[Kabar-Irian] News: Nov 8-7 2006

[Admin-Editors Kabar-Irian]

KABAR IRIAN NEWS

Nov 8-9

TOPICS

* Chinese companies may pour money into Papua airport and seaport
* Indonesia's Papua expects Chinese investment in airport, seaport
* Papuan given life for Freeport killings
* Schoolchildren still fearful after clash
* The new Australia-Indonesia security treaty: what's in it for us?
* Indonesian ambassador welcomes security treaty
* Canberra's treaty 'killing off' Papuan democracy
* Pleasing Indonesia
* Indonesia pact shows end to bad times: PM
* Artful dodging on treaty's more unpalatable parts
* Bilateral ties that must bind
* Good neighbours
* Land, sea exercises part of new pact
* Australian PM welcomes new security treaty with Indonesia
* Indonesian pact will 'help fight terror'
* New Australia-Indonesia security pact not about asylum-seekers, uranium
* Senator Bob Brown has hit out at the new Australia-Indonesia security pact
* Indon treaty only for security - Downer
* Howard welcomes new Indonesia treaty
* Indonesia pact welcomed
* Mixed reaction to security treaty with Indonesia
* The third Ubud Writers' and Readers Festival comes of age
* MP praises sustainable development approach at Progressio AGM


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http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20061108.G05&irec=4

Chinese companies may pour money into Papua airport and seaport

Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura

Two Chinese companies have signed an agreement that could see them invest
millions of dollars in the airport and seaport in

Biak regency, Papua.

A memorandum of understanding on the investments was signed by Papua
Governor Bas Suebu and representatives of the two

companies during a visit by Suebu to China last week.

Under the agreement, China National Property Administration Council and
Qili Holdings will spend US$130 million in the first

stage of the investment plan and another $800 million in the second stage.

Suebu said Monday the money would be used to improve facilities at Biak's
airport and seaport, as part of a plan to turn the

regency into the main center for trade, investment and tourism in Papua.

"The $130 million will be channeled in the form of equity venture
investment and the $800 million in loans," the governor

said.

Suebu said the money would be spent on improving existing facilities at
both the airport and seaport in Biak. The seaport,

for example, will be equipped with new equipment for processing fish and a
container terminal for both domestic and

international trade, he said.

"As part of the renovation project, the airport will be designed to
accommodate wide-bodied airplanes from overseas," the

governor said. He added that the area around the airport would be
developed in stages into a bonded zone with an export

processing area.

Suebu said his administration would also begin courting investors for
other areas, including plantations.

The governor said representatives of the two Chinese companies were
scheduled to visit Papua by the end of this month. "They

will make a survey of the location."

Suebu also said his administration would begin courting investors for
other areas, including plantations. The provincial

administration will provide some kind of incentives for investors, he added.

"We will work out of a regional regulation on customary land and provide
skilled labor to attract investors to come to

Papua," he said.

The director of the Papua chapter of the Institute for a Strong Civil
Society, Budi Setyanto, warned that Suebu was courting

investment before putting the necessary regulatory framework in place.

Budi said clear regulations were needed on the obligations of investors
toward locals.

"Papua is in need of investors to tap its natural resources, but ...
regulations have to be created first before we invite

the investment," he said.

Budi said there was no rush to secure foreign investment because the
special autonomy funds from the central government were

sufficient to improve the people's economy. He added that the current
focus should be on improving the management of existing

funds.

The governor also must involve the Papua Legislative Council and the Papua
People's Assembly in its investment deals, because

these two institutions could reject any agreements, he said.

---

http://english.people.com.cn/200611/08/eng20061108_319530.html

Indonesia's Papua expects Chinese investment in airport, seaport


Indonesia's easternmost province Papua is expecting millions of U.S.
dollars of investment in the airport and seaport from

two Chinese companies after a preliminary agreement was signed last week,
a report said Wednesday.

A memorandum of understanding on the investments was signed by Papua
Governor Bas Suebu and representatives of the two

companies during Suebu's visit to China last week.

Under the agreement, China National Property Administration Council and
Qili Holdings will spend 130 million dollars in the

first stage of the investment plan and another 800 million dollars in the
second stage, reported English newspaper The

Jakarta Post.

Suebu said the money would be used to improve facilities at airport and
seaport in Biak regency, as part of a plan to turn

the regency into the main center for trade, investment and tourism in Papua.

"The 130 million dollars will be channeled in the form of equity venture
investment and the 800 million dollars in loans,"

the governor said.

Suebu said the money would be spent on improving existing facilities at
both the airport and seaport in Biak. The seaport,

for example, will be equipped with new equipment for processing fish and a
container terminal for both domestic and

international trade, he said.

"As part of the renovation project, the airport will be designed to
accommodate wide-bodied airplanes from overseas," the

governor said.

He added that the area around the airport would be developed in stages
into a bonded zone with an export processing area.

The governor said representatives of the two Chinese companies were
scheduled to visit Papua by the end of this month to make

a survey at the location.

Source: Xinhua

---

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20061108.@02&irec=1



Papuan given life for Freeport killings

Ary Hermawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Alleged Papuan separatist Antonius Wamang has been sentenced to life in
prison for the 2002 killing of two American nationals

and an Indonesian near PT Freeport's Grassberg gold mine in Timika, Papua.

Reading the verdict Tuesday, Central Jakarta District Court head judge
Andriani Nurdin ruled Wamang was found guilty of

leading an ambush on a motor convoy traveling near the town of Timika in
which two American teachers Ricky Lynn Spier, 44,

and Edwin Leon Burgen, 71, and an Indonesian, FX Bambang Riwanto, were
shot dead.

The sentence was higher than the 20 years that prosecutors had sought for
Wamang. Andriani said Wamang deserved severe

sentence because the crime he committed was "a gross violation of human
rights" and a premeditated murder.

The court also sentenced two other men, Agustinus Anggaibak and Yulianus
Deikme, to seven years' jail for assisting Wamang in

carrying out the attack.

Three other accomplices, Rev. Ishak Onawame, Esau Onawame, Hardi Sugumol
and Yairus Kiwak each received 18 months's jail for

helping Wamang plan the ambush.

Wamang -- indicted by a U.S. grand jury in 2004 for the murders -- has
earlier admitted being a Papuan separatist and said he

shot at the cars because he thought they were carrying soldiers.

Defense team lawyer Johnson Panjaitan before Tuesday's trial said he had
prepared documents needed to appeal the ruling.

However, he was absent from the proceedings Tuesday.

The native Papuans have protested their trial in Jakarta, arguing the
court did not have jurisdiction because the alleged

crime occurred in Timika.

On Tuesday, they walked out of the court before the verdict was read out,
while the police tried to calm Papuan protesters

attending the trial.

Ishak said the men would not stand trial without fellow defendant Hardi
Sugumol, who is ill and is currently being treated in

the Kramat Jati Police Hospital.

The panel of judges noted the defendants had refused to use their right to
a defense.

The men were convicted on evidence given by prosecutors, surviving victims
of the attack and U.S. FBI agents who had helped

investigate the murder.

Ishak said they would appeal the sentence.

"We had nothing to do with these shootings," he said before the verdicts
were read out.

"Our trial has been manipulated for the interests of two countries,
Indonesia and the United States," he was quoted as saying

by AP.

"Indonesia and the United States will pay for this," he said from the
court's detainment room.

The involvement of the FBI in the probe into the killing and the arrest of
the seven defendants was a condition set for

Jakarta by Washington, which had frozen its military relationship with
Washington after human rights violations carried out

in the former province of East Timor.

