Hansonism, like Trumpism and other similar cruel, racist and nationalist phenomena it resembles overseas, is a cancer on modern society. Far from promoting or coming out of any sort of Australian ethos, present or past, it is an alien idea appealing to the worst instincts of the individual.

Its nihilism and bitterness pitch citizen against citizen and reduce the power of the community to advance its interests by agreed common action. It deserves to be rejected and defeated on its merits and eradicated for good.

Its culture of meanness, exclusion and cruelty should be rejected as unAustralian, unworthy of any of the classes and types of people we really are.

Jack Waterford is a former editor of The Canberra Times

For the full piece see: Pearls & Irritations, 28 July 2026

https://pearlsandirritations.com/post/2026/07/labor-cannot-small-target-its-way-past-hanson/?utm_source=pi_news&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily-2026-07-27

28 Jul 2026

AMANDA HODGE ASIA-PACIFIC CORRESPONDENT ADDITIONAL REPORTING: DIAN SEPTIARI

28 Jul 2026

Indone­sian Pres­id­ent Prabowo Subi­anto’s approval rat­ing has crashed to 51 per cent in new polling, a decline of more than 30 points in nine months as the Middle East crisis and his own admin­is­tra­tion’s per­ceived eco­nomic mis­man­age­ment hits home.

The res­ult is a dis­astrous show­ing in a coun­try where pres­id­en­tial pop­ular­ity rat­ings tend to remain buoy­ant, with ques­tions over elect­ab­il­ity gen­er­ally per­ceived to more accur­ately reflect how a leader is trend­ing.

Just 51.1 per cent of respond­ents were sat­is­fied with the Pres­id­ent’s per­form­ance, while 46.9 per cent were dis­sat­is­fied in the July sur­vey, a steep decline from 81.2 per cent sat­is­fac­tion in Novem­ber 2025 and 66.4 per cent in late early March.

The new polling by Sai­ful Mujani Research and Con­sult­ing – a rel­at­ively rare event under the Prabowo admin­is­tra­tion – coin­cided with yet more bad news for the Indone­sian eco­nomy with the resig­na­tion of cent­ral bank gov­ernor Perry Warjiyo, two years before the end of his second term, expec­ted to fur­ther rattle investors amid con­cerns over the bank’s inde­pend­ence.

Min­is­ter of State Sec­ret­ary Pra­setyo Hadi told local media on Monday Mr Perry had resigned mid­way through his second term for “per­sonal reas­ons”.

Mr Pra­setyo said Mr Prabowo had accep­ted the gov­ernor’s resig­na­tion and “also expressed his deep­est grat­it­ude and highest appre­ci­ation for (his) ded­ic­a­tion dur­ing his approx­im­ately seven years of lead­ing Bank Indone­sia”.

Mr Perry’s depar­ture comes only weeks after Bank Indone­sia raised bench­mark interest rates three times over four weeks in May and June by a cumu­lat­ive one per­cent­age point to 5.75 per cent in an attempt to sta­bil­ise a declin­ing rupiah. Under Indone­sian law, his deputy, Destry Dam­ay­anti, will take on the role of act­ing gov­ernor until a per­man­ent appointee is announced.

Ms Destry said the cent­ral bank would “con­tinue to … main­tain the sta­bil­ity of the rupiah, pre­serve the sta­bil­ity of the pay­ment sys­tem, and con­trib­ute to safe­guard­ing fin­an­cial sys­tem sta­bil­ity in sup­port of sus­tain­able eco­nomic growth”.

Indone­sia’s par­lia­ment recently passed con­tro­ver­sial amend­ments grant­ing itself powers to remove cent­ral bank gov­ernors, and also expand­ing the bank’s man­date to include an oblig­a­tion to foster growth and job cre­ation.

The move heightened con­cern that the admin­is­tra­tion was chip­ping away at the bank’s inde­pend­ence, just months after Mr Prabowo’s nephew, Thomas Dji­wan­dono, was appoin­ted a deputy gov­ernor of Bank Indone­sia in Feb­ru­ary, spark­ing spec­u­la­tion he was being groomed to take the top job.

Mr Perry’s week­end resig­na­tion has sent those rumours into over­drive, prompt­ing ana­lysts to warn the move could exacer­bate grow­ing inter­na­tional mar­ket con­cerns over the dir­ec­tion of the South­east Asia’s largest eco­nomy.

Angus Mack­in­tosh, an ASEAN spe­cial­ist at Aletheia Cap­ital in Singa­pore, told Reu­ters: “A lot will depend on who takes over. If Prabowo’s nephew (Dji­wan­dono) steps in, the mar­ket will regard this with sus­pi­cion, given this is a cru­cial tech­no­cratic post and BI should remain inde­pend­ent.”

Centre of Eco­nomic and Law Stud­ies chief Bhima Yud­hi­stira said Mr Perry’s resig­na­tion was a “major blow to the coun­try’s mon­et­ary sec­tor”, and appeared to be a res­ult of polit­ical pres­sure.

Air­langga Uni­versity eco­nom­ics pro­fessor Rahma Gafmi said Mr Perry’s resig­na­tion could trig­ger more short-term rupiah volat­il­ity, and that his depar­ture could not be viewed in isol­a­tion from mount­ing polit­ical pres­sure on the cent­ral bank’s lead­er­ship to assume moral respons­ib­il­ity for mac­roe­co­nomic uncer­tainty.

Indone­sia has one of the world’s worst per­form­ing cur­ren­cies, thanks in part to the gov­ern­ment’s bal­loon­ing oil sub­sidies bill and big-spend­ing pri­or­it­ies such as a free-meals pro­gram.

While the ongo­ing Middle East crisis and rising oil prices have hammered the Indone­sian eco­nomy, many ana­lysts say those external shocks have been exacer­bated by poor domestic policies, and that the coun­try is now facing a crisis of con­fid­ence.

That view was reflec­ted in Monday’s SMRC polling, with nearly half (49.4 per cent) of those sur­veyed describ­ing the cur­rent national eco­nomy as bad or very bad, and only 15.7 per cent view­ing it pos­it­ively – the low­est such fig­ure recor­ded in seven years of SMRC sur­veys.

Just 13.5 per cent of respond­ents viewed the coun­try’s polit­ical con­di­tions pos­it­ively, com­pared to 42.8 per cent with neg­at­ive per­cep­tions, while 37.6 per cent said law enforce­ment was poor, com­pared with 26.4 per cent who gave it pos­it­ive marks.

Both indic­at­ors have markedly deteri­or­ated since late 2025, reflect­ing a broader decline in con­fid­ence across major aspects of gov­ernance.

Global index pro­vider MSCI tem­por­ar­ily stopped adding Indone­sian stocks to its emer­ging mar­ket indexes in Janu­ary due to insuf­fi­cient trans­par­ency, and warned it would down­grade Indone­sia to fron­tier status if those trans­par­ency issues were not sat­is­fact­or­ily addressed by Novem­ber.

A more pos­it­ive rat­ings review out­look last month by S&P helped calm the mar­ket, but Mr Perry’s depar­ture is expec­ted to cre­ate more eco­nomic uncer­tainty.

Indone­sian Pres­id­ent Prabowo Subi­anto’s approval rat­ing has crashed to 51 per cent in new polling, a decline of more than 30 points in nine months as the Middle East crisis and his own admin­is­tra­tion’s per­ceived eco­nomic mis­man­age­ment hits home.

