Australia "does not" support separatist causes

Comments on criticism of the proposed Indonesia-Australia Treaty by Gillian Bird, a deputy secretary of the Australian Department for Foreign Affairs to Radio Australia:

"This agreement is unique; it is Australia's first security treaty with a regional government focussing on both traditional and non-traditional security threats. It should set a benchmark for the region ... It contains a clear undertaking of support for each other's territorial integrity, which is an unambiguous treaty level statement that Australia does not in any way support separatist causes in Indonesia.

"Australia strongly supports the development of Papua as a stable and prosperous part of the Republic of Indonesia. This is best done through the full and effective implementation of special autonomy and respect for human rights ... Access to Papua I think is an important issue; it's one that we do raise with the Indonesians. We would like to see access to that area; certainly we have had embassy access which we think is important. Certainly that issue of access is one that we do raise."

Bird's use of "Papua" appears to cover both Papua and Papua Barat (West Papua) provinces in Indonesian New Guinea.

Adverts call for 'Papua' changes to Aust-RI Treaty

An Australian optical store-owner will run television advertismenents across South East Asia urging Indonesia to let human rights monitors into its two New Guinea-island provinces and also promoting separatist identities. According to Graeme Dobell of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's ABC News, one advertisement, shows pictures of Australia's Prime Minister, John Howard, and Indonesia's President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono while stating: "Howard, Yudhoyono, you now have all the information: 183,000 dead in East Timor, 100,000 dead in West Papua. Include human rights monitoring and access for journalists to West Papua in the Australia Indonesia Treaty."

The advertisements were launched at a press conference in the Australian Federal Parliament House in Canberra, hosted by an independent MP Peter Andren and Australian Labor Party MP Duncan Kerr from the House of Representatives and Senator Natasha Stott Despojas from the Democrats and Senator Kerry Nettle of the Greens.

According to Dobell, another advertisement in the series features Clemens Runawery "who fled from West Papua in 1969 and lives in exile in Papua New Guinea. He says there's a slow process of genocide in West Papua, because of the influx of people from the rest of Indonesia. Mr Runawery says that under Dutch rule in the early 1960s, Papuans made up 96 percent of the population of what is now an Indonesia province. Today, he says only 65 percent of the population is Papuan, the other 35 per cent from the rest of Indonesia."

And Runawery further told Dobell that "the overpopulation for the Indonesian side is growing much faster than the Papuan population. Now, one may wonder why. The answer to that would be through the transmigration, official and non-official of the so-called spontaneous migrants. Therefore, they're coming in almost 5,000 per week. And that is in fact, this policy is devastating, is detrimental to West Papuan existence, in terms of maintaining the cultures and the dignity as an ethnic group."

The term "West Papua" used in the advertisements and by Runawery appear to refer to both Indonesian provinces on New Guinea island and not specifically Papua Barat (West Papua) province.

The sponsor, millionaire businessman Ian Melrose, said he'll find television networks who'll "take the money" and run his advertisements across South East Asia.

According to Kate Corbett of Australian Associated Press, the adverts will "initially be aired across Australia and then overseas on ABC Asia-Pacific [the Australian Government-owned satellite broadcasting service now renamed Australia Network and already broadcasting into indonesia] and potentially on Indonesian television."

Australians confused over Papuan name changes

John McBeth, Senior Writer for Singapore's Straits Times newspaper observes rhat Australian Govenrment officials are uncomfortable with name changes in Indonesia's two New Guinea island provinces. "Ever since Irian Jaya was renamed Papua during thebadministration of president Abdurrahman Wahid, Australian officials have followed the lead of Papuan independence campaigners in calling it West Papua. Now, West Irian Jaya - one of the two provinces that make up Papua - has set the cat among the pigeons by renaming itself - you've guessed it - West Papua. Just to confuse the uninitiated even more, the other province - which occupies the rest of the vast, road-less territory as far as the Papua New Guinea border - is called Papua as well," he wrote.

