Mr Fitzgibbon
has been cuddling up to Indonesia’s defence minister

Deakin University’s School of International and Political Studies' Associate Professor Damien Kingsbury writes:

The
recent announcement by Australian Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon that
Australia will co-produce weapons with Indonesia would seem to indicate
that, after decades of difficulties, there are no longer major
outstanding issues between Australia and Indonesia. However, as with
previous bilateral defence arrangements, it may be that real problems
have at best been swept under the carpet.

While Mr Fitzgibbon
has been cuddling up to Indonesia’s defence minister, Juwono Sudarsono,
Indonesia’s military (TNI) and paramilitary police have been cracking
down on activists in West Papua. For the "crime" of raising the West
Papuan "Morning Star' flag, one person was shot dead at Wamena and at
least 18 people have been arrested near Timika, the town nearest the
massive Freeport gold and copper mine in an area that has been the site
of much local unrest.

Flag raising ceremonies have been linked
to a more general claim for greater respect for human rights in West
Papua, including the establishment of genuine autonomy for the now
divided province. However, in response to the crackdown, there have
also been a number of bombings, claimed by one of the Free Papua
Movement’s more militant factions as intended to close down the mine.

In
signing the new defence deal, Mr Fitzgibbons said: "Australia and
Indonesia are pursuing cooperation in key areas that will enhance TNI's
capabilities and support the increasingly important role of the
Indonesian Department of Defence."

Indonesia is moving, if all
too slowly, towards greater democratisation and wider reform, and good
bilateral relations are important. However, there remain serious human
rights problems in Indonesia, in particular in West Papua. Like East
Timor, these problems have and will continue to surface, threatening
the bilateral relationship.

Indonesia’s defence establishment is
overwhelmingly the cause of Indonesia’s human rights abuses.
Australia’s continued insistence, then, on pursuing closer relations
with it is starting to look like a compulsive fetish gone horribly
wrong.

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