The res­ult is a dis­astrous show­ing in a coun­try where pres­id­en­tial pop­ular­ity rat­ings tend to remain buoy­ant, with ques­tions over elect­ab­il­ity gen­er­ally per­ceived to more accur­ately reflect how a leader is trend­ing.

Just 51.1 per cent of respond­ents were sat­is­fied with the Pres­id­ent’s per­form­ance, while 46.9 per cent were dis­sat­is­fied in the July sur­vey, a steep decline from 81.2 per cent sat­is­fac­tion in Novem­ber 2025 and 66.4 per cent in late early March.

The new polling by Sai­ful Mujani Research and Con­sult­ing – a rel­at­ively rare event under the Prabowo admin­is­tra­tion – coin­cided with yet more bad news for the Indone­sian eco­nomy with the resig­na­tion of cent­ral bank gov­ernor Perry Warjiyo, two years before the end of his second term, expec­ted to fur­ther rattle investors amid con­cerns over the bank’s inde­pend­ence.

Min­is­ter of State Sec­ret­ary Pra­setyo Hadi told local media on Monday Mr Perry had resigned mid­way through his second term for “per­sonal reas­ons”.

Mr Pra­setyo said Mr Prabowo had accep­ted the gov­ernor’s resig­na­tion and “also expressed his deep­est grat­it­ude and highest appre­ci­ation for (his) ded­ic­a­tion dur­ing his approx­im­ately seven years of lead­ing Bank Indone­sia”.

Mr Perry’s depar­ture comes only weeks after Bank Indone­sia raised bench­mark interest rates three times over four weeks in May and June by a cumu­lat­ive one per­cent­age point to 5.75 per cent in an attempt to sta­bil­ise a declin­ing rupiah. Under Indone­sian law, his deputy, Destry Dam­ay­anti, will take on the role of act­ing gov­ernor until a per­man­ent appointee is announced.

Ms Destry said the cent­ral bank would “con­tinue to … main­tain the sta­bil­ity of the rupiah, pre­serve the sta­bil­ity of the pay­ment sys­tem, and con­trib­ute to safe­guard­ing fin­an­cial sys­tem sta­bil­ity in sup­port of sus­tain­able eco­nomic growth”.

Indone­sia’s par­lia­ment recently passed con­tro­ver­sial amend­ments grant­ing itself powers to remove cent­ral bank gov­ernors, and also expand­ing the bank’s man­date to include an oblig­a­tion to foster growth and job cre­ation.

The move heightened con­cern that the admin­is­tra­tion was chip­ping away at the bank’s inde­pend­ence, just months after Mr Prabowo’s nephew, Thomas Dji­wan­dono, was appoin­ted a deputy gov­ernor of Bank Indone­sia in Feb­ru­ary, spark­ing spec­u­la­tion he was being groomed to take the top job.

Mr Perry’s week­end resig­na­tion has sent those rumours into over­drive, prompt­ing ana­lysts to warn the move could exacer­bate grow­ing inter­na­tional mar­ket con­cerns over the dir­ec­tion of the South­east Asia’s largest eco­nomy.

Angus Mack­in­tosh, an ASEAN spe­cial­ist at Aletheia Cap­ital in Singa­pore, told Reu­ters: “A lot will depend on who takes over. If Prabowo’s nephew (Dji­wan­dono) steps in, the mar­ket will regard this with sus­pi­cion, given this is a cru­cial tech­no­cratic post and BI should remain inde­pend­ent.”

Centre of Eco­nomic and Law Stud­ies chief Bhima Yud­hi­stira said Mr Perry’s resig­na­tion was a “major blow to the coun­try’s mon­et­ary sec­tor”, and appeared to be a res­ult of polit­ical pres­sure.

Air­langga Uni­versity eco­nom­ics pro­fessor Rahma Gafmi said Mr Perry’s resig­na­tion could trig­ger more short-term rupiah volat­il­ity, and that his depar­ture could not be viewed in isol­a­tion from mount­ing polit­ical pres­sure on the cent­ral bank’s lead­er­ship to assume moral respons­ib­il­ity for mac­roe­co­nomic uncer­tainty.

Indone­sia has one of the world’s worst per­form­ing cur­ren­cies, thanks in part to the gov­ern­ment’s bal­loon­ing oil sub­sidies bill and big-spend­ing pri­or­it­ies such as a free-meals pro­gram.

While the ongo­ing Middle East crisis and rising oil prices have hammered the Indone­sian eco­nomy, many ana­lysts say those external shocks have been exacer­bated by poor domestic policies, and that the coun­try is now facing a crisis of con­fid­ence.

That view was reflec­ted in Monday’s SMRC polling, with nearly half (49.4 per cent) of those sur­veyed describ­ing the cur­rent national eco­nomy as bad or very bad, and only 15.7 per cent view­ing it pos­it­ively – the low­est such fig­ure recor­ded in seven years of SMRC sur­veys.

Just 13.5 per cent of respond­ents viewed the coun­try’s polit­ical con­di­tions pos­it­ively, com­pared to 42.8 per cent with neg­at­ive per­cep­tions, while 37.6 per cent said law enforce­ment was poor, com­pared with 26.4 per cent who gave it pos­it­ive marks.

Both indic­at­ors have markedly deteri­or­ated since late 2025, reflect­ing a broader decline in con­fid­ence across major aspects of gov­ernance.

Global index pro­vider MSCI tem­por­ar­ily stopped adding Indone­sian stocks to its emer­ging mar­ket indexes in Janu­ary due to insuf­fi­cient trans­par­ency, and warned it would down­grade Indone­sia to fron­tier status if those trans­par­ency issues were not sat­is­fact­or­ily addressed by Novem­ber.

A more pos­it­ive rat­ings review out­look last month by S&P helped calm the mar­ket, but Mr Perry’s depar­ture is expec­ted to cre­ate more eco­nomic uncer­tainty.

Here’s the original source of the story:

https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2026/07/26/19123771/survei-smrc-tingkat-kepuasan-publik-atas-pemerintahan-prabowo-51-persen

Professor David Reeve

How are we getting on with the neighbours? Not as good as we have been and not well enough for what should be. Like marriage, international relations need to be cossetted and cherished. Ours with Indonesia is going the other way through indifference.

Experiencing Indonesia has just been published, written by those who know about next door. The folk in that volcanic land aren’t close except in geography. For a while they were friendly. Now only one seeks love, though with little enthusiasm.

The mid-1990s was a golden time for Indonesianists. Paul Keating had engraved a tablet proclaiming that “no country was more important than the land next door” and signed a security agreement.

Among the believers was Dr David Hill at Perth’s Murdoch University. He decided to turn words into deeds with the Australian Consortium for ‘In-Country’ Indonesian Studies (ACICIS):

‘A non-profit, educational consortium to develop and coordinate high-quality, semester-long study programs at Indonesian partner universities for Australian university students.’

The idea appealed, for the electorate was receptive. Bahasa Indonesia was becoming popular for language learners, and Bali the exotic island for holidays. ACICIS was the bonding agent for the moment.

From then on it should have failed – almost everything else did. First came Krismon, the Asian economic crisis and the rupiah falling like Icarus. Then chaos as the brutal dictator Soeharto quit his 32-year reign, and his successor BJ Habibie shredded the Keating deal.

John Howard suggested a referendum on the future of the blood-stained East Timor. The nearby island had been screaming for freedom since the 1975 invasion of the former Portuguese colony by Soeharto’s thugs. Watch the Australian film Balibo (banned in Indonesia) to remember.