The province of Papua Barat (West Papua) covers most of the island's so-called Bird's Head region and will rely for much of its economic lifeblood on BP's Bituni Bay liquefied natural gas plant, which starts up next year while Papua province has access to the royalty streams from PT Freeport Indonesia's vast gold-copper mining operations.

According to McBeth, no one is quite sure why Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and other Canberra officials have insisted on calling Indonesian New Guinbea "West Papua" as, by doing so, "they appear - at least to many Indonesians - to be expressing solidarity" with the Papuan separatist organisations.

"At one point, someone in Canberra offered the lame explanation that it was to differentiate between the Indonesian side of the island and Papua New Guinea. But in general usage no one shortens Papua New Guinea to Papua. It has always been simply PNG. Unless Aussie officialdom decides to be dogmatic about the whole issue, it surely will have to do a serious rethink. Otherwise, there is going to be a lot of confusion over what Aussie officials are actually referring to - the province or the whole territory," he wrote.

Australian journalists, particularly those who have covered Indonesia, seem as bemused as anyone. "One Jakarta-based correspondent could not disguise his glee over the province's new name, hoping it might lead to his newspaper changing its policy. I had the same dilemma back in the late 1970s when the magazine I then worked for decreed that Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge should be called Kampuchea, following the lead of the communist regime that committed genocide on a grand scale. I could never bring myself to do it and eventually, after invading Vietnamese forces drove the Khmer Rouge out of Phnom Penh, the editors decided to go back to calling it Cambodia. So, any suggestions for Mr Downer?" Mc Beth asked.


UPDATE (17 Feb 2007)

John McBeth is wrong. The Australian government strongly supports Indonesia's territorial integrity and recognizes its sovereignty over the provinces of Papua and West Irian Jaya.

Our commitment to this position was made clear in the Lombok Treaty signed between Australia and Indonesia last year.

We are aware of proposals for name changes and to create new provinces on the half-island, but also understand these are yet to be formalized by all appropriate authorities.

Just to make it quite clear, we regard Papua and West Irian Jaya as integral parts of Indonesia.

BILL FARMER
Ambassador
Australian Embassy
Jakarta



UPDATE (20 Feb 2007)

In his haste to call me "wrong" (The Jakarta Post, Feb.17, Australian Embassy clarifies), Ambassador Farmer has completely missed the point I was trying to make.

I was not seriously questioning the Australian government's stated commitment to non-interference in Indonesia's internal affairs.

I was asking why Australian officials from Prime Minister Howard on down insist on calling the place West Papua, when its official name is Papua.

Whether the ambassador likes it or not, it conveys the impression to many Indonesians that Canberra is following the lead of the Papuan independence movement.

So I ask the question again. Why?

JOHN MCBETH
Jakarta

NGOs insist Australia monitor Indonesian provinces

The Australian Civil Liberties Union has told the Treaties Committee of the Australian Parliament, which must approve the Australian Indonesian security treaty signed by the two governments in Lombok, NTB, last year, that Australia should insist on a yearly reporting and monitoring role in the two Indonesian provinces on New Guinea island, Papua and Papua Barat (West Papua). "Monitoring is required to make sure that the new treaty does not inadvertently provide a paper cover for human rights abuses in Papua, particularly by or under the control of the [Indonesian military]," the submission presented by Civil Liberties Australia chief executive Bill Rowlings said.

The pro-separatist Australia West Papua Association "blamed rapacious Indonesian security forces in Papua for instability and warned against plans to boost military training between Australia and Indonesian special forces," Rob Taylor of Reuters reported. "We believe that any aid or training given to the Indonesian military will only be used to oppress the West Papuan people," the association said, listing rights abuses in the far-flung provinces.

The term "Papua" used by the two NGOs appears to refer to both Indonesian provinces on New Guinea island and not specifically Papua province while the term "West Papua" used by the Australian West Papua Association also appears to refer to both Indonesian provinces on New Guinea island and not specifically West Papua province.