During the trial, Papuan protesters gathered outside the court building,
demanding all the defendants be released and the

Grassberg mine be closed down.

Papuan People's Front spokesman Martendo said the trial was a sham and
pledged to bring the case to the International Court

of Justice.

Native Papuans have been the victims of PT Freeport and the military's
operations in their province, Martendo said, calling

the U.S. an "imperialist" regime with the Yudhoyono administration as its
"puppet".

---

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20061108.G07&irec=6

Schoolchildren still fearful after clash

Markus Maku, The Jakarta Post, Timika

The recent two month-long tribal conflict in Kwamki Lama village, Timika,
Papua, has left local schoolchildren traumatized.

Since the clash between two rival tribes in the village in Mimika
district, where up to 10 people were killed and dozens more

injured, school children have remained terrified due to the still volatile
situation, amid fears that the conflict may

resume.

Two elementary schools were directly affected by the tribal dispute. They
are Kwamki Lama No.1 state school and the Injili

Church Foundation school.

Some students have moved to schools in Timika city, while others have
simply stopped attending class altogether.

Bruno Toatubun, from the Kwamki Lama state elementary school, said
recently there were 200 students studying at the school

before the conflict, but now only around 50 to 60 students. Many students,
he said, are too afraid to return to classes,

especially as many people are still carrying sharp weapons around the
village.

Toatubun said that around half of the pupils from Injili Church elementary
school were forced to attend classes at the Kwamki

Lama state elementary school or in Timika city because their school was
badly damaged in the conflict.

Teachers are continually counseling the students and encouraging them to
come to school.

Toatubun said the Timika regency administration, through the local
education office, was trying to improve the situation in

the village.

Head of the Mimika Education Office Ausilius You said the government,
through the Education Ministry, had prepared measures

to resolve the problem in Kwamki Lama.

You said children who were traumatized and frightened because of the
situation should transfer to schools in Timika.

"We are continually monitoring the situation in Kwamki Lama because
children cannot be forced to attend school when they are

traumatized,"he said,

According to You, the Mimika Education Office has been making a serious
effort to provide counseling for school children in

Kwamki Lama so they can attend class and learn.

"We have asked teachers to tell their students about the importance of
education and attending school regularly," You said.

---

http://www.crikey.com.au/Politics/20061108-OzIndonesia-security-pact-Indonesias-wish-list-.html


The new Australia-Indonesia security treaty: what's in it for us?
Date: Wednesday, 8 November 2006
Associate Professor Damien Kingsbury of Deakin University writes:

The new treaty to be signed between Australia and Indonesia next Monday
reads like an Indonesian wish-list, to which

Australia has dutifully complied. Each of the main components of the
treaty is in Indonesia's interests, but apart from

helping to secure a fragile friendship, it appears less favourable to
Australia.

The decision to assist Indonesia with building a nuclear power plant
complies with the Australian government's thinly-veiled

push to develop a domestic nuclear power industry and helps secure another
nuclear customer for uranium exports. There is no

doubt that Indonesia is struggling with energy production, especially
since it became a net oil importer in early 2005.
Advertisement

Yet a similar proposal for Indonesia to develop a nuclear power plant was
scrapped in the mid 1990s because of Indonesia's

infamously unstable geology. In short, its regular earthquakes could
create a nuclear meltdown which would not only affect

tens of millions of Indonesians but would have serious implications for
the region, including Australia.

There is little likelihood that Indonesia would go the further step of
developing nuclear weapons, although some of

Indonesia's more rabid nationalists would see this as a reasonable
extension of the country's regional assertion. Such

technology could also fall into the hands of religious extremists whose
agenda concerns power more than energy.

Other elements of the treaty concern security, specifically closer
military to military links, joint maritime border patrols

and suppression of West Papuan separatism activists.

While joint military links are of concern, given the slow pace of
Indonesian military reform, they fit US strategic

preferences. US President George W Bush will visit Indonesia soon after
the signing of the treaty.

Of particular concern, however, is the reported agreement to suppress
activists. Indonesia has brutally suppressed West

Papuan activism for decades, and abrogated its own "special autonomy" law
for West Papua. But concern over such issues has

remained a legitimate part of free speech in Australia. It appears this
will now change.

Apart from the basic principle of free speech, human rights activists are
frequently misrepresented as supporting Papuan

independence, the most recent example of which was the Lowy Institute
paper "Pitfalls of Papua". That paper's

misrepresentation of individuals named within it is especially dangerous
as its author, Rod McGibbon, is about to assume a

senior role with Australia's peak intelligence body, the Office of
National Assessments. The treaty includes closer

intelligence ties between Australia and Indonesia.

No doubt there will be many in Jakarta who are pleased with the outcome of
this treaty. But one is left wondering what

Australia gains from it, and how much it may cost.


---

http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2006/s1784012.htm

Indonesian ambassador welcomes security treaty

The World Today - Wednesday, 8 November , 2006  12:46:00
Reporter: Lynn Bell
ELEANOR HALL: The Indonesian Ambassador to Australia, Hamzah Thayeb, has
welcomed a new security treaty between Indonesia and

Australia as a step forward in the bilateral relationship.

The security treaty will be signed by the Foreign Minister, Alexander
Downer, and his Indonesian counterpart, Hassan

Wirajuda, in Indonesia on Monday.

It'll recognise Indonesian sovereignty over the Province of Papua, and
also put in place a framework for helping both

countries to develop nuclear power.

The Indonesian Ambassador, Hamzah Thayeb, has been speaking to our
reporter, Lynn Bell.

HAMZAH THAYEB: The big picture is to continuously strengthen the
relationship that we have, because we cannot do otherwise,

like I have been saying, that the geographic of proximity. We have to work
together.

And this is just codifying all the principles that we have agreed upon,
and putting it in a document, the cooperation that we

have been doing so far, which is positive.

LYNN BELL: On another sensitive issue of perhaps if another boatload of
people seeking refuge from the province of Papua were

to arrive in Australia, how would Indonesia expect the Australian
Government to cope with that situation?

HAMZAH THAYEB: That is of course for the Australian Government to deal with.

They have their own laws, but we would not expect this thing to happen
again, because what we are trying to do again in

Indonesia is to correct the past mistakes that we have made, and that is
what we are trying to correct this, and we are

trying to develop.

And not only in Papua, the whole of Indonesia, from Sabung, which is in
Aceh, that's where I come from, all the way to

Merauke in Papua.

LYNN BELL: The security treaty also looks at developing closer ties in
relation to nuclear power. Would Indonesia be looking

to import uranium from Australia?

HAMZAH THAYEB: Oh, I think uranium is an issue for
 you are discussing
this issue.

But if you look at the bigger picture again, energy is the concern for
everybody. Oil is of course, will not always be there,

it's depleting.

So other sources of energy is important for everybody, for the world,
because we have to do
 development needs energy, and I

think whatever sources of energy should be looked into.

I think uranium is one of the sources of energy, for the future though.
But I think for peaceful purposes is always allowed.

LYNN BELL: Indonesia is looking to develop a nuclear power plant in the
future. What sort of cooperation might you be looking

for from Australia?

HAMZAH THAYEB: I mean, that is still something for us to look into. We
don't have any details yet. But at least the principle

of working, cooperating for new sources of energy, I think it's good for
both of us.

LYNN BELL: What do you see as the key strengths of this security treaty?

HAMZAH THAYEB: Security treaty, this is not only the military, but this is
the, what do you call it, the non-traditional

security threats and so on, people smuggling, drugs, all this are included
in this document.