Howard’s idea was surprisingly accepted as Jakarta wrongly assumed the people loved Indonesian rule. But when the Timorese voted 80 – 20 for independence, army-backed militias torched the tiny island and killed as they retreated.

Australia led the 22-nation peacekeeping force INTERFET - getting fame in the Commonwealth but anger in Indonesia.

An estimated 100,000 died through famine and violence during Indonesia’s 25-year control.

The new century brought the Bali and Embassy bombs and other outrages. Boeings that had once flown full of joyful holiday makers now carried joyless crews.

Democracy came with riots, then a firing squad for Aussie drug couriers despite clemency pleas from new PM Tony Abbott who never understood the culture.

What caring parent would bless their teens studying in such a country? Would they be converted? Always eat rice? What about safety?

ACICIS survived, partly through the diplomacy now lacking in the Middle East and the influence of those who’d studied in Australia – often graduates of the original Colombo Plan.

Professor Hill’s foresight in creating the consortium kept a gateway open, though as he recalls it “tottered and teetered” for a while.

New PM Malcolm Turnbull got friendly with the latest Prez, laid-back batik-model and toll-road builder Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo. In 2020 he spoke in Parliament to great applause.

Keating may have been right – though not enough for Australians to treat Jakarta with the reverence used for Washington, even under Trump.

After ten years of negotiation, a free trade document was signed with another ugly title, IA-CEPA, the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.

Maybe they just wanted to secure supplies of beef and grains because little has happened since.

The tourists were still into Bali hotels, but the students were heading elsewhere, preferring to spend their allowances and have fun in the US, the UK, China, Canada, and Japan.

There are some perennial gripes in journalism, and the weeping about unis abandoning the teaching of Indonesian language and culture brings most tears.

Another is Indonesian annoyance at “the (Australian) media’s failure to distinguish between Muslims generally and radical elements such as the Taliban.” That’s Ms Hanson’s doing.

Canberra has tried to help with its New Colombo Plan for undergrads seeking “to develop their Indo-Pacific capability and Asia literacy through immersive, structured learning and internships in the region.”

That’s 37 countries with Indonesia at the top. Our giant embassy in Jakarta crows: “Since its inception in 2014, more than 12,000 students have been supported to study and undertake internships in Indonesia, more than any other participating country”.

(The original 1950s Colombo Plan brought thousands of students into Australia for all the expected benevolent reasons, though the real purpose was to combat Communism.

After two decades, the CP shrunk as supporting nations withdrew – the US only this year. Some called it “paternalistic” and a Cold War approach to aid.

There are around 24,000 Indonesian students in Australia, not all on merit but still absorbing our values and hopefully having a good time.

This month ACICIS launched Experiencing Indonesia (ANU Press), which recounts 30 years of helping undergrads adjust to next door. It has 25 staff, offices in Yogyakarta, Jakarta, Bogor and Bandung and a budget of $24 million. So far 5,000 have benefitted.

That generosity should be 50,000. The ACICIS leaders agree. But they’re up against a public that looks at Indonesia with suspicion, amplified by One Nation rants against Islam.

ACICIS Professor Dr David Reeve explained: “NCP helps fund students in Indonesia, but not for them to get there; we find study options.”

The 318-page book has many pages in abstruse and prolix prose as though this certifies the book’s academic credibility. ‘Pedagogic ensemble’ deters. ‘Adventures in squatland – Oz students tell’ invites readers.

Like tales of cramped kos (homestay) living, jumping red lights, going barefoot in lavatories and graduating through “transformative experiential learning opportunities” aka discovering the world.

For adventurous singles, that means explaining to puzzled locals asking kok sendirian – why are you travelling alone? That’s not Indonesian culture, it’s ours.Aussies going to Indonesia for any serious reason should sample some of this book – free online. Although some parts are revealing and useful, overall it feels it’s by and for the in-groups.

Bali may be going off the boil. The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics report shows the most popular overseas destinations in February were NZ and Japan, then Indonesia.

If we stop going, mateship could sour, and the misunderstandings multiply, aggravated by Ms Hanson’s hangups about the faith followed by more than 87 per cent of the Indonesian population.

Should a demagogue appear (Indonesia is democratic, but so is the US), we need to make this de facto drift into a de jure deal.

The ACICIS youngsters who park their prejudices with the oldies, go overseas as thoughtless teens and return as thoughtful adults, might help erase the Senator’s fatuity with facts.

First published in Pearls & Irritations, 26 July. 2026: https://pearlsandirritations.com/post/2026/07/australia-is-letting-its-indonesia-relationship-drift/

#Indonesianculture #indonesianlanguage #indonesianlifestyle #indonesianeconomy #indonesianpolitic #indonesiantravel #exploreindonesian #indonesianactraction #wonderfullindonesia #nusantara #batikindonesia #fyp #fouryourpage #indonesianfood #visitindonesia #wonderfulcultureindonesian #natureindonesia #indonesianisland #indonesianphotographer #indonesianfashion #like #substack

Unless otherwise stated, this work by Indonesia Now with Duncan Graham is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 4.0 International Licence.

CC

G’day Bros. The plump arrives; trust you all know your gender preferences. Check my rules.

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LGBTQ+ people in Indonesia are facing growing discrimination, harassment and violence after President Prabowo Subianto classified the promotion of queer “culture” as a threat to national security.

In October 2025, Subianto issued a 70-page presidential regulation outlining Indonesia’s national defence policy.

The document listed several so-called nonmilitary threats, including illegal trafficking, the theft of national resources, terrorism, radicalism, atheism, online gambling and drug abuse.

“The promotion of LGBTQ culture” was also included.

According to the Jakarta Post, the regulation defines nonmilitary threats as activities that do not involve weapons but are considered dangerous to state sovereignty, territorial integrity or public safety.

It also instructs government ministries, state institutions and regional administrations outside the defence sector to respond to the identified threats.

Regulation Could Encourage Discriminatory Laws

Human rights advocates have warned that the classification could give authorities greater justification to introduce policies targeting LGBTQ+ people.

“The presidential regulation provides new legitimation both for the central government and regional administrations to enact legislation that penalises and discriminates against LGBTQ individuals merely because of their identities,” Albert Wirya, executive director of the Legal Aid Institute for the People, told the Jakarta Post on 7 July.

Human Rights Watch has also reported an increase in harassment and attacks against LGBTQ+ university students, particularly during Pride Month 2026.

On 7 July, the New York-based organisation said at least 10 public universities in Indonesia had recently adopted discriminatory rules and begun restricting discussions about gender and sexual diversity.

“Indonesian authorities are looking the other way during an upsurge of attacks on LGBT university students and others,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

“Indonesia’s universities are contributing to the problem by discriminating against students on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation.”

Religious Body Calls for Harsher Criminal Penalties

During Pride Month, the Indonesian Ulema Council, a conservative body of Islamic scholars, called for same-sex relationships to be criminalised more harshly than adultery.

The council told MUI Digital that what it described as “sexual deviation” should carry criminal penalties “harsher than the punishment for adultery”.

“Currently, there’s no punishment for LGBT. There’s no legal provision for that,” said the organisation’s deputy chairman, Kiai Cholil.

“Ultimately, when a case is discovered, the pattern is simply initiated by the regional head to provide guidance or barracks. This is because there’s no fixed sentence of years.”

Trans Women Reportedly Attacked in Bogor

LGBTQ+ people have also reportedly faced direct physical violence following the government’s classification.

