Queensland Premier Campbell Newman does not often make it into the Indonesian press, but he did in reports on the Queensland floods. These reports shared news space with coverage of the even more devastating…
By pulling out of deforestation activities, APP says it is responding to climate change concerns.
Rainforest Action Network
Asia’s largest forestry, pulp and paper manufacturing company announced in Jakarta this week it has stopped all activities that lead to deforestation in Indonesia.
In a rare public event, the Chairman…
Australia needs to engage with Indonesia, but in the region there is the perception it makes mistakes.
AAP
The dust has settled on the Asian Century White Paper. It is time to reflect on the challenges the Australian government might have in getting the rest of the country to engage with Asia, in particular…
Part of the Kuta tourist strip that was destroyed by the 2002 Bali bombings in which 202 people – including 88 Australians – were killed.
AAP/Dean Lewins
This week marks the tenth anniversary of the 2002 Bali bombings. Although more than 120 Australian civilians have been killed by terrorists overseas since 2000, and the embassies in Jakarta, Iraq and Phnom…
The proposed logging bill would tighten exportation from Indonesia in particular.
CIFOR
The Australian Senate is about to take on the task of stopping illegal logging, with legislation banning the importation and sale of timber products containing illegally logged timber being considered…
Egyptian Muslim preacher Ahmed Mohamed Abdullah stands accused of blasphemy charges after burning a copy of the Bible during last month’s protests by Muslims against a film depicting the Prophet Muhammad.
EPA/Khaled Elfiqi
In the wake of the violence sparked around the world by the anti-Islam video entitled Innocence of Muslims, the debate about the need for anti-blasphemy laws has re-emerged.
The Organisation of Islamic…
West Papuan activists protesting at the Hague for independence of the Indonesian-held province.
Apdency/Wikimedia Commons
Allegations that Australia is funding death squads in West Papua have brought the troubled province back to Australian attention.
Blanket denials by both Indonesian and Australian governments – standard…
For many asylum seekers the route to Australia is via Ashmore Reef, and fraught with danger.
AAP/Department of Defence
Despite arrivals of asylum seekers by boat being a major political issue for Australia over the last decade, the Indonesian government has not regarded the presence of asylum seekers and refugees with…
Australia’s mining companies have intensified their exploration of resources in Indonesia, much to the detriment of local communities.
Jeff Lewis
Not satisfied with the abundance of our own natural resources, Australian mining companies have spread their interests across the region. Many of these ventures— Ok Tedi, Bougainville, Freeport-Grasberg…
Rohingya asylum seekers from Myanmar rest at a temporary shelter in the port of Krueng Raya, Aceh, Indonesia.
EPA/Hotli Simanjuntak
As we waited for the release of the Houston panel’s report on asylum seekers yesterday, I saw a mixture of high hopes and low expectations from those in attendance at the Parliament House briefing room…
Detention on Nauru is not the answer – and neither is the Malaysian solution.
AAP/Rural Australians for Refugees
Recent debates on asylum seeker problems have revolved around two approaches that are not going to work.
The opposition’s Nauru solution is not going to get people off boats. It is part of the process…
Rohingya asylum seekers from Burma in a temporary shelter at Aceh, Indonesia.
EPA/Hotli Simanjuntak
Last week Australia’s politicians determined to “do something” to stop people risking their lives at sea on asylum boats headed for Australia.
The government wanted a bill from independent MP Rob Oakeshott…
Refugees on boats en route to Australia are seen by many Indonesians as our problem, not theirs.
AAP/Karlis Salna
If the lead stories in the digital and print media are anything to go by, Indonesians have little interest in the recent asylum seeker boat sinkings and the accompanying loss of life. Over the past couple…
Indonesian activists protest against the Indonesian government’s violence in West Papua.
EPA/Bagus Indahon
Why has West Papua’s non-violent student movement the West Papuan National Committee (KNPB) become the latest target of a campaign of terror in West Papua?
Calls for a referendum
Since Indonesia’s 1963…
Worst hit by the Asian financial crisis in 1998, Indonesia’s economy has returned to pre-crisis growth rates. What lessons are there for Greece?
Flickr/Cillian Storm
European financial woes are mounting daily is what some have called the biggest economic challenge of our generation.
However, just over a decade ago an even larger financial crisis was unfolding in Australia…
Julia Gillard and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono both acknowledge the importance of a strong relationship between Australia and Indonesia.