And, like I said, of course we can work together in all these areas that
would certainly increase our, and strengthen and

bring together, to work together.

ELEANOR HALL: That's the Indonesian Ambassador to Australia, Hamzah
Thayeb, speaking to Lynn Bell.

---

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/canberras-treaty-killing-off-papuan-democracy/2006/11/08/1162661757288.html

Canberra's treaty 'killing off' Papuan democracy

Andra Jackson
November 9, 2006

Free West Papua campaigners Nick Chesterfield and Jacob Rumbiak say the
treaty with Indonesia will thwart human rights

controls in the province and threaten security.
Photo: Paul Rovere


AUSTRALIA was "killing off" democracy in Papua with its impending treaty
with Indonesia, a Papuan leader has said in

Melbourne.

Jacob Rumbiak, foreign affairs co-ordinator for the West Papuan National
Authority — which describes itself as Papua's

transitional government — said yesterday that Australia would be stopping
international monitoring of human rights abuses by

the Indonesian military in Papua.

"It will close West Papua from the rest of the world," especially to those
concerned about human rights and the environment,

he said.

He also warned it would "create opportunities for international terrorists
based in West Papua to create instability in the

Pacific".

The treaty, to be signed on Monday, includes expansion of military and
intelligence ties, recognition of Indonesian

sovereignty over Papua and agreement to suppress supporters of independence.

"They wanted this treaty to stop the misunderstanding between Indonesia
and the Australian Government because of the 43 who

arrived in Australia," Mr Rumbiak said, referring to the Papuan asylum
seekers who arrived in Australia in January and were

granted protection.

"The treaty is not the solution," he said. "It cannot stop the West Papuan
struggle to defend West Papuan land, peace and

justice.

"The Australian Government should understand the 43 asylum seekers left
West Papua because West Papua was not safe for them."

The treaty would not deter future asylum seekers, he said.

A spokesman for the Free West Papua campaign, Nick Chesterfield, said:
"The agreement is neither contributing to West

Papua's, Indonesia's or Australia's security because it is aligning
Australia with the wishes of TNI (the Indonesian

military), which is the source of all the instability problems in our
region."

A former Papua resident and human rights campaigner, Anglican minister
Peter Woods, questioned the implications of the

agreement for "those who are legitimately supporting West Papuans'
aspirations in Australia and the attitude of the

Australian Government towards that".

Newspoll findings released yesterday found 64 per cent of Australians
supported access to Papua for journalists and 72 per

cent supported access for human rights monitors. The nationwide poll of
1200 respondents prompted calls for the treaty to

guarantee access to the province.

---

http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/pleasing-indonesia/2006/11/08/1162661751948.html

Pleasing Indonesia

By Damien Kingsbury
November 9, 2006

On Monday, Australia's Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, and Indonesia's
Foreign Minister, Hassan Wirayuda, will sign a so

-far secret treaty intended to bring the two countries closer together. As
policy prescriptions for improving bilateral

relations, the treaty should be generally well received in Jakarta, but
its benefits for Australia remain questionable.

The underlying assumption of the treaty is that Australia needs to buy
Indonesia's friendship. In the past, Australia has

found that buying good relations is a short-term arrangement, and has not
secured a genuine long-term friendship.

Key among Australia's promises to Indonesia is support in establishing a
nuclear power industry, which neatly dovetails with

the Australian Government's thinly veiled push to develop a domestic
nuclear power industry. The agreement also secures

another nuclear customer for Australian uranium exports.

Indonesia has struggled with energy production, especially since it became
a net oil importer early last year, and it

requires energy to develop its industrial base. However, the nuclear
option had already been considered and dropped.

Indonesia earlier toyed with the idea of a nuclear power industry, but
scrapped it in the mid-1990s because the country is

too geologically unstable. Indonesia is situated along a shifting tectonic
plate, and its regular earthquakes could produce a

Chernobyl-like nuclear meltdown. This would affect tens of millions of
Indonesians and have disastrous implications for the

region, including Australia.

Indonesia is unlikely to go the further nuclear step of developing
weapons, although some more pronounced Indonesian

nationalists would see this as a reasonable development of the country's
projection of military power. Such technology could

also fall into the hands of religious extremists, such as Jemaah Islamiah,
which has already demonstrated a willingness to

deploy bombs to take innocent lives.

The core of the treaty concerns security, specifically closer
military-to-military links, joint maritime border patrols and

suppression of Papuan separatism. Joint military links should be of
concern, given the slow pace of reform of the Indonesian

military, or TNI.

On this, it is worth noting that the strongest advocate of military links
with Indonesia, then foreign minister Gareth Evans,

has since admitted the policy was a mistake. Close co-operation did not
improve the TNI's human rights record, and only gave

comfort to those who least deserved it.

Closer military ties to Indonesia fits United States strategic
preferences, however, primarily to enhance closer US-Indonesia

military links, which have been increasing after an earlier ban on
training and arms after the destruction of East Timor in

1999 and earlier atrocities. US President George Bush is scheduled to
visit Indonesia one week after the treaty with

Australia is signed.

The treaty also proposes joint maritime patrols, which are otherwise
reasonable, except their primary target is Papuan asylum

seekers. The focus here should logically be to address the cause of
Papuans needing to seek asylum, not in trying to deny its

symptoms.

In this respect, a particularly troubling part of the treaty is the
reported agreement to suppress Papuan activism. The

Indonesian military has brutally suppressed Papuan activism for decades,
and the Government abrogated its own "special

autonomy" law for Papua, which was intended to help resolve continuing
problems in the now divided province.

But further, the treaty also bans Australia from being used as a "staging
post" for Papuan activism. If this was targeted at

support for military activity it would be reasonable, and is already
covered under existing Australian law. However, this

proposed limitation looks to be more aimed at activists in Australia and
at limiting free speech over Papuan human rights

issues.

On this, people with concerns over human rights abuses are frequently
reported as supporting Papuan independence, the most

recent example of which was the Lowy Institute paper Pitfalls of Papua. A
recent survey showed that 76 per cent of

Australians in fact support self-determination for Papua, but this is a
separate issue to that of human rights.

The Lowy Institute paper seriously misrepresented a number of individuals
named in it, me included. This is especially

worrying because its author, Rod McGibbon, is about to assume a senior
role with Australia's peak intelligence body, the

Office of National Assessments, which directly advises the Prime Minister
on such issues.

The proposed bilateral treaty includes closer intelligence links, and
mistakes such as those in the McGibbon paper are likely

to have serious implications for Australian researchers working on Indonesia.

Australia and Indonesia do need to have closer and stronger relations.
But, as we have seen in the past, friendship cannot be

bought, and such "friendship" that is bought remains shallow and
vulnerable to reversals.

No doubt there will be many in Jakarta who are pleased with the outcome of
this treaty, as it gives Indonesia much. But one

is left wondering what Australia gains from it, how much it may cost, and
whether it can - or should - last.

Damien Kingsbury is associate professor in the school of international and
political studies at Deakin University.


---

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/indonesia-pact-shows-end-to-bad-times-pm/2006/11/08/1162661756846.html

Indonesia pact shows end to bad times: PM
Cynthia Banham
November 9, 2006

THE imminent signing of a security treaty with Indonesia showed the
bilateral relationship had moved on from the troubled

times surrounding East Timor's independence and the West Papuan asylum
seekers, the Prime Minister, John Howard, said

yesterday.

The wide-ranging pact, which has been under negotiation for two years,
will be signed on the island of Lombok next week by

the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alexander Downer, and his Indonesian
counterpart, Hassan Wirayuda.