Pelangi Nusantara, an Indonesian LGBTQ+ advocacy organisation, recently shared details of attacks against transgender women in Bogor, a city on the island of Java.

“A hate account called @bogorbersihlgbt recently uploaded videos showing attacks carried out against a trans woman,” the group wrote.

“The footage shows a group of men punching, kicking and dousing a victim with urine. In another video, several trans women are chased.”

The organisation said the attacks may have affected at least 15 transgender women.

“Based on the information we’ve gathered, at least 15 trans women have been attacked. Most of the victims are poor trans women who survive by working on the streets. In addition to being beaten and doused with urine, some were also stripped naked. The victims are now suffering from trauma as well as serious physical injuries.”

LGBTQ+ Identities Remain Vulnerable Under Indonesian Law

LGBTQ+ identities are not explicitly criminalised across most of Indonesia.

However, same-sex relations are illegal under Sharia law in Aceh, the country’s westernmost province. People convicted under those rules can face imprisonment of up to 18 months.

Transgender and intersex people are permitted to change their legal gender, but only after undergoing gender-affirming surgery and obtaining approval from a court.

Human Rights Watch says at least six national laws continue to discriminate indirectly against LGBTQ+ people.

These include the Pornography Law, the Marriage Law, regulations covering child adoption, the Electronic Information and Transactions Law, the Criminal Code and Ministry of Health Regulation No. 2 of 2025.

*******************************************************************************************************

Rights advocates warn that describing LGBTQ+ identities as a national threat risks legitimising further discrimination, encouraging hostile policies and leaving already marginalised people more vulnerable to violence.

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Footnote: The population of gays and lesbians worldwide is unknown because many keep their preferences secret, but a Yale Uni survey estimated that in the US the percentage is less than five. Translated to Indonesia that could equal ten million.

The Yale study was headlined: The ‘global closet’: Majority of world’s LGBT population hide orientation

The jails will be full if Prabowo’s rule applies, not of corruptors but of people whose genes make them seek same sex partners.

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Celebrating hate.

ABC News 18 July 2026: The Albanese government's long-awaited response to its special envoy's report on Islamophobia has rejected calls for an overhaul of counter-terror laws, focusing instead on a new education taskforce and expanded community liaison teams for police…

Multicultural Affairs Minister Anne Aly, who is Australia’s first Muslim federal parliamentarian, said the government’s responses go to “addressing some of the most significant manifestations of Islamophobia”.

“For the very first time, the very first time in the history of this country, we have a government that is willing to recognise that Islamophobia exists,” she said.

“[The government recognises] it is dangerously close to becoming normalised, and that it has traumatising, detrimental and long-lasting effects on a significant number of Australians.”

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There’s no known record of Pauline Hanson visiting Bali. If she’s ever ventured next door, she’d have encountered the majority faith – Hinduism. It preceded Islam - by a millennium.

There are reportedly fewer than half a million adherents of the belief system she abhors and misrepresents living on the Island of the Gods. To discover Muslims as a majority, she’d need to head West across the narrow strait to Java.

In its three overcrowded provinces there are subjects aplenty, for Indonesia has more Muslims than any other nation. It’s also the third largest democracy – but in this case that term needs defining.

She’d also learn (if the word is apt), that ten per cent of the Republic’s 288 million citizens are Christian. That’s more than the population of the Great Brown Land.

It’s unlikely that anytime soon Indonesia will produce a demagogue demanding followers of Jesus be scorned and expelled from the archipelago.

The current president, who expects to be in office till 2029, sows fear with his Trump-style authoritarianism and militarism. Prabowo Subianto is a lukewarm Muslim; his late mother Dora Marie Sigar was a Protestant. So is his younger brother and financial backer Hashim Djojohadikusumo. The family is an example of religious tolerance.

The chances of the Prez vilifying his close rellies’ faith, habits and intent - and advocating for their expulsion – won’t happen.

But there’s always a chance future voters will elect someone like the Sultans of the Ottoman Islamic empire who last century persecuted, expelled and slaughtered millions of Christians during the ‘Thirty-year Genocide.’

If the leader of One Nation has a conscience and a sense of morality, it might be worth reminding her of the horrors of ethnic and religious cleansing if she wants historical models for her threats should power ever fall into her palms.

Once opened, Pauline’s Box would free more evils than those released by the curious Pandora.

Indonesians rarely talk about their momentous shame, the genocide, confirmed by Australian academic Dr Jill Melvin. In 1965 and 66, huge numbers of Indonesians were shot, knifed and beaten to death – by neighbours, former friends, even relatives.

The killers were given weapons and lists of names, and egged on by the Indonesian military backed by the CIA and applauded by an Australian PM.

On a visit to New York, Harold Holt crassly cracked: “With 500,000 to one million Communist sympathisers knocked off, I think it’s safe to assume a reorientation has taken place”. Funny, ya?

Eventually there’ll come a time when Australians start to ask how Muslim Indonesians feel about our country and culture where the rantings of a racist politician seem to get so much support? If she was spitting the same slanders about Jews, she’d be in jail.

For the last three decades, our saner middle-road leaders have chanted that there’s no country more important to us than the place next door.

Is that reciprocated?

Sadly no – it’s always been a one-way street, but the traffic flow is getting thicker the more Ms PH expresses her wishes for a return of White Australia, discoloured by Whitlam only half a century ago.

Image by photographer Fabian Muir - Urban burqa

How would we react if Indonesia produced a politician who was abusing Anzac Day, (which we expats openly celebrate in Indonesia), dehumanising Aussies, threatening us and lying about our values and lifestyles, like the ignorant Queensland Senator badmouths followers of the world’s second largest religion?

We’d certainly steer clear of Bali and the other 900 inhabited islands till tolerance prevailed, and probably demand an early delivery of AUKUS subs.

To stop this horrific possibility, the universal condemnation of the Hanson hate, aka Islamophobia, has to be driven out with the same intensity as the elimination of antisemitism.

*************************************************************************

#Indonesianculture #indonesianlanguage #indonesianlifestyle #indonesianeconomy #indonesianpolitic #indonesiantravel #exploreindonesian #indonesianactraction #wonderfullindonesia #nusantara #batikindonesia #fyp #fouryourpage #indonesianfood #visitindonesia #wonderfulcultureindonesian #natureindonesia #indonesianisland #indonesianphotographer #indonesianfashion #like #substack

Unless otherwise stated, this work by Indonesia Now with Duncan Graham is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 4.0 International Licence.

CC

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Indonesia’s economic census is meant to produce a snapshot of the nation, but distrust of officials and fears about privacy may blur the picture.

The Indonesian government is trying to collect and analyse data from 288 million people, many of whom are reluctant to help the Central Statistics Bureau and its 18,000 staff know about their lives.

Although there are laws to protect privacy, the word on the street is that officials can’t be trusted to keep secrets. Confidentiality should be a certainty, but it’s often treated as an option, not a compulsion.

In Indonesia, an individual’s choice of one of six religious faiths approved by the government is stamped on their ID card with a photo. This gets used for almost all transactions with government agencies, plus a raft of private outfits like banks and hotels that keep photocopies of the plastic.

This approved intrusion almost happened in Australia. In 1985, PM Bob Hawke proposed an ID system he called the ‘Australia Card’, allegedly to stamp out welfare fraud and tax evasion. Renamed the ‘Snoop Card’, the idea was sunk by public outcries and a Senate that harkened to the noise.

