the plane, the Johnson family completed another dive and
placed at site of the wreckage a granite plaque inscribed with the words:
"I am Carnauba, my true home is not this bay but the hearts of all who love
adventure." The stone symbolizes an important step in the long journey of
the Carnauba and will serve as an inspiration to future divers.
On June 27th, Johnson and his family embarked on an expedition to
search for the wreckage of the Sikorsky 38 (S-38) plane. Johnson's late
grandfather H.F. Johnson, Jr. flew the legendary amphibious plane 15,000
miles to Brazil in 1935, searching for a sustainable source of wax -- the
Carnauba palm tree.
After the expedition to Brazil, the plane was sold to a petroleum
company and crashed off the coast of Indonesia shortly after takeoff during
a flight in 1938. The pilot, not related to the Johnson family, swam to
shore and survived but the plane was not recovered despite extensive
searches including a 1997 Johnson family dive expedition.
"Seeing the original plane for the first time, resting deep under the
ocean, was magical," said Fisk Johnson. "We've all dreamt of the moment
that would finalize Carnauba's incredible journey. Now that it's here,
words simply can't capture this experience. It was as if Dad was with us.
We could feel his spirit and his love of adventure. At that moment, the
past and the present met: one adventure coming to an end, and the promise
of the next just beginning."
While plans for the wreckage have yet to be determined, Johnson has
previously said that he hoped to be able to relocate part or all of it to
the new building being constructed to honor his father. The building will
display the replica Carnauba aircraft that Sam and his sons, Fisk and Curt
Johnson, flew to Brazil in 1998 when retracing the famed 1935 adventure.
Throughout the dive, the Johnson family has been assisted by
innovative, quality gear from Johnson Outdoors, including the Humminbird(R)
987c SI(TM) sonar that provided picture-like images of the ocean bed and
breakthrough, patent-pending side imaging technology, as well as
Scubapro(R) dive gear and UWATEC(R) dive computers.
http://www.johnsonoutdoors.com
SC Johnson is a family-owned and managed business dedicated to
innovative, high-quality products, excellence in the workplace and a
long-term commitment to the environment and the communities in which it
operates. Based in the USA, the company is one of the world's leading
manufacturers of household cleaning products and products for home storage,
air care, personal care and insect control. It makes such well-known brands
as EDGE(R), GLADE(R), OFF! (R), PLEDGE(R), RAID(R), SCRUBBING BUBBLES(R),
SHOUT(R), WINDEX(R) and ZIPLOC(R) in the U.S. and beyond, with brands
marketed outside the U.S. Including AUTAN(R), BAYGON(R), BRISE(R), ECHO(R),
KABIKILLER(R), KLEAR(R), and MR. MUSCLE(R). The 120-year old company, with
nearly $7 billion in sales, employs approximately 12,000 people globally
and sells products in more than 110 countries. http://www.scjohnson.com
CONTACT
Kelly Semrau
262-260-2102
262-497-4759
KMSemrau at scj.com
WEB ADDRESS
http://www.scjohnson.com
http://www.cleanhomejournal.com
SOURCE SC Johnson
---
http://www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20060703.G03
Papuans honor police with hot stone ritual
National News - July 03, 2006
As ceremonies marked the National Police's 60th anniversary Saturday,
Papuans observed the
moment uniquely, holding a bakar batu, or "burning the stone" thanksgiving
ritual.
Residents from 42 villages in Jayawijaya regency's three districts
prepared a communal meal
(see photo), cooking it with hot stones before sharing it together.
In the process, the stones were heated before being placed in a hole and
then covered with
banana leaves and grass.
The food -- pork, corn and vegetables -- was then placed on top of the
stones and covered
with more banana leafs. The food was cooked by the steam coming from the
hot stones, giving
the ritual its name.
The Saturday event was held after Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. Tommy
Jacobus opened Bolakme
police precinct to celebrate the anniversary.
Chief of Central Wamena tribe Pianok Tabuni said the ritual was to show
gratitude for rise
of the local police office's status from a police post to police precinct.
"This event is also intended to show people's gratitude to the police who
ensure people's
safety," he said. (JP/Nethy Dharma Somba)
---
http://www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20060703.G09
Papua in need of 340 more teachers
National News - July 03, 2006
BIAK, Papua: At least 340 teachers are needed to teach in elementary and
high schools across
Supiori regency in Papua, an official said Saturday.