AAP
Trade liberalisation has pulled many developing countries into emerging markets in the last decade. Jim O’Neil, an economist and chairman of Goldman Sachs, who forecast global economic domination by certain…
There isn’t much sympathy for convicted Australian drug smugglers in Indonesia.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
Schapelle Corby’s fate may be the centre of public attention in Australia, but not here in Indonesia where I currently live and work. The hot topic here for the past few days has been whether or not Lady…
The coalition needs to tread more lightly when it comes to Indonesia.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
In his budget reply speech last week, opposition leader Tony Abbott said Indonesia was to be a “vital partner in Australia’s future”.
He’s right, and for now, at the government-to-government level, Australia…
Knocking down forests and planting palm oil makes sense in Asia. Providing alternative income sources for villagers could make it less attractive.
Simon J. Rowntree
Reducing poverty in developing countries through economic development is often contrary to addressing climate change. In countries like Indonesia, many of the strongest drivers of the economy – palm oil…
A prison official examines damage to the prison wall that collapsed after this week’s earthquake in Banda Aceh, Indonesia.
Hotli Simanjuntak/EPA
The earthquake that struck roughly 400km off the coast of Sumatra on Wednesday reminded us all that our planet hasn’t gone to sleep. Big earthquakes can happen at any time and often have severe consequences…
Aceh’s provincial elections will test democratic progress.
AAP/Hotli Simanjutak
The massive but largely benign earthquake off the coast of Sumatra on Wednesday left millions in Aceh reliving the nightmare that engulfed them on Boxing Day 2004. On that day, a similarly large earthquake…
Changes to foreign ownership laws in Indonesia will present further challenges for mining companies.
AAP
The recent announcement that foreign mining companies in Indonesia would have to sell at least 49% of their shares to local interests raises questions about whether this indicates a change of direction…
A trading coalition would help Indonesia meet its emissions-reduction targets.
World Resources
International carbon markets are on the nose in some quarters. From some on the left they are seen as a cheap way to absolve polluters’ sins without having a real impact on reducing emissions.
From some…
Julia Gillard and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono both acknowledge the importance of a strong relationship between Australia and Indonesia.
AAP
A detailed report launched in Parliament House within hours of the ALP leadership ballot last Monday revealed that, whoever is Prime Minister, the Australian government needs to act decisively and urgently…
Foreign Affairs minister Kevin Rudd with his Indonesian counterpart, Marty Natalegawa.
AAP
Foreign Affairs Minister Kevin Rudd recently gave a rev-up to Australian businesses about the neglected opportunity that exists on our northern doorstep. He accused Australian firms of harbouring decades…
Our conduct has damaged relations with Indonesia and has serious implications for the environment.
AAP
Indonesia’s decision to cut live cattle imports from Australia is the clearest example yet of the significant and long-lasting damage that June’s export ban did to relations with our nearest neighbour…
Indonesia’s Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Julia Gillard both have domestic issues to overcome.
AAP
Indonesia has announced that it will finally join the
ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement in January next year, making it the last of the 12 states involved to formally to implement the agreement…
Indonesian police chief Timur Pradopo has dismissed payments from Freeport McMoran as “pocket money”.
AFP/Bay Ismoyo
President Barack Obama is being urged to raise human rights abuses with the Indonesian President during his visit to Bali. Indonesia is a key ally of the US, now America’s security focus has shifted to…
The Australian Ambassador is doing everything he can for the Australian boy detained in Bali, but Indonesian children aren’t so lucky.
AFP/Sonny Tumbelaka
This week the nation has been in an uproar over the arrest of a 14 year old Australian boy in Indonesia, accused of buying drugs.
TV news reports discussed the terrible conditions of the prison, where…
Australia’s Ambassador to Indonesia, Greg Moriarty, has been working to secure the release of the 14 year old, amid huge media interest.
AFP/Sonny Tumbelaka
The arrest of a 14 year old Australian boy accused of possessing marijuana in Bali has provoked a media storm. The Australian Ambassador to Indonesia says the case is his “top priority”, and even the Prime…
It’s a bleak picture, but there’s hope on the horizon.
Bill Laurance
What comes to mind when you think of Indonesia?
For biologists like myself, Australia’s northern neighbour provokes visions of ancient rainforests being razed by slash-and-burn farmers, and endangered…
Can trade regulation enhance – or block – improvements to animal welfare?
AAP
The suspension of live cattle exports to Indonesia will also have significant implications on Australian cattle farmers, Australian and Indonesian domestic markets, and on the trade relationship between…
Abu Bakar Bashir is driven away from court after being sentenced to 15 years in jail.
AAP
Radical Indonesian Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir was yesterday sentenced to 15 years in jail for supporting and sponsoring terrorism.
RMIT Associate Professor Jeff Lewis, an Indonesia expert, tells The…