Little has changed in the past four decades. In 2023, a government report showed that:

• just under half of Australians surveyed told us they were affected by a data breach in the previous year, and three-quarters experienced harm as a result.

• The advent of technologies like artificial intelligence and facial recognition has introduced the potential for new privacy risks, some that deeply intersect with our human rights.

• While AI has the potential to provide major economic benefits, we know Australians are cautious about the use of AI to make decisions that might affect them, and there are low levels of comfort in the use of the technology.

Likewise in the nation next door. However, the ID card system introduced in 1945 is now so deeply entrenched, there’s little opponents can do other than buy counterfeit cards.

To avoid the nosy Badan Pusat Statistik (BPS) census officials scribbling notes, snapping cellphones and tapping tablets, it’s best to be elsewhere when neighbours sound the alert – but if trapped give any answer that appeals. In Indonesia, truth isn’t always the best policy.

Scraping together what stats can be gleaned from Indonesian hospitals, it’s reckoned that roughly every hour about 500 babies arrive (that’s 4.5 million a year) and 240 oldies depart – that’s 2.1 million annually. Subtract one from the other to get a growth rate that should concern planners in every department, from housing to education and traffic control and having public servants wrestle with the key political question: where’s the money going to come from?

This is why the economic census is so important.

Last century, the national government got worried about a population expansion, so it started promoting contraception, using the campaign slogan dua anak cukup – two kids are enough.

The UN Population Fund started working with Indonesia in 1972.

In the flood of billboard images and even statues pushing the need for less nookie and more celibacy, the eldest child is usually a boy.

It seemed to work because big families are now rare, but that could be the result of women’s emancipation, dumping stove-and-sink housewifery in favour of a profession and financial independence.

In the early 1970s the total fertility rate was about 5.6 children per woman. By the late 1990s, this had dropped to 2.6 births. These figures are largely authentic because the sources were obstetricians and midwives who had to file logs of their work to get paid.

Before women could get married, they had to prove they’d had a Depo-Provera contraceptive injection, which was free. More inequality: men didn’t have to show they had a wallet full of condoms and a standing order with the local pharmacy.

Naturally the rules didn’t apply to the rulers who had their own slogan - ‘don’t do what I do – do what I say’.

President Soeharto rarely wore rubbers because he fathered six nippers with missus Siti Hartinah aka Ibu Tien. She got her tag by diverting ten per cent of all government contracts into her handbag, ensuring the Republic’s First Family created Asia’s greatest kleptocracy.

A joint report by Transparency International and the UN estimated that between $15 billion and $35 billion was embezzled during Soeharto’s 32-year Orde Baru (New Order) rule.

Indonesia’s fifth president Megawati Soekarnoputri, a daughter of first President Soekarno who had 14 kids from his known nine wives, didn’t help the credibility of official data by reportedly saying that statistical surveys are “only a guide and not a definitive rule”.

She has also criticised official data on poverty and economic inequality as being “unreliable” for not recording the truth about the poor.

Later this year, Jakarta will release a mass of figures that they’ll call ‘a snapshot of the nation’.

If that is to be used to illustrate this extraordinary country, the data should be blurred like the police photos used to show victims of brutality and not distress viewers.

We don’t want to be upset by reading about the wealth and habits of neighbours who seem to have more of what we want and they don’t need, so best bin the data – which will happen anyway.

First published on 17 July 2026 in Pearls & Irritations

https://pearlsandirritations.com/post/2026/07/when-census-takers-come-calling-truth-gets-complicated/?utm_source=pi_news&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily-2026-07-16

Duncan Graham

Economic census takers are now prowling the archipelago, so time for Indonesians to get creative about their lives, possessions and incomes.

There’s no need to use an ancient Greek myth to illustrate an impossible task. Prince Sisyphus was doomed forever to push a giant boulder up a hill and watch it roll down the other side, but we have an Indonesian term that fits better.

Badan Pusat Statistik tries to collect and analyse the data from 288 million people, many of whom are reluctant to help the government’s 18,000 staff know about their lives.

Although there are laws to protect privacy, the word on the street is that officials can’t be trusted to keep secrets. Confidentiality should be a certainty, but it’s often treated as an option. not a compulsion.

Indonesia is a state where your choice of one of six religious faiths approved by the government is stamped on your ID card.

To avoid the officials scribbling notes, snapping cellphones and tapping tablets through streets and kampungs, it’s best to be elsewhere when neighbours sound the alert – but if trapped give any answer that appeals.

In Indonesia, truth isn’t always the best policy.

Scraping together what stats can be gleaned from hospitals, it’s reckoned that roughly every hour about 500 babies arrive (that’s 4.5 million a year) and 240 oldies depart – that’s 2.1 million annually.

Subtract one from the other to get a growth rate that should concern planners in every department, from housing to education and traffic control, terrifying public servants wrestling with the key political question: Where’s the money going to come from?

This is why the economic census is so important.

Last century, the national government got worried about a population expansion, so it started promoting contraception with the energy of the fag industry, using the campaign slogan dua anak cukup – two kids are enough.

In the flood of two and three dimension images illustrating the need for less nookie and more celibacy, the eldest child is usually a boy.

It seemed to work because big families are now rare, but that could be the result of women’s emancipation, getting educated, and swapping stove-and-sink housewifery in favour of a profession and financial independence.

In the early 1970s the total fertility rate was about 5.6 children per woman. By the late 1990s, this had dropped to 2.6 births. These figures are largely authentic because the sources were obstetricians and midwives who had to file logs of their work to get paid.

Before women could get married, they had to prove they’d had a Depo-Provera contraceptive injection, which was free. More inequality: Men didn’t have to show they had a wallet full of condoms and a standing order with the local pharmacy.

Naturally the rules didn’t apply to the rulers who had their own slogan - ‘don’t do what I do – do what I say’.

President Soeharto rarely wore rubbers because he fathered six nippers with missus Siti Hartinah aka Ibu Tien. She got her tag by diverting ten per cent of all government contracts into her handbag, ensuring the Republic’s First Family created Asia’s greatest kleptocracy.

A joint report by Transparency International and the UN estimated that between $15 billion and $35 billion was embezzled during Soeharto’s 32-year Orde Baru (New Order) rule.

Indonesia’s fifth president Megawati Soekarnoputri, a daughter of first President Soekarno who had 14 kids from his known nine wives, didn’t help the credibility of official data by reportedly saying that statistical surveys are “only a guide and not a definitive rule”.

She has also criticised official data on poverty and economic inequality as being “unreliable” for not recording the truth about the poor.

Later this year, Jakarta will release a mass of figures that they’ll call ‘a snapshot of the nation’.

If that analogy is to be used to illustrate this extraordinary country, the data should be blurred like the police photos used to show victims of brutality and not distress viewers.

We don’t want to be upset by reading about the wealth and habits of neighbours who seem to have more of what we want; so best bin the survey, which is its inevitable destination.

************************************************************************************************************

#Indonesianculture #indonesianlanguage #indonesianlifestyle #indonesianeconomy #indonesianpolitic #indonesiantravel #exploreindonesian #indonesianactraction #wonderfullindonesia #nusantara #batikindonesia #fyp #fouryourpage #indonesianfood #visitindonesia #wonderfulcultureindonesian #natureindonesia #indonesianisland #indonesianphotographer #indonesianfashion #like #substack

Unless otherwise stated, this work by Indonesia Now with Duncan Graham is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 4.0 International Licence.

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It’s just an idle idea that’s unlikely to come to pass, particularly under the present president: A visiting head of state bringing deals that won’t kill.