Mr Howard said yesterday: "I think it's a manifestation of the balanced
maturity of the relationship.

"I welcome it. It does show that our relationship has moved on and
absorbed some of the adversity surrounding it, arising out

of East Timor and also more recently out of the 43 asylum seekers."

The security treaty will cover counter-terrorism, transnational crime and
nuclear co-operation, and commit Jakarta and

Canberra not to support separatist causes in each other's countries.

Its signing was also welcomed by Labor.

The Opposition spokesman on foreign affairs, Kevin Rudd, said the treaty
went "some way to meeting Labor's repeated call for

over two years for the implementation of a comprehensive regional
counter-terrorism strategy for South-East Asia".

"This is a positive step forward on a long road towards a comprehensive
counter-terrorism strategy for our own region, our

own neighbourhood, our own backyard," Mr Rudd said. "Given the continuing
threat of terrorism in our own region, strong

relationships with our neighbours must remain a critical priority for any
Australian government."

The treaty was was criticised by a number of groups because of concerns
about West Papua. Australia's granting of protection

visas to 43 West Papuan asylum seekers earlier this year created a huge
diplomatic rift.

The president of the International Commission of Jurists, John Dowd, QC,
said such a significant treaty "should be a matter

of public consultation" before Australia becomes bound by it. Mr Dowd
said, "At a time when Indonesian defence forces are

being used against some of the peoples of Indonesia such as in West Papua
this is a matter of serious concern to

Australians."

He said the treaty should include a provision for human rights monitors
and foreign journalists to be allowed free access to

West Papua.

The businessman and activist Ian Melrose released results of a poll he
commissioned on the treaty, which showed 64 per cent

of Australians supported a clause which guaranteed access to foreign
journalists to areas of Indonesia such as West Papua.

The Newspoll survey also found 72 per cent of respondents supported free
access for human rights monitors.

Mr Downer said the treaty would not mean Australia could not take more
asylum seekers from West Papua.

"It's nothing to do with asylum seekers in that sense," he said. "It's to
do with not obviously supporting activities that

are going to be in one way or another a threat to each other's countries."

Professor Tim Lindsey, the director of the Asian Law Centre at the
University of Melbourne, said the treaty would not

radically change the existing relationship.

"I'd say that it is a reflection of the reality of relations between the
two countries which are closely entwined because of

mutual dependence, in part in relation to security regarding terrorist
groups in the region," he said.

---

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/artful-dodging-on-treatys-more-unpalatable-parts/2006/11/08/1162661756849.html

Artful dodging on treaty's more unpalatable parts

Mark Forbes Herald Correspondent in Jakarta
November 9, 2006


JOHN HOWARD and Alexander Downer should trumpet a new security treaty with
Indonesia, but their attempts to play down

elements unpalatable to some Australians - suppressing support for Papuan
activists and assisting Indonesia's nuclear

ambitions - are disingenuous.

Mr Downer quickly claimed credit for securing the treaty, but the real
plaudits must go to his counterpart, Hassan Wirayuda,

and the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

It was Yudhoyono who rose above his anguish at Australia granting asylum
to 43 Papuans to resurrect the negotiations. And it

was Yudhoyono, then defence minister, who suggested several years ago that
the security pact signed by Paul Keating and torn

up amid East Timor's tumultuous path to independence should be replaced.

In his attempts to appease Indonesia, Downer gave significant ground.
Under the treaty to be signed on Monday, Australia will

not only support Indonesian sovereignty over Papua but promise to prevent
independence activists using Australia as a

rallying point.

Jakarta is in no doubt that the clause is aimed at Papua, but Downer
yesterday attempted to claim it was "nothing to do with

asylum seekers in that sense. It's to do with not 
 supporting activities
that are going to be 
 a threat to each other's

countries.

"We don't want to see people, or we wouldn't want to see the Indonesian
Government, supporting activities that could be a

threat to our security."

Possibly, as one official joked, Canberra fears Aboriginal activists could
gather in Bali to campaign for a breakaway state.

Downer also dodged on Australia's support for Indonesia's nuclear power
program. "It's not about Australia establishing a

nuclear power program in Indonesia - we don't have the technology," he said.

Australia is also considering developing a nuclear power capacity. More
significantly, it is the most obvious source of

uranium for the reactor Indonesia plans to build.

Aside from the dangers of a reactor in earthquake-prone Java, there is
little to fear from the program. Jakarta is committed

to nuclear non-proliferation.

If assisting Indonesia's nuclear ambitions is not envisaged, it is
difficult to understand why the treaty includes a clause

backing "strengthened co-operation" on the development of nuclear energy
for peaceful purposes.

Although the treaty endorses full co-operation in defence and law
enforcement, it stops short of a formal military alliance.

The treaty provides a road map for deeper co-operation. Intelligence and
counter-terrorism operations will receive the

highest priority, along with border protection.

But Australia's suggestion yesterday that Jakarta was scrambling to make
arrangements for Monday's signing came as a surprise

to officials who booked the venue more than a week ago.

---

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,20725140-5006336,00.html


Bilateral ties that must bind

November 09, 2006 01:15am
Article from: The Advertiser

THE security agreement to be signed between Australia and Indonesia on
Monday is one of Australia's most important foreign

policy initiatives of the past decade.
In some senses, it is as significant as Australia's links with the U.S.
through ANZUS.

Indonesia is Australia's closest geographic neighbour. It is a
predominantly Muslim country.

While Indonesia poses no security threat to Australia and, while there is
no perceived regional threat to either country,

bilateral co-operation clearly is in the interests of both countries. The
security arrangements, patiently crafted by Foreign

Affairs Minister Alexander Downer and his counterpart, Hassan Wirajuda, go
much further and are much more sustainable than

the 1995 pact initialled by then prime minister Paul Keating and
Indonesia's president Suharto.

They embrace such diverse areas as defence, law enforcement, intelligence
sharing, maritime and aviation security,

proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, emergency relief and the
eradication of terrorism.

They also will clear channels of dialogue which have been muffled by the
static of cultural suspicion. For example, the

agreement will open the doors of Australian schools and universities to
paying Indonesian students.

This will trigger improvements in political, cultural and social
understanding far more effectively than meetings among

politicians and military generals.

Monday's signatures, however, will not be enough. What is needed now is a
genuine and sincere commitment from both sides to

make the agreement work.


* Responsibility for all editorial comment is taken by The Editor, Melvin
Mansell, 31 Waymouth St, Adelaide, SA 5000

---

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,20726367-5006029,00.html


Good neighbours

November 09, 2006 12:00am
Article from: Herald-Sun

PAUL Keating's controversial secret pact with Indonesian president Suharto
went to the shredder during the East Timor crisis

in 1999.
In its place is a treaty to be signed next Monday by the two foreign
ministers, Alexander Downer and Hassan Wirajuda.

The new treaty has been under negotiation for two years and has the
imprimatur of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang

Yudhoyono.

A key part of the document is a commitment by both nations not to support
anyone or any group that threatens the stability,

sovereignty or territorial integrity of the other.

For the Indonesians, this may end their resentment over Australia's
support for East Timor's independence.

It should also quell Jakarta's unease over Australia's recent admission of
refugees from Papua, where separatists in the

Indonesian-ruled former Dutch colony are fighting for independence.

Indonesia is our most important regional neighbour. The new treaty is in
the interests of both countries.

---

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20726170-2702,00.html

Land, sea exercises part of new pact
Patrick Walters, National security editor
November 09, 2006
AUSTRALIA and Indonesia are set to revitalise defence ties including joint
development of new technology as well as expanded

joint military exercises on land and sea.