The head of the regency's Education, Culture and Tourism Office, Yermias
Pakdawer, said his
office will soon tackle the problem.
"This month, the education office will recruit contract teachers to be
placed in schools
which are in need of teachers," he told Antara.
He said the greatest need is in the areas of math, biology, physics,
chemistry and English.
"By having more teachers to teach these subjects, we hope to improve
education quality," he
said.
The regency currently has 260 teachers, including 100 contract teachers.
The number, he said, was lower than the demand of at least 600 for its
seven kindergartens,
one pre-school, 39 elementary schools, 11 junior high schools, three
senior high schools and
one vocational school. -- JP
---
http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?class=your%20say&subclass=general&story_id=49082
2&category=Opinion&m=6&y=2006
Why trying to appease Indonesia doesn't work
Thursday, 29 June 2006
WHAT a pity that John Howard, his cabinet and advisers are not students of
history. If they
were, they would not seek to appease Indonesia. As a diplomatic tool it
has been tried time
and time again and failed.
In the 1970s and 80s, criticism of the Suharto regime by the Australian
media led to
Australian governments doing cartwheels to appease Indonesia.
When Peter Hastings, the venerable foreign affairs editor of the Sydney
Morning Herald, was
banned from going to Indonesia because of his criticism of Suharto, the
Australian
Government sought to placate Indonesia. They did not defend freedom of the
press, the SMH
nor Hastings' right to express an opinion on a regime that everyone in the
Australian
Government knew was rotten to the core.
Criticism of the Indonesian occupation of East Timor from whatever quarter
in Australia
brought forth strictures and equivalent hand wringing. When the ABC office
in Jakarta was
closed by Indonesia in the mid-80s, it was the ABC that was criticised by
Australia.
This Government might think it has hit upon a unique solution to the
present difficulty with
Indonesia over West Papuan asylum-seekers, but there is nothing new in its
approach.
In 1985, in response to OPM (Free Papua Movement) activity along the
border with West Papua
and PNG, the TNI (the Indonesian Armed Forces) conducted military
operations, including
across the border, which resulted in thousands of West Papuans fleeing
into PNG as refugees
and seeking asylum. Australia refused to take any, on the grounds it would
upset Indonesia.
At the same time, the Australian Government put pressure on the ABC to
rein in Shaun
Dawney's coverage of the issue.
Three West Papuans made their way to Boigu Island, Australian territory
not far off the
coast of PNG, where they claimed refugee status.
They were brought to Thursday Island. For their trouble, they were put in
prison and their
claims were not heard. Chris Hurford, the Labor minister for immigration,
argued that they
were economic refugees, and if accepted they would be the thin edge of the
wedge. Thousands
more would follow. These assertions were made without any evidence to back
them up. And so
these poor unfortunates sat and rotted for weeks and then months.
Inter-departmental
meetings were held, with the Department of Immigration making a range of
excuses for not
granting visas, including claims of the thin edge of the wedge to keeping
Australia free
from disease. The issue even went to cabinet.
In the event, as a result of pressure from public opinion, the churches
and the media, the
West Papuans were given protection visas and released. Thousands more did
not follow. The
Indonesian Government coped (as it always does). It was not put to them by
Australia or any
other country that it should at the very least modify its repressive
military occupation of
West Papua.
The recent excising of the whole of Australia from the migration zone in
response to
Indonesian criticism of the granting of refugee status to 42 West Papuans
is by far the
greatest over-reaction in the history of appeasement toward Indonesia.
It goes without saying that it will not work. It will, however, lead to
greater demands
being made by the Indonesians, emboldened by what they see as Australian
weakness.
Some commentators would have the human rights of the West Papuans as the
price of a good
relationship with Indonesia. In other words, the indigenous population of
West Papua should
be hostages to the fortunes of the good relationship between Australia and
Indonesia.
And all this based on the gutlessness of the Australian Government in not
saying to the
Indonesians "get your house in order; stop your military behaving badly in
West Papua, treat
the West Papuans with dignity and respect, restore an environment in which
they can enjoy
freedom of expression and association".
If it were left to John Howard and Kim Beazley, the Acehnese would still
be under the iron
heel of the TNI, the tsunami put paid to that - at least for the time being.
But the Indonesian Government, like the Japanese Government in the 1930s,
has little control
over the military.
The elected Government of Indonesia is weak because of the unique position
of the military
in being charged with the responsibility of holding together the
ethnically diverse
archipelagic republic. This role ensures that the military remains central
and crucial to
the politics of the republic.