On his recent visit to Indonesia, Indian PM Narendra Modi carried a catalogue of goods he knew would appeal to the tastes of his mock-military host

President Prabowo Subianto – guns, not butter.

No life enhancers on the list like robotic surgery platforms, electrosurgical generators, in-vitro diagnostic devices and other health and lab gear. These devices and machines have been invented and built to find out what’s hurting, cure the wretched diseases, hasten recovery and help doctors be more effective

In brief, to make the world a better place for those stricken with pain and its accompanying misery. What could be a finer calling for those with the wills and skills?

According to its investor spruikers, “India is one of the world’s leading innovators in medical technology. The size of the Indian medical devices sector is estimated to be around $14 billion and it is expected to grow to $30 billion by 2030.”

Through Modi’s visit his customer will be better armed and briefly able to defend itself against the enemies of the government’s imagination. This is probably China, though few politicians say so aloud.

Any conflict would be uneven; the People’s Republic is five times larger than Indonesia in land size and population – and bristling with the latest, biggest and most powerful weapons already sowing fear in the Pacific.

There hasn’t been much hoopla about the Modi deal, perhaps to avoid curios journos reviving the many massacres, communal riots, targeted attacks, and spontaneous assaults.

The last major outbreak of violence took more than 1,000 lives – mostly Muslims.

Another reason would have been arousing critics of the spending like Dr Titik Anas from Padjadjaran University in Bandung, West Java. During the reign of President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo she was a special advisor to the Minister of Finance. She fears the economy is heading downhill:

“Indonesia’s capital outflows, weakening currency and rising borrowing costs are symptoms of a deeper policy problem.

“Since Prabowo entered office in late 2024, fiscal and monetary policy have been operating out of sync, weakening investor confidence and amplifying economic vulnerabilities.”

Her comments preceded the President opening the Modi order books for what old soldiers and small children like best – things that go bang.

Reuters news agency reported that “New Delhi will supply BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles and Astra air-to-air missiles to Indonesia in a deal estimated at around US $630 million.”

We don’t know how many missiles Jakarta will get for its rupiah; the deal is packed in Styrofoam secrecy for no reason other than bureaucrats fearing to open their mouths anywhere near a journo and a microphone because an explosion could damage their careers.

However, it’s reported elsewhere that each BrahMos will cost up to US$ 5 million, and the Astras about a fifth of that price.

Altogether that could feed a lot of kiddies through the Makan Bergizi Gratis (free nutritious food) programme that’s just been hit with a 20 per cent budget cut after alleged mismanagement and corruption

The armaments that have been developed with Russia, are supposed to be the “world’s fastest operational supersonic cruise missiles, capable of speeds up to Mach 2.8.” They can be launched from land, sea, sub-sea, and air platforms and have a range of 450 km carrying a conventional warhead of up to 300 kg.

The weapons are already in the armouries of India, Vietnam and the Philippines.

To be fair Madi did have some goodies in his khurta - the rehabilitation of 200 small shrines at the 9^th century Hindu Prambanan temple complex in Central Java. No mention of budget.

Madi, 75, was born the son of a railway station tea seller. Now he’s PM of the world’s most populous country (1.47 billion, including 200 million Muslims).

He was last in the Republic in 2023 for the G20 Summit held in Bali where the Indian leader would have felt most at home; the island’s residents are mainly Hindu, the faith followed by Modi.

The religion came with traders and priests to what is now Indonesia more than 2,000 years ago, centuries before Islam and Christianity. Buddhism, also from India, arrived about 200 years after Hinduism and the two religions seemed to live in harmony.

Prior to PM Modi’s arrival The Jakarta Post editorialised that “The relationship between India and Indonesia has suffered from strategic caution, a tendency to drift into parallel diplomatic orbits rather than actively combining forces to shape global policy.”

Neither government disclosed further details. Reuters cited an Indian government official saying that New Delhi will supply BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles and Astra air-to-air missiles to Indonesia in a deal estimated at around US$630 million (S$814 million

Moti, the son of a railway station tea seller, runs the world’s most populous country (1.47 billion, including 200 million Muslims).

He was last in the Republic in 2022 for the G20 Summit held in Bali where the Indian leader would have felt most at home, for its residents are mainly Hindu, the faith followed by Modi.

The religion came to what is now Indonesia more than 2,000 years ago with traders and priests, centuries before Islam and Christianity. Buddhism, also from India, arrived about 200 years after Hinduism and the two religions seemed to live in harmony.

Now 75, he’s been involved in nationalist politics since he was in primary school, first with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a right-wing Hindutva paramilitary volunteer organisation, then the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The phrase ‘guns and butter’ is outdated, but when popular mid last century it was an economic metaphor representing the trade-off a country faces when choosing between military defence (”guns”) and civilian programmes or living standards (”butter,” such as food, healthcare, and education).

Can Indonesia have both?

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From this time and distance, it’s difficult to know how President Soeharto’s greed and authoritarianism seeped through the decades and into modern Indonesia, poisoning all it touched for the 32 years after he seized power in 1966.

These were tortuous times: the overthrow of the government and its charismatic founder, Soekarno, and the slaughter of more than 500,000 alleged Communists. The chaos occupied all.

It took time to bring about stability, but once achieved, the biggest nation in Southeast Asia slipped into despotism.

Like father-in-law, like son-in-law.

That’s happening now as the disgraced former general Prabowo Subianto starts to throttle the nation, turning a reforming democracy into an autocracy.

The manual was written by Prabowo’s one-time father-in-law, and it starts by turning off the power of the people and switching to the military.

Both men were in the armed forces, where they learned that might is right and, as Chairman Mao Zedong reportedly said 99 years ago – all power flows through the barrel of a gun.

By the time Soeharto and his New Order administration had collapsed under the weight of the Asian Monetary Crisis, US journalists had revealed him as the “20th Century’s Biggest Thief”.

“20th Century’s Biggest Thief”.

He stole an estimated US$ 32 billion from the public purse, and since his death in 2008 various administrations have tried to claw back some of his loot, though with limited success, as much vanished into businesses run by the family.

That included Prabowo till he was divorced by Soeharto’s daughter Titiek in 1998, the year he was cashiered for disobedience and human rights violations. Now he’s back from exile in Jordan, and in the Palace as Prez, he’s endorsed large-scale criminality by making Soeharto a National Hero.

Neither the man nor his former wife have remarried.

Their only son, Didit Hediprasetyo, 42, didn’t follow Dad and Grandad’s love for guns and force, but became a fashion designer in Europe where he now lives. There is speculation that he’s gay, a charge widely dismissed.

The issue of personal lives shouldn’t contaminate serious journalism except that his old man is legislating to ban LGBT, and whose personal behaviour is being publicly scrutinised.

This year, Amien Rais, a former chairman of the People’s Consultative Assembly, uploaded an eight-minute video titled Keep the Palace away from moral scandal.

He criticised the apparent close relationship between Prabowo, 74 and divorced Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya. The Lieutenant Colonel turned 37 this year on an official trip to Paris and was given a lavish surprise party by his boss.

Prabowo’s backers responded that the video (which was taken down within a day) was “an attempt to demean the dignity of the country’s leaders, had no basis in fact, and was divisive for the nation.”

The government’s communication agency Komdigi threatened to report Amien Rais for slander and baseless accusations.

The problem for the deniers is that the US-educated Dr Amien has credibility and respect as a former principal figure in the Muhammadiyah religious organisation, the second largest in the nation with up to 50 million members.