The security treaty to be signed in Lombok on Monday says the two
countries will work together to co-operate in the field of

"mutually beneficial defence technologies and capabilities", including the
joint design, development, production, marketing

and transfer of technology.

The new accord formally repairs the rift between the two countries
following the East Timor crisis in 1999, which led to an

abrupt cessation of joint exercises and high-level military visits.

Former Labor prime minister Paul Keating, architect of the 1995 bilateral
security pact abrogated by Jakarta in 1999,

welcomed the new security deal.

"Anything the Government does about improving our relationship with
Indonesia is, ipso facto, a good thing," he told The

Australian yesterday. "The problem with this Government is that it has
taken them 10 years to get around to it. They have the

words but not the music - and the Indonesians know it."

Bilateral military exercises have yet to return to the peak experienced in
the mid-1990s, but the new treaty will expedite

closer links, including between Indonesia's special forces Kopassus and
their Australian counterparts.

Strengthening defence ties and building law enforcement and
counter-terrorism co-operation are the core elements of the

treaty agreed by Jakarta and Canberra.

The document aims to deepen police links through "joint and co-ordinated
operations" and regular exchanges aimed at

preventing a range of transnational crimes, including people-smuggling,
drug trafficking and illegal fishing.

Article 3 of the security agreement pledges Indonesia and Australia to do
everything possible to "eradicate international

terrorism and extremism and its roots and causes". This would include
intelligence sharing and closer co-operation on

transport security, immigration and border controls.

The two countries have also agreed to strengthen co-operation to
"implement maritime security measures, consistent with

international law".

Alexander Downer yesterday described the treaty as "an agreement of
historic proportions", which would help cement closer

bilateral relations.

"The most significant part of it is consolidating the agreement between
our defence forces, our police, our intelligence

agencies and other government agencies in areas like counter-terrorism,
people trafficking and people smuggling (and) drug

trafficking," he said.

Labor's foreign affairs spokesman, Kevin Rudd, yesterday gave in-principle
support to the treaty, citing the regional

counter-terrorism challenge as a key priority for Australia.

"This is a positive step forward on a long road towards a comprehensive
counter-terrorism strategy for our own region, our

own neighbourhood, our own back yard," he said.

---

http://english.people.com.cn/200611/08/eng20061108_319541.html

Australian PM welcomes new security treaty with Indonesia

Australian Prime Minister John Howard welcomed Wednesday a new security
pact between his country and Indonesia, saying it

shows the maturity of bilateral relationship.

He said foreign ministers of the two countries will sign the new treaty
next week.

"I think it's a manifestation of the balance and maturity of the
relationship," Howard told reporters.

"It does show that our relationship has moved on and absorbed some of the
adversities surrounding it, arising out of East

Timor and more recently out of the 43 asylum-seekers," he said.

Under the terms of the new treaty, which came following two years of
negotiations, Canberra and Jakarta have pledged not to

support separatist causes in each other's country.

This was a key demand made by Jakarta in the wake of tensions between the
two countries generated by Australia's granting of

temporary protection visas to 43 asylum-seekers earlier this year from
Indonesia's Papua province, where separatist movement

has been active.

Meanwhile, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer hailed the treaty
as "an agreement of historic proportions."

He said consolidating agreements on counter terrorism, people smuggling
and drug trafficking are the most significant parts

of the treaty.

Source: Xinhua

---

http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/Indonesian-pact-will-help-fight-terror/2006/11/08/1162661718631.html

Indonesian pact will 'help fight terror'

November 8, 2006 - 9:29AM


A new security treaty between Australia and Indonesia would have a
significant impact on fighting terrorism, an analyst said.

Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and his Indonesian
counterpart Hassan Wirajuda will sign the agreement on

Indonesia's Lombok Island on Monday.

The deal - two years in the making - covers police, military and nuclear
cooperation on issues like counter terrorism, people

smuggling and drug trafficking.

Political analyst Daniel Sparringa, from Indonesia's Airlangga University,
said the agreement was a major breakthrough, seven

years after Indonesia tore up a defence pact with Australia after its
intervention in East Timor.

"It's a very significant progress regarding our relations in terms of how
we perceive the problem as common problem,"

Sparringa said.

"I think this is a very significant breakthrough, especially when these
two countries agree in seeing and treating these

issues ... as a common enemy among these two countries.

"What is important in the next step, to make the people in both countries
are aware of it, and also use it ... as a new

beginning to build stronger relations.

"This step can be used as a new beginning to promote international
security action."

He expected there would be some opposition from militant Islamic groups,
but believed the majority of Indonesians would

support the treaty.

Sparringa said the deal would help Indonesia - hit by a number of
terrorist attacks in recent years including the Bali

bombings in 2002 and last year - to fight terrorism.

"Of course I won't be surprised if people from more militant, more radical
groups react negatively towards this agreement,

but I believe the majority of the people will not only accept this
agreement, but welcome this agreement," he said.

"Because these people here are suffering from terrorism activities and it
has hit very badly our economy, but also our

political and social fabric.

"We do hope that this agreement will open the way in having a better
information regarding the (terrorist) network, the

activities ... because I think our security institutions are having very
difficult problems in fighting terrorism because of

a lack of information, lack of institutional arrangements.

"The agreement will make that (anti-terrorism) message even stronger and
have a real impact."

The Indonesian government was silent on the issue of the deal, with a
press conference expected on Friday.

It is expected the deal will need to be presented to an Indonesian
parliamentary committee for ratification.

An MP from the Commission 1 handling Foreign Affairs, Hajrianto Y Thohari
said the committee had not yet been informed of the

latest development.

He said it was important the two countries agree on a definition for
terrorism to aid any future counter terrorism efforts.

"That kind of definition must be settled and that's why ...it must be
carried out very carefully," he said.

"Like Australia defines `madrasah' as an education institution for
terrorist wannabes - that's very ironic. In Indonesia,

some `madrasahs' are owned by the state.

"We could not make cooperation in handling terrorism without first solving
the different perceptions on what's called

terrorism."

He also said the commission was interested to see the details on the
agreement regarding illegal fishing.

© 2006 AAP

---

http://english.people.com.cn/200611/08/eng20061108_319463.html

New Australia-Indonesia security pact not about asylum-seekers, uranium:
Australian FM


Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer on Wednesday denied that a
new security treaty agreed with Indonesia is about

the issues of asylum seekers or nuclear energy programs as reported.

Australian newspapers reported Wednesday morning that Australia and
Indonesia have agreed to a new broad-ranging security

treaty under the terms of which Jakarta and Canberra have pledged not to
support separatist causes in each other's country.

This was a key demand made by Jakarta in the wake of tensions between the
two countries generated by Australia's granting of

temporary protection visas to 43 asylum-seekers earlier this year from
Indonesia's Papua province, where separatist movement

has been active.

"The treaty is intended to draw together the threads of the security
relationship with Indonesia so that Australia and

Indonesia, working together, can enhance our security in a modern
context," Downer told Australian Broadcasting Corporation

radio Wednesday.

"It's nothing to do with asylum seekers in that sense. It's to do with not
obviously supporting activities which are going to

be, in one way or another, a threat to each other's countries," he said.

Downer said asylum seekers would be dealt with according to Australian law.

He also denied the treaty will encourage the export of uranium to Indonesia.

"Well, if we were to sell uranium to Indonesia, we would negotiate a
nuclear safeguards agreement," he said.

