With some canny scaling back of his asylum seeker rhetoric and a hardening on West Papua, Prime Minister Tony Abbott has done much to retrieve his first international trip. The Indonesian political elite has been steadily raising the temperature on the Coalition’s asylum seeker policies, seen as direct affronts to Indonesian sovereignty, for some time. And Alexander Downer blundered clumsily into the issue last week with some extraordinarily hostile comments which will have been seen, however unfairly, as an expression of the Coalition’s real feelings about Indonesia.
But by softening his rhetoric, making a point of acknowledging Indonesian sovereignty and downplaying the asylum seeker issue (which will be delegated to more junior ministers) in his meeting with President Yudhoyono, the Prime Minister was able to defuse a source of tension, albeit one entirely and unnecessarily of his own making.
However, the Prime Minister went further than merely recognising Indonesian sovereignty:
“I say to you, Bapak President and to the people of Indonesia that the government of Australia takes a very dim view, a very dim view indeed, of anyone seeking to use our country as a platform for grand standing against Indonesia. We will do everything that we possibly can to discourage this and to prevent this.
“I admire and respect what you and your government have done to improve the autonomy and the life of the people of West Papua and I am confident that they can have the best possible life and the best possible future as a part of an indissoluble Indonesia, as an integral part of Indonesia.”
Abbott has previously claimed to be a strong proponent of free speech. Quite what “discouraging” and “preventing” people from “grandstanding” on the West Papua issue entails remains to be seen. Advocates of West Papuan independence are unrealistic in their support for yet another unviable microstate on Australia’s doorstep. But the record of the Indonesian government and in particular its military in West Papua is deeply concerning. Abbott has no right or authority to attempt to “prevent” legitimate criticism, regardless of how much he wants to make up for the offence his asylum seeker policies have caused.
Who wrote his material for this trip – Sheridan? Actions speak louder than words.
As for “…. the government of Australia takes a very dim view, a very dim view indeed, of anyone seeking to use our country as a platform for grand standing against Indonesia…”?
Doesn’t that depend on “context”?
It seems the Right people can do it, no worries? It wasn’t all that long ago that he was using Indonesia to rattle his sword – then Lord Downer came along with his contribution?
Tony Abbott’s role as the Oz version of Dubya seems to be going to plan.
Cringe worthy grovelling, to drag himself out of out self dug holes.
It’s going to be a long and painful 3 years.
i see the usual suspects are about as usual and don’t get context, or otherwise failed in reading and comprehension at their local borstal.
paddy clearly has not met nor does not know Abbot nor Dubya. You don’t get to be a Rhodes Scholar with cereal coupons.
MM’s “grovelling on steroids”, including thanking SBY for his “compassion” for this country, was portrayed on hate radio as a triumph. We await only the empty, echoing beaches..err breaches of our borders.
PS.. did I really hear him call SBY “bappa” or a similar honorific?
More silencing of protest – not allowed to “grandstand” now – where will it stop? Someone should have a word with Downer for putting his foot in it again. A fine grovelling performance by Abbott and so it should have been.