AusAID funds HIV prevention in Papua province

From Asian Football Business Review

Papua province’s famous Persipura football club - Indonesian Premier League champions in 2005 - is promoting HIV prevention to over a million people. Around Jayapura, the capital of Indonesia's eastern-most province, billboards display the Persipura team with slogans such as, ‘Be a champion, wear a condom’. Posters with the same message travel the province every day on the back of minibus seats. Before and during live football broadcasts, radio announcers present HIV-prevention messages and promote safe sex. On television, viewers can see Persipura striker Boas Salossa and popular Papuan singer Edo Kondologit chatting about responsible sexual behaviour and the importance of using condoms.

Persipura players and their managers also wear ‘Persipura champions’ shirts emblazoned with the HIV-awareness campaign logo – a condom holding a football. The shirts are highly prized by fans, especially since the team has started wearing them off the field. Thousands of identical shirts will soon be distributed to the 2,500 junior players in the Persipura football club.Free condoms are given out at football matches.

Communications adviser Sara Knuckey told AusAID Focus, "there’s no point talking about condoms unless people know what they are, how to use them, and can get hold of them easily. By distributing condoms over the next two seasons, we’re hoping people will start asking for them. Condom use in Indonesia is low compared with other countries so we need to popularise their use. This is why our partnership with Persipura is so important. The team can help us educate young males about HIV transmission before they are sexually active. We have to get across the message that everyone must 'act responsibly and wear a condom'", she said.

And just to make sure the safe sex message is never far from anyone’s mind, a large football-toting inflatable condom in Persipura team colours will float above the grounds, starting with the first game of the 2007 season. The next stage of the campaign is peer education. Former and current Persipura players are training as AIDS ambassadors. They’ll work with younger players to improve fitness and football skills but they’ll also teach them about sexuality and safe sex practices.

According to the AusAID-funded Indonesia HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care Project, the population estimate for Papua as of end 2005 was 2.5 million people while the estimated numbers of people with HIV is 11 042. The epidemic is more generalized than in other parts of Indonesia and reflects a Melanesian style epidemic as compared to a traditional Asian epidemic. HIV has been found in coastal as well as highland populations, in cities as well as villages, and is found in people who are not from the usual vulnerable populations of sex workers, IDU or men who have sex with men. Injection drug use seems to be relatively uncommon and transmission through injecting illicit drugs has not made a significant contribution to the epidemic.

STI are endemic in Papua with high rates of antibiotic resistance, and limited health infrastructure to manage this effectively. Population level knowledge about HIV and its prevention through condom use, is low. Condom availability is also low. Other contributing factors to the epidemic in Papua include lack of circumcision and a long history of accepted cultural practices that now facilitate HIV transmission.

The Australian Government is supporting the multimedia campaign through a A$3.15 million grant during 2006-07. Disbursements of these funds to NGOs in Papua province include Palang Merah Indonesia (Red Cross) A$241,734, Yayasan Kesehatan Bethesda (Church-based health foundation) A$384,929 and DKT Indonesia (provider of condoms) A$500,000.The central govenment owned Radio Republik Indonesia Jayapura receives A$66,594 as well as RRI Wamena A$29,867.

According to kangguru.org the RRI stations carry a weekly radio program called Mari Kitorang Bertanggung Jawab (MKBJ - Let Us Be Responsible) to provide information about HIV/AIDS, to improve people's awareness and to ask people to be responsible about HIV/AIDS. "Other very successful activities included cooperation with the Panitia Pelaksana (Implementing Committee) of the Indonesian Football League. Every match played by Persipura - the Jayapura Football Team - is broadcast live on RRI. Volunteers distribute information about HIV/AIDS and the football commentators announce HIV/AIDS information to the spectators.

"The football team itself, Persatuan Sepakbola Indonesia Jayapura (Persipura), is allocated an Australian grant of A$26,979 for the period.


UPDATE (4 February 2007)

We wrote to the Australia's first Special Representative for HIV/AIDS and the Deputy Director General of AusAID, Annmaree O'Keefe, and asked if her organisation will be doing anything similar in Papua Barat as that province is represented in the Indonesian Premier League by Perseman Manokwari football club. She has yet to respond.