The newspaper reports also said the pact will reaffirm earlier commitments
Australia has made to strengthen cooperation with

Indonesia in the areas of law enforcement and counter-terrorism.

Downer and his Indonesian counterpart Hassan Wirajuda will sign the new
pact on the Indonesian island of Lombok on Monday

after nearly two years of discussions and negotiations, according to the
reports.

The new pact was reached seven years after Jakarta tore up a previous
agreement secretly negotiated by leaders of the two

countries.

Source: Xinhua

---

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200611/s1783609.htm

Last Update: Wednesday, November 8, 2006. 11:06am (AEDT)


Senator Bob Brown has hit out at the new Australia-Indonesia security
pact. (ABC)

Aust-Indonesia security pact 'undemocratic'

Greens leader Bob Brown has condemned Australia's new security pact with
Indonesia.

Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer is expected to sign the pact
with his Indonesian counterpart Hassan Wirajuda next

week.

The wide-ranging agreement includes cooperation combating terrorism, law
enforcement, border control and defence.

Senator Brown says it will also see the proliferation of nuclear power in
Indonesia and the suppression of the Papuan

independence movement.

"The Howard Government says it will actually suppress people who want to
work towards independence for West Papua," he said.

"That's undemocratic, it's repugnant to Australian democratic ideals, cuts
right across the freedoms [that] Australians

believe people in this country and elsewhere should have."
National security

Mr Downer says neither Australia nor Indonesia will support activities
that prove a threat to each other's national security.

"Obviously from their point of view they're worried about their
territorial integrity," he said.

"And the Australian Government has always supported Indonesia's
territorial integrity in modern times and will continue to do

that and won't be supporting, for example, secessionist activities."

---

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,20721456-5005962,00.html


Indon treaty only for security - Downer

November 08, 2006 07:42am
Article from: AAP

A NEW security treaty with Indonesia had nothing to do with asylum-seekers
or nuclear energy programs, Foreign Minister

Alexander Downer said today.

The pact, to be signed today, comes seven years after the Indonesian
government tore up a previous agreement and two years

after negotiations began for a new one.

Under the terms of the treaty, Canberra and Jakarta have promised not to
support separatist causes in each other's country.

This was a key demand by the Indonesians following the recent diplomatic
crisis sparked by the issue of temporary protection

visas by Australia to Papuan asylum-seekers.

"The treaty is intended to draw together the threads of the security
relationship with Indonesia so that Australia and

Indonesia, working together, can enhance our security in a modern
context,'' Mr Downer said on ABC radio.

He denied the treaty had anything to do with providing asylum to refugees.

"It's nothing to do with asylum-seekers in that sense. It's to do with not
obviously supporting activities which are going to

be, in one way or another, a threat to each other's countries.''

Mr Downer said asylum-seekers would be dealt with according to Australian
law.

"That would obviously be dealt with in the context of our domestic laws,''
he said.

"The Australian Government has always supported Indonesia's territorial
integrity in modern times and will continue to do

that and won't be supporting, for example, secessionist activities in
Indonesia or supporting secessionist campaigns in

Australia in relation to Indonesia,'' he said.

The countries also pledged to do their utmost to wipe out terrorism and
work together on rapid, practical responses to

attacks.

"This is a clause about non-nuclear proliferation and doing what we can
together to stop the proliferation of weapons of mass

destruction,'' Mr Downer said.

"It's not about Australia establishing a nuclear power program in
Indonesia. We don't have the technology or the corporations

to do that.''

Mr Downer also denied the treaty would encourage the export of uranium to
Indonesia.

"If we were to sell uranium to Indonesia, we would negotiate a nuclear
safeguards agreement,'' he said.

---

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20721694-1702,00.html


Howard welcomes new Indonesia treaty

November 08, 2006 11:22am
Article from: AAP

A NEW security treaty between Australia and Indonesia showed the two
countries had moved on from problems of recent years,

Prime Minister John Howard said.

Difficulties in the relationship caused by the situation in East Timor and
the 43 Papuan asylum-seekers given visas to stay

in Australia had been absorbed, he said.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and his Indonesian counterpart Dr Hassan
Wirajuda are expected to sign the new treaty in

Jakarta next Monday.

"I think it's a manifestation of the balance and maturity of the
relationship," Mr Howard said.

"I welcome it. It will be signed next week by Mr Downer and Dr Wirajuda.

"It does show that our relationship has moved on and absorbed some of the
adversities surrounding it, arising out of East

Timor and more recently out of the 43 asylum-seekers."

The pact comes seven years after the Indonesian Government tore up the
previous security agreement and two years after new

negotiations began.

Under the terms of the new treaty, Canberra and Jakarta have promised not
to support separatist causes in each other's

country.

---

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,20721644-5006003,00.html


Indonesia pact welcomed

By staff writers and wires

November 08, 2006 12:00
Article from: NEWS.com.au


A NEW security treaty with Indonesia had nothing to do with asylum-seekers
or nuclear energy programs, Foreign Minister

Alexander Downer said today.

The broad-ranging security pact, expected to be signed next week, comes
seven years after the Indonesian government tore up a

previous agreement and two years after negotiations began for a new one.

Under the terms of the treaty, Canberra and Jakarta have promised not to
support separatist causes in each other's country.

This was a key demand by the Indonesians following the recent diplomatic
crisis sparked by the issue of temporary protection

visas by Australia to Papuan asylum-seekers.

"The treaty is intended to draw together the threads of the security
relationship with Indonesia so that Australia and

Indonesia, working together, can enhance our security in a modern
context,'' Mr Downer said on ABC radio.

He denied the treaty had anything to do with providing asylum to refugees.

"It's nothing to do with asylum-seekers in that sense. It's to do with not
obviously supporting activities which are going to

be, in one way or another, a threat to each other's countries.''

Mr Downer said asylum-seekers would be dealt with according to Australian
law.

"That would obviously be dealt with in the context of our domestic laws,''
he said.

"The Australian Government has always supported Indonesia's territorial
integrity in modern times and will continue to do

that and won't be supporting, for example, secessionist activities in
Indonesia or supporting secessionist campaigns in

Australia in relation to Indonesia,'' he said.

The countries also pledged to do their utmost to wipe out terrorism and
work together on rapid, practical responses to

attacks.

"This is a clause about non-nuclear proliferation and doing what we can
together to stop the proliferation of weapons of mass

destruction,'' Mr Downer said.

"It's not about Australia establishing a nuclear power program in
Indonesia. We don't have the technology or the corporations

to do that.''

Mr Downer also denied the treaty would encourage the export of uranium to
Indonesia.

"If we were to sell uranium to Indonesia, we would negotiate a nuclear
safeguards agreement,'' he said.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and his Indonesian counterpart, Hassan
Wirajuda, will sign the new pact on the Indonesian

island of Lombok on Monday after nearly two years of discussions and
negotiations.

"It's a very significant step forward in the bilateral relationship," Mr
Downer told The Australian last night.

Mr Downer said the 1995 Suharto-Keating agreement had not been subject to
any public debate and had not proved to be a

sustainable document.

"We do not need to have a security agreement with Indonesia so both of us
will fight off the Ruritanians. That's not what the

relationship is about," he said. "It is all about working together on the
threats that we have to deal with, which are

different types of threats.

"We don't think the Chinese honestly are going to launch an attack on us."

The seven-page agreement contains 10 formal articles spelling out the
forms of co-operation between two "democratic, dynamic

and outward-looking members of the region and the international community".

It covers bilateral co-operation in 10 key areas including defence, law
enforcement, counter-terrorism, intelligence sharing,

maritime and aviation security, weapons of mass destruction proliferation,
emergency relief and people-to-people links.