In 1998 when youth protests against Soeharto were flaring, Amien was in the front ranks.

Kompas newspaper reported that “along with students, intellectuals, cultural figures and other civil society leaders he contributed significantly to the collapse of the New Order regime.”

1998 photo: Dr Amien is in a long-sleeve white shirt with tie, raising his right hand. Note – no cellphones.

This month the president designated the spread of LGBTQ culture as a non-military threat under Indonesia’s National Defence Policy.

The Indonesia Business Post defined non-military threats in the law as “organised, non-armed activities that could endanger national sovereignty, territorial integrity and security. It classifies the spread of LGBTQ culture as a socio-cultural threat that could contribute to the erosion of nationalism.

“The category is grouped alongside terrorism, separatism, online gambling, the spread of prohibited ideologies, human trafficking, piracy, large-scale theft of natural resources and narcotics trafficking.

“The regulation also states that LGBTQ-related issues will be addressed using approaches applied to extraordinary crimes.” What this means has yet to be articulated, but it sounds grim.

What this means has yet to be articulated, but it sounds grim

LGBTQ rights and transgender activist Echa Waode, secretary-general of Arus Pelangi (the flow of the rainbow), said applying the regulation could intensify stigma and discrimination against sexual and gender minorities.

“It shifts public anger that should be directed vertically, toward the state, into horizontal conflict. It could increase bullying and persecution.”

The controversy has conveniently distracted public attention away from the government raising the price of non-subsidised fuel, the rupiah collapse and the Jakarta Composite Index plummeting.

Other issues include the film Pesta Babi (Pig Party), the death of three trainees going through military training for jobs in government retail convenience stores.

Funds for the free nutritious school lunch programme Makan Bergizi Gratis aimed at curbing child stunting and improving public health have been cut by 20 per cent after reports of massive corruption by senior staff, now under arrest.

All tiresome stuff; hounding LGBTQs is easier to understand, probably right - unless there are some in your family. Some guesstimates are ten per cent; in Indonesia that could be more than 28 million - a lot of people to persecute, Mister President.

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#Indonesianculture #indonesianlanguage #indonesianlifestyle #indonesianeconomy #indonesianpolitic #indonesiantravel #exploreindonesian #indonesianactraction #wonderfullindonesia #nusantara #batikindonesia #fyp #fouryourpage #indonesianfood #visitindonesia #wonderfulcultureindonesian #natureindonesia #indonesianisland #indonesianphotographer #indonesianfashion #like #substack

Unless otherwise stated, this work by Indonesia Now with Duncan Graham is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 4.0 International Licence.

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Remember him? Or do we need a caption?

Yesterday I filed a piece on the economy under WORTH A SNIFF.

Here’s another excellent analysis of Indonesia’s rocky road – and where it might be heading: https://eastasiaforum.org/2026/07/05/indonesia-pays-the-price-for-its-out-of-sync-economic-policies/

Not uphill, whatever Prabowo’s devotees are saying.

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Dr Titik Anas lectures at Padjadjaran University; she’s a former special advisor to the Minister of Finance for Sectoral Fiscal Policy Formulation. She got her PhD from the ANU.

If you’re looking for official info on Australian-Indonesian relations, government news releases cut-n-pasted into the legacy media telling all’s well, then this website isn’t for you. If you want blunt fact-based commentary, stay put.

There are eleven Indonesians to every Australian and most don’t care a damn about us. We only pop briefly into their orbit like a passing asteroid when there’s a bushfire or a racist attack on a woman wearing a jilbab.

Likewise with us, though a report on the sinking of an overcrowded ferry or a bare-headed biker deported for smoking weed might draw a few tut-tuts.

About a million Australians holiday in Hindu-majority Bali every year and come back with tatts and braids. The food and villa were cheap, the staff more obliging than their Sydney equivalents and the Kuta surf not bad if you ignore the waves of plastic trash.

Less than 100,000 Indonesians get to Australia every year. Most are super rich cosmopolitans. There’s no way a middle-class worker with a uni degree can save enough on less than eight million rupiah a month - that’s AUD 200 a week.

If they’ve found some cash why choose Australia? As members of ASEAN, they have visa-free access to nine neighbours. To go south they first need to pay almost $200 just to apply for a visa, complete the 17-page form and then wait weeks for a response.

The truth about the relationship is shameful and proven through academic research. We’re neighbours but we don’t like them and they don’t trust us.

This is not a proper way to live, not just because it’s offensive but can lead to hate and worse. So this website is trying to enlarge the discussion and show the broader scene in the belief that frank info can lead to understanding and appreciation of difference. It’s not apologetic or mealy-mouthed.

Indonesia and Australia have many lousy laws and bad ways of doing things. Many people are compassionate, others indifferent. Bigots and the receptive are everywhere. Fundamentalism doesn’t need a visa to cross boundaries.

I’m an Australian journalist who has worked in the press, TV and radio and picked up a few gongs across 50 years of reporting. For much of this century I’ve lived in East Java with my Indonesian wife Erlinawati who takes the photos We travel widely to try and get a better handle on this vast archipelago and tell what’s happening.

Some try to stop us -usually government agencies wanting their version to prevail - but we push on. We’re independent, beholden only to telling what we see and hear. Then you decide.

As we say in RI - Enjoy, ya

Indonesia’s fixation on the rupiah–US dollar exchange rate has made monetary policy too responsive to US and global conditions, leaving domestic activity to absorb external shocks. Proposals to restore a formal peg may appear attractive amid rupiah weakness, falling reserves and deteriorating investor confidence, but Indonesia lacks the reserves, fiscal credibility and institutional strength needed to sustain one. A better approach would follow the bebas dan aktif principle that guides Indonesia’s foreign policy — free from the US dollar and active in responding to domestic inflation and economic conditions.

More than three decades ago, PM Paul Keating told a major event at Sydney Harbour that: “No country is more important to Australia than Indonesia.“

The following year Indonesian President Soeharto and Keating (above) signed the Agreement on Maintaining Security. It was 1995 and Indonesia’s first bilateral security agreement.

Academics at the Islam Uni have written that the signatures “emphasised the friendly relations between the two countries in the early-to-mid-1990s, and marked a particular milestone in the history of (their) relationship.

“From the Indonesian perspective, the agreement was considered somewhat effective in building common interests to promote regional security and stability.

“There were some concerns in Indonesia, including questioning its impact on the wider Southeast Asian region. However, these were not as strong as protests in Australia, where some claimed the agreement showed Keating supported Soeharto’s (32-year) dictatorship.”

(Indonesia’s second president died in 2008 with allegations he was Southeast Asia’s worst kleptocrat, stealing up to US $35 billion of public funds. He also masterminded the 1965-66 genocide of more than half a million real or suspected Communists. Why Keating – a stalwart for human rights – liked the monster remains a mystery.)

DOWN FROM THE MOUNT

Despite the qualms, Keating’s words have become holy writ for successive administrations of all stripes across the generations. But its disciples overlook an awkward fact: For true love both parties must share the same emotions and desires, and see each other as equals.

Some may care –but the leaders and citizens of the world’s fourth largest nation are only party to this marriage on a flimsy folio.

Jakarta’s words and actions since Keating - remembered as one of the most Indonesia-friendly Australian PMs - have not reinforced his hopes.