The recent tenor of the diplomatic relationship between Australia and
Indonesia was spelt
out with the appointment of Bill Farmer, former head of the Department of
Immigration, who
oversaw Tampa, children in detention and the Pacific solution, as
Australian ambassador to
Indonesia. As a result of that particular record, Farmer's moral authority
to the position
has been diminished.
Decent Indonesians do not respect those decisions for which they share
responsibility. They
do not respect John Howard and therein lies the problem. For as much as
they want Howard to
back off over West Papua, they see the ease with which he was prepared to
do so as part of
his deep-seated racism, expressed equally towards Aborigines, West Papuans
and by
implication towards themselves, the Javanese.
Howard panicked over the Indonesian reaction to the granting of refugee
status to the 42
West Papuans because of fear that the Indonesians would again open up the
boat people
pipeline, hundreds, if not thousands, being facilitated once again though
Indonesia to
Australia. Australia allegedly closed off this pipeline through agreement
reached with the
Indonesian authorities. If you believe that, you would believe that the
Indonesian
intelligence agencies have not been involved in East Timor.
The people-smuggling operation from Indonesia to Australia was at best
condoned by the TNI
and the Indonesian police on the basis of kick-backs, and at worst,
controlled by them. The
latter is far more likely in view of TNI control over illegal logging,
prostitution, gem
mining and the movement of goods and provision of services throughout the
archipelago.
Therefore, to bring about a cessation of people-smuggling, compensation
would have needed to
be provided through the local TNI command structure on a continuing basis.
In view of the
above, perhaps now it is a little easier to understand the difficulties
John Howard has
created for himself.
If he had quickly processed the refugees arriving by boat and welcomed
them as valuable
members of the Australian community, he would not have given the
Indonesian Government the
bigstick with which to hit him over the head. They would have had no
leverage over
Australian policy or sovereignty.
As a firm believer in Australia's military history, John Howard - and Kim
Beazley - should
know that weakness begets weakness and strength begets strength.
Government and Opposition are peas in a pod.
Where are the people who can put together policies which will strengthen
Australia as a
nation?
Bruce Haigh is a political commentator and a retired Australian diplomat.
During his time with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade he worked
in Indonesia.
---
(28 June)
CNOOC says Tangguh LNG price not finalised
By Wendy Lim
SHENZHEN, China, June 28 (Reuters) - China'a number-three oil company, CNOOC
Group, said on Wednesday it was still in talks with Indonesia on the price of
liquefied natural gas (LNG) and expected an agreement in late July.
The head of Indonesian oil and gas watchdog BPMIGAS, Kardaya Warnika, said
earlier this month Indonesia had agreed to raise the price of LNG from the
BP-led Tangguh project, which would be sold to CNOOC, to an
oil-equivalent price
of $38 a barrel versus the previous $25 level.
But CNOOC Presdient Fu Chengyu said talks between the company and Indonesia
had not been finalised.
"We haven't made a decision. We expect to reach an agreement by the end of
July," Fu told Reuters on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of the
country's
maiden LNG terminal near Shenzhen, which was officiated by Chinese Premier
Wen Jiabao and Australian Prime Minister John Howard.
When asked whether the new pricing would be roughly US$10 per million British
thermal unis (mmBtu), Fu said: "We definitely won't agree the long-term price
at $10."
But Fu, who is also the chairman of Hong Kong-listed CNOOC Ltd., said the
final pricing could fall between $5 mmBtu and $10 mmBtu.
State-owned CNOOC is leading the race to build LNG-receiving terminals in
China as Beijing seeks to curb pollution by promoting the use of the
environmentally friendly gas.
The progress on sourcing gas supplies has slowed in the past few years on
concerns about gas prices.
So far, China has finalised just one LNG import deal, a contract with
Australia's North West Shelf to supply Guangdong Datang LNG Co. Ltd.,
which is
controlled by CNOOC Group and indirectly invested in by BP Plc., near
Shenzhen.
The Indonesian LNG supply deal would be the second and would supply the
country's second receiving terminal in the south-eastern province of
Fujian, also
run by CNOOC.
Fu said initial pricing of the Fujian project was made at a time when the oil
price was at $25 per barrel and not current prices of around $70.
He also said it was possible that there would be more LNG deals with
Australia. "We would like to expand our investment in Australia, and to
bring in more
LNG."
---
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