Relationship between Australian and Indonesia is longer than most people realise.

An amazing report by Cynthia Webb in The Courier Mail says that the relationship between Australia and Indonesia is longer than most people realise.

Hundreds of years ago sailors from what is now Sulawesi, the Macassans, were coming ashore in northern Australia, socialising with the Aborigines during their expeditions in the season for gathering trepang (sea-cucumber).

During World War II, Australia at first sided with conservative and old established colonial ideas, so when the Japanese invaded Indonesia and the Dutch colonial masters had to flee, Australia allowed a Dutch “government in exile” at Wacol, in Brisbane’s southwest. Even now, just south of Brisbane, the suburb Tanah Merah (it means Red Earth, in Bahasa Indonesia) provides a reminder of the times when the Indonesians, who were in the Dutch service, were located in Queensland.

Tanah Merah was the name of the prison camp far upstream on the Digul River in West Papua (now Irian Jaya) – a malarial hell-hole, also known as Boven Digul – the camp where the Dutch held their political prisoners.  In 1943 they were brought to Australia on a ship named The Both and at first were held in prison camps at Cowra and Liverpool, in NSW. They included 500 men, women and children.

Dockside workers and railway staff had found desperate notes explaining their predicament, thrown from portholes and trains by the Indonesian prisoners, at the time of their arrival.

Some time later Australia supported Indonesia’s application for entry into the United Nations.

After Ngurah Rai International Airport opened in Bali in 1972, that island soon became Australia’s “own back yard” holiday destination. It coincided with the rise of surfing as an international sport, and Bali had first class surf, so was popular for this, as well as for its unique cultural identity. It was also a first stop on the “hippie trail” through Asia to Europe. Many Aussies formed strong bonds with the Balinese, which have lasted to the present day. Bali became one of the world’s top tourist destinations. Little by little it surrendered its old way of life to accommodate tourism, all the time steadfastly maintaining its Balinese/Hindu traditions.

Then came the darkest day – the tragic Bali bombing of October 12, 2002. This shocked and horrified everyone – Balinese, other Indonesians and Australians alike. Bali was the epitome of a tropical paradise, and all who loved it were traumatised.

Tourism plummeted, especially from Australia, the primary tourism market, and the Balinese suffered deeply since their culture had become so dependent on tourism.

Two years later, when a recovery was beginning, a second bombing occurred and then there were drug busts of Australians. These foolhardy Aussies came with their forbidden baggage, at a time when there was a crackdown on “narkoba” – the Indonesian word for narcotics.

Laws were tough, because of concerns for the explosion of drug use within the nation. Marijuana was included in this definition. These drug busts provoked a media frenzy which caused further damage to tourism in Bali and wider Indonesia.

On the diplomatic front, Australia and Indonesia have had a companion roller-coaster ride for a long time – since the December 1975 East Timor invasion, which Australia chose to support (or at least not protest) until the time of East Timor’s fight for independence, when we switched sides, until more recent, disagreements regarding refugees from Irian Jaya.

Both sides assume postures, issue statements, attempt to score points against the other to gain political advantage, while the ordinary people struggle to understand one another’s motivations and policies.

But the most positive thing has always been the unshakeable bond that exists between the ordinary people of these two neighbouring nations, which transcends politics. As neighbours, we have communicated, we have befriended one another, we have married one another, forging unbreakable bonds.

Whatever the politicians do or say, there are many people on both sides of the Arafura Sea who know that we are all good people – friends and neighbours – and that as neighbours we must get along and support each other for mutual benefit. In every country there is a small minority of fanatics, our own included.

Indonesians are a very friendly and welcoming people. The history, art and culture of the Indonesian archipelago is certainly an eye opener and an education for Australians, who will gain much from exploring a culture that is older and richer than modern Australian history.

Indonesia is still a young nation and has been through very difficult times, so understanding and co-operation with its more fortunate southern neighbour is crucial – for both sides.

Because of the history of struggle, quite a lot of contemporary art of Indonesia has featured political and social themes.

Festival Nusantara, now on at The Brisbane Powerhouse, provides Australia’s first major arts festival celebrating Indonesian culture.

For more information go to Festival Nusantara.

Cynthia Webb is a Gold Coast based writer.

Report by The Mole