The pact was a marker in bilateral relations, committing both nations to consult on matters affecting their common security; four years later it was in shreds when the next PM, John Howard, agreed to a referendum on the future of the Indonesian province of East Timor, a former Portuguese colony seized violently by Jakarta in 1975.

Then came the 2002 Bali bombs and the 2015 execution of two of the Bali Nine Australian drug smugglers despite PM Tony Abbott’s plea for their lives. This was widely considered as the new President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo showing Indonesia wasn’t going to be pushed around by its soft Western neighbour.

Hardly the ‘right relationship’.

In foreign affairs, some wounds and insults are best slowly forgotten if harmony is to prevail.

Keating’s philosophy survived to be revived by PM Anthony Albanese and FM Senator Penny Wong.

Observed ABC commentator Laura Tingle: “We have re-strengthened our economic ties, and, significantly, our defence and strategic ties with Indonesia in recent years.”

The Triple Antigen – STDs. Not the medical curse but Security, Trade and Defence. Absent is the essential – Communication. It’s rarely mentioned in these high-level to-and-fro dealings, and often stuffed up by people we thought knew better.

WHAT’S MORE IMPORTANT – NEAR OR FAR?

The most splendid recent example is PM Anthony Albanese dodging President Prabowo Subianto’s inauguration in October 2024 in favour of meeting King Charles.

This is not getting the relationship right. Career diplomat Rod Brazier (above, presenting his credentials to President Prabowo last year), the Australian Ambassador in Jakarta, is said to be “fluent” in Indonesian, though maybe not in the culture.

If there were any old hands on the Embassy staff who knew the way around their postings in this complex, compound, contradictory society, they should have alerted Brazier. Our diplomatic mission in Jakarta is the largest in the world.

He could have told the PM the importance of his presence and the insult of his absence – though this would not be mentioned by the polite hosts.

Revenge is best served cold, as the bikies say. Prabowo dished out this year when he ignored the protocol of meeting foreign heads of state at the Halim Perdanakusuma Air Base, leaving Albanese to kick his heels.

Indonesian culture is crazy about formalities and respect. The inauguration snub, amplified by sending Deputy Richard Marles, proves that no nation is more important to Australia than the Old Country.

THE ODD COUPLE

Understanding the folk next door isn’t simple. Our two countries are just 144 km apart at their closest point across the Timor Sea, but they might just as well be further than the North Atlantic.

Australian Professor Tim Lindsey calls RI and Oz “the international odd couple … because there are very few neighbouring countries, perhaps none, with such marked differences. Race, ethnicity, language, majority religion, economy, geography, demography, history all are extraordinarily different.”

Should Indonesians worry that Australians are anxious? The numbers tell a story: There are eleven of them to one of us, more in Jakarta than the Commonwealth.

They like our beef, wheat and tourists’ money (unfortunately the yobs are needed for their wallets), but apart from grains and bulls (steers unwelcome) few countries are less important to Indonesia than Australia.

Flash a card showing Prabowo in any Australian shopping centre, and it’s unlikely he’d get recognition; his plumpness suggests he doesn’t play footy. Forgettable.

Likewise with Albanese – too plain and no uniform, so unimportant.

Now we have something new modelled on the Keating-Soeharto 1995 signing. Check the language. Sometimes it’s a ‘pact’. Indonesia says ‘deal’ but Australia shorthands this as ‘Jakarta treaty’, which it’s not.

NOT RATIFIED

Under the Indonesian Constitution important treaties must be ratified by the Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat – the 580-member national Parliament.

That has yet to happen with this year’s arrangement. No date has been set.

At the February ceremony this year Senator Penny Wong’s speechwriter recalled another part of Keating’s 1994 address: If we fail to get this relationship right... the whole web of our foreign relations is incomplete.”

The staffer had the Foreign Minister saying: “A strong and prosperous Indonesia is vital to the peace, stability and prosperity of our region.”

It all sounds splendid; the stuff of statecraft designed for applause. But do we believe the words and strive to ensure the Keating vision drives our foreign and domestic policies?

Will the ‘agreement’ lead to action? Or will it get binned like its predecessor once some crisis erupts?

FRUSTRATION

No guarantee, according to former Deputy Foreign Minister Dino Patti Djalal, one of Indonesia’s leading intellectuals and an expert on international relationships. He was Ambassador to the US earlier this century before failing to get endorsement as a Democrat Party candidate in the 2014 Presidential election

“There is a frustration that so many of the agreements that we have are not followed up,” Dr Dino told a conference last month in Jakarta:

“There is a serious issue of foreign policy management. … I don’t mind having only ten agreements that are fully implemented rather than 100 agreements that are never implemented.”

Not much of this makes sense measured by our Western way of arrogance and ignorance.. We’ve almost stopped learning the language and culture of the fourth largest nation in the world that we were so keen to accept when Keating articulated his 1994 vision.

Imagine our reaction if an Indonesian party leader said our culture has “no good Christians.” In reverse, Hanson’s hate and stupidity were not a message designed to better relations with the country that has more Muslims than any other nation.

There’s no record of the Senator having ever visited the archipelago, but what politician needs to go to know?

If the Trump fan and Rinehart puppet becomes powerful, here’s a handy line to cement her international credentials among her fans: “There’s no country of less importance to Australia than Indonesia.”

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#Indonesianculture #indonesianlanguage #indonesianlifestyle #indonesianeconomy #indonesianpolitic #indonesiantravel #exploreindonesian #indonesianactraction #wonderfullindonesia #nusantara #batikindonesia #fyp #fouryourpage #indonesianfood #visitindonesia #wonderfulcultureindonesian #natureindonesia #indonesianisland #indonesianphotographer #indonesianfashion #like #substack

Unless otherwise stated, this work by Indonesia Now with Duncan Graham is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 4.0 International Licence.

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Duncan Graham

You’re collecting the main meal. Jolly banter in the queue. Suddenly, the tray slips – scalded hands and the chef’s special bakso (meatball soup) splashes down the backs of fellow diners. This happens most often at formal functions and guarantees blacklisting. An aberration – or the uncontrollable shakes?

Parkinson’s sounds like an exclusive English fashion brand. Sadly, there’s nothing posh about “the fastest growing neurological condition in the world and the second most common after dementia.”

About fifty new cases of the disease are diagnosed in Australia every day, with an estimated 150,000 patients across the Wide Brown.

Don’t confuse with Alzheimer’s, now the leading cause of death. PD doesn’t kill but carries the armaments that can hasten a trip to the cemetery or crematorium.

The verb is apt; a quarter of victims take a tumble on their first outing. PD stalks for years like a Russian hit-man, then uncorks the nerve agent.

The World Health Organisation estimates that more than 8.5 million people worldwide suffer, a number that’s doubled in the last 25 years. The journo’s questions: Why, how, when, where, what? We still know far less than we need. Even AI can’t answer.

Inheritable? Are diets a factor – and how about lifestyle? PD “can run in families as a result of faulty genes being passed to a child by their parents,” say the experts. But that’s rare.

“Environmental factors may increase a person’s risk … It’s been suggested that pesticides and herbicides, traffic or industrial pollution may contribute to the condition. But the evidence … is inconclusive.”

It’s not contagious; you can shake a sufferer’s hands – if they stay still. Kissing and hugging are fine. Parkies need love like everyone.

To date, it seems victims should continue with normal nutritious meals. Daily walks are good, along with keeping a sharp mind by reading Pearls & Irritations and ignoring The Australian. Avoid stress.

The deeply religious might reason a vengeful deity is smiting them for past sins, but most realise diagnosis is a