Indonesian and Australian officials negotiated several drafts of the
treaty, with the two governments agreeing on a final

text last month.

The two countries will consult on defence and security issues of common
concern and on their respective defence policies,

recognising the mutual benefit of the "closest possible professional
co-operation between their defence forces."

The treaty says the parties shall refrain from the "threat or use of force
against the territorial integrity or political

independence of the other, in accordance with the UN Charter."

The document covers both traditional security co-operation as well as
steps to combat trans-national crime issues including

people smuggling, corruption, illegal fishing, drug trafficking and money
laundering.

Mr Downer first broached the idea of a new security agreement in late 2004
and won the support of new Indonesian leader

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The 1995 treaty, never accepted by Indonesia's political elite, dissolved
in mutual acrimony in 1999 in the wake of the

Australian-led Interfet military intervention to the then Indonesian
province of East Timor.

The Indonesian military has been opposed to any revitalisation of the
spirit of the 1995 agreement with some senior officers

still bitter about Australia's role in securing the independence of East
Timor.

Indonesia, a leader of the Non-aligned Movement, has traditionally avoided
bilateral security treaties - a sensitivity that

the"framework agreement" attempts to address.

The treaty will require the ratification of both the Indonesian and
Australian parliaments.

AAP and Patrick Walters of The Australian contributed to this report.

---

http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2006/s1784112.htm

Mixed reaction to security treaty with Indonesia

PM - Wednesday, 8 November , 2006  18:22:00
Reporter: Lynn Bell
MARK COLVIN: The Prime Minister John Howard has welcomed a new
Australian-Indonesian security treaty as a sign of the

strengthening relationship between the two countries.

The Foreign Minister Alexander Downer will fly to Indonesia on Monday to
sign the treaty with his Indonesian counterpart

Hassan Wirajuda.

The agreement comes after two years of negotiation, and provides for
greater co-operation on border protection, intelligence

sharing and counter-terrorism operations.

But the President of the International Commission of Jurists in Australia
John Dowd says the treaty is unnecessary and has

the potential to breed mistrust and resentment.

In Canberra Lynn Bell reports.

LYNN BELL: The last security agreement between Australia and Indonesia was
developed by Paul Keating and President Suharto in

1995.

But less than four years later Indonesia tore it up when Australia led the
United Nations intervention into East Timor.

The Prime Minister, John Howard, says this new security treaty is a sign
that both nations have moved on.

JOHN HOWARD: I think it's a manifestation of the balanced maturity of the
relationship. I welcome it. It will be signed next

week by Mr Downer and Dr Wirajuda.

It does show that our relationship has moved on and absorbed some of the
adversaries surrounding it arising out of East Timor

and more recently out of the 43 asylum seekers.

LYNN BELL: The Indonesian Ambassador to Australia, Hamzah Thayeb, says the
treaty will strengthen the relationship between

the two countries.

HAMZAH THAYEB: The big picture is to continuously strengthen the
relationship that we have because we cannot do otherwise,

like I have been saying for geographic proximity we have to work together
and this is just codifying all the principles that

we have agreed upon and putting it into a document.

The cooperation that we have been doing so far, which is positive.

LYNN BELL: The treaty recognises Indonesian sovereignty over Papua and
both nations have agreed to respect each other's

territorial integrity.

The Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer.

ALEXANDER DOWNER: Well the Australian government's never supported
separatist movements in Indonesia.

I mean unless we actually decided in the case of a foreign country that we
thought that country should be broken up we would

give no comfort or support to separatist movements.

LYNN BELL: But the President of the International Commission of Jurists in
Australia, John Dowd, has serious concerns about

the agreement, and says it should be the subject of more public debate.

JOHN DOWD: I can see no basis for a treaty with a country that's not under
attack and we're not under attack.

I think it's a mask for assisting their military; therefore no case has
been made for that to happen.

LYNN BELL: The Foreign Minister says the treaty will be subject to full
parliamentary scrutiny and the public will be able to

make submissions to the Standing Committee on Treaties.

The Greens Leader Bob Brown is also critical of the agreement, saying it's
an obsequious concession to Jakarta.

BOB BROWN: The Howard govt says it will actually suppress people who want
to work towards independence for West Papua. That's

undemocratic; it's repugnant to Australian democratic ideals.

LYNN BELL: But the Leader of the Government in the Senate, Nick Minchin
rejects that assertion.

NICK MINCHIN: Can I reiterate in this senate that the treaty does not in
any way infringe or seek to infringe on the rights

to freedom of expression or freedom of association.

What the treaty does provide is that Australia and Indonesia as
governments will not support or participate in activities by

an person or entity which constitutes a threat to the stability,
sovereignty or territorial integrity of the other.

LYNN BELL: The Greens Senator Kerry Nettle quizzed Nick Minchin further,
during question time this afternoon.

KERRY NETTLE: Has the Australian government put anything into this
security treaty to deal with the issues of any human

rights abuses that may occur in Indonesia?

NICK MINCHIN: Of course we will continue to urge the Indonesian government
to investigate allegations of human rights abuses

and to ensure that the rights of all Indonesians are protected.

LYNN BELL: The security treaty also paves the way for cooperation on
nuclear power for peaceful purposes.

So does that mean Indonesia will seek to import uranium from Australia?

The Indonesian Ambassador, Hamzah Thayeb.

HAMZAH THAYEB: I think uranium is the issue first, you are discussing this
issue but if you look at the bigger picture energy

is the issue. Oil is of course will not always be there it's depleting.

Other sources of energy is important for everybody for the world.

LYNN BELL: Labor supports the plan to boost cooperation on
counter-terrorism measures - but its reserving comment on other

aspects of the security treaty, until it's been fully briefed.

MARK COLVIN: Lynn Bell.

---

http://www.artshub.com.au/ahau1/news/news.asp?Id=104438

The third Ubud Writers' and Readers Festival comes of age
by Jan Cornall

Arts Hub Australia
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Jan Cornall launching her new novel Take Me To Paradise at Lamak
Restaurant Ubud. [Photo: Zoe Everson]


The word is out! The Ubud Writers and Readers Festival is a delicious
secret no more. Numbers attending doubled this year and

100 guest writers from 16 different countries inspired audiences in
stylish venues across this charming Balinese hill town.

Indus Restaurant was the main venue again, its three story cubanesque
grandeur, set on a dramatic ravine with views to the

green valley and villages beyond. Next door was the Left Bank Lounge (a
former bank refurbished for the festival) and below

it a collection of warungs (makeshift restaurants) provided a cheaper
alternative for festival dining. Most daytime events

took place at this central hub, but every day there was a literary lunch
in another exotic location; every cocktail hour,

there were book launches in down town bars and resto’s and in the
evenings; a hilarious and witty literary debate, a poetry

slam, a bossa nova beat poets at the jazz cafe, film screenings and a
giant puppet show on the soccer field.

Fittingly, a moving tribute to Indonesian literary icon, Pramoedya Ananta
Toer, who died earlier this year, began the

festival. Set in an outdoor temple venue surrounded by a giant lily pond,
it was standing room only for those arriving from

the official speeches and Balinese dance welcome at the nearby Ubud Palace.

When you come to this festival you don’t even have to visit a massage and
spa centre to feel pampered. You stay in a

reasonably priced hotel, walk practically everywhere you need to go, eat
stunning food everyday at ridiculously cheap prices,

swim in drop edge pools, bask like a lizard and when you feel like it,
attend a workshop or literary panel. Choosing which

one is the problem, for as soon as you do, you know you will be missing
out on another great event somewhere else.


Festival director Janet de Neefe and her team face a difficult challenge.



Last year Michael Ondaatje was the drawcard guest. This year you could
join India’s Anita Desai (whose daughter Kiran just

won the Booker prize and is interested in attending Ubud in ’07,
commitments allowing ), talk food with Madhur Jaffrey, get

serious about politics and Islam with Ziauddin Sardar and Christopher
Kremmer, ask questions of erudite travel writer William

Dalrymple or be amazed at what young Balinese writers are writing about.
There were writers and poets from Singapore, Sri

Lanka, Hong Kong, Indonesia, The Nederland’s, Australia, New Zealand, West
Papua, Vietnam, USA, UK, India, Austria, Turkey,

The Philippines, Thailand and more. And the wonderful thing about a
boutique festival like this one is there are no pushy

minders telling you where and when to get the author’s autograph. You can
approach famous and non-famous writers alike, have

a serious discussion about their work or just shoot the breeze.

Critics of the festival, craving more discussion on serious literary
topics, jokingly asked - ‘Is this a literary festival or

a food festival?’ and wondered about some of the panel titles like:
“Flirting with words - Festival femme fatales captivate

and romance us with their words” But they agreed that the festival has
made significant improvements since its early days.

Things ran so smoothly that manager Finley Smith was waiting for something
big to go wrong and it never did. Translation

issues had been ironed out. More than one interpreter was made available
at all panels and visual translations for readings

were all in place. Local MCs were trained to announce for each session and
the impressive children’s and youth program went

on as it does each year in the background.

I asked one of the writers attending if he thought festivals like this one
changed anything. ‘Good god no!’ was his response,

telling me they are just a chance for writers to stay in a swanky hotel
and have a have a jolly good time.

The Ubud Writers Festival Committee and the NGO behind it - the Saraswati
Foundation, see it differently. They began the

festival as a response to the terrorist attack on Bali in 2002. Their
resolve to continue to support and revitalise the Ubud

community became even stronger after the second bombings only days before
the 2005 festival.

Another mission of the festival is to exchange information and ideas
between the diverse cultures in Asia, the South Pacific

and the West. The two works I launched at the festival this year: a
novella and jazz poetry CD, were the result of cross

cultural exchange with Indonesian writers, musicians and publishers I
first met at the Ubud Writers Festival in 2004. But

ideas and information at this festival are traded not only between
writers. If you looked around you could see festival

directors, arts managers, journalists, artists, book sellers, readers,
publishers, moderators, presenters and the like, in

fervent huddles swapping name cards and cooking up new projects. You even
get to meet and appreciate writers from your own

country you’ve not met on home turf, like hip hop poet Morganics who was
busy performing his unique art for young people and

adults alike.

But the most exciting part by far for me was being introduced to new poets
from the region like Mong-Lan, a

Vietnamese/American poet who took out this year’s poetry slam and of
course the 15 strong Indonesian contingent. For anyone

who is interested in Indonesian literature it was a great opportunity to
become familiar with older poets like Supardi Djoko

Damono and younger poets like Zen Hai, Isawadi Pratama and Ari Pahala
Hutabarat. They were joined by West Papuan poet, J. F.

Waromi who prefaced his poems with two incredibly moving tribal songs.
Without need for literal understanding our hearts were

transported to the West Papuan highlands in a split second in time. It’s
the moments like these, and there are many each

year, that make this a memorable festival.

Festival director Janet de Neefe and her team face a difficult challenge.
To make the festival viable they must attract big

literary names known to the west. At the same time they need to continue
to nurture and support emerging and as yet, little

known (in the west) writers from the Asia Pacific region. And they must
convince their attendees, (especially Australian),

that Ubud is a safe place to visit.

But geographic location gives the advantage. Everyone wants an excuse to
visit Bali, and it is so well placed between other

writer’s festivals in the region: Singapore, HongKong , Jakarta, Sri
Lanka. India, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, that its

special role is clear – as the gateway to the vast pool of literary talent
that lies just beyond our borders.

Luckily the limited size of Ubud venues will ensure it always remains an
intimate festival, with spectacular surprises thrown

in, like the closing event at the completely over-the-top rococo palace of
the late artist, Antonio Blanco, an event that

continues to resonate in our consciousness like a Salvador Dali Dream.

If you haven’t been already, you must go in ‘07. The festival committee is
hard at work planning another incredible literary

feast. Really, there is no other writer’s festival like it.

www.ubudwritersfestival.com



Jan Cornall

Performance writer Jan Cornall has attended the Ubud Writers and Readers
Festival for the past three years as a guest writer,

moderator, MC and workshop facilitator. This year she launched her novella
Take Me to Paradise, (set in Ubud), and a jazz

poetry CD - Singing Srengenge, from the poems of Sitok Srengenge, composed
and sung in English by Jan, arranged and produced

by Indonesian jazz pianist, Imel Rosalin. Jan’s works were supported by
Arts NSW and the Australia Indonesia Institute

through an Asia Link Literary Residency in Indonesia in early 2006.

jnana at ozemail.com.au
http://www.jancornall.com

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http://www.indcatholicnews.com/progres217.html

LONDON - 6 November 2006 - 406 words

MP praises sustainable development approach at Progressio AGM

Ellen Teague

Progressio's sustainable grass-roots approach to tackling some of the
world's most pressing problems of economic and

environmental injustice were affirmed by John Battle MP at the
organisation's AGM in North London on Thursday. A member of

Progressio ­ formerly the Catholic Institute for International Relations -
for 20 years, the MP for Leeds West told more than

100 Progressio members that he praised Progressio's "skill-share and
advocacy with local organisations in countries around

the world".

The chair of the All party parliamentary group on overseas development
felt that the issue of Work was a key one in the

promotion of peace in countries such as Sierra Leone and East Timor.
"People need to know they are going to find employment

or there will be civil unrest", he said. He urged even greater focus on
projects empowering women, and strategies for

bringing them into development planning. In addition, "fusing the poverty
agenda with sustainability needs to happen" he

said. He reported that "everybody in parliament is now talking about
climate change," but the tensions between the prevailing

model of development and environmental imperatives "haven't really been
addressed".

Progressio's 2005/6 Annual Report highlighted a total of around 75
Progressio development workers supporting partner

organisations in 11 countries ­ the Dominican Republic, East Timor,
Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Namibia, Nicaragua, Peru,

Somaliland, Yemen and Zimbabwe. An inter-faith peace-building initiative
in South-East Asia has supported faith-based

organisations and civil society groups to work for peace and justice in
the region, and particularly in East Timor, Mindanao

(Philippines) and West Papua.

Progressio's environmental advocacy project has highlighted how policy and
practice in the global North contributes to

environmental degradation and poverty in the global South. It was reported
at the AGM that the leaflet Say No to Suicide

Seeds successfully supported efforts to oppose Terminator technology
(developed for use in genetically modified seeds),

which, Progressio believes, threatens farmers' livelihoods and the
environment worldwide.

CIIR ­ the Catholic Institute for International Relations ­ adopted a new
name: Progressio in January 2006. It comes from

Populorum Progressio ("On the development of peoples"), a document written
by Pope Paul VI which calls on all people of

goodwill to work for human development and fight injustice. Progressio is
part of the Live Simply Campaign which will be

promoted during 2007 to mark the 40th anniversary of Populorum Progressio.

Progressio's 2006 Annual Review can be read in full at www.progressio.org.uk

© Independent Catholic News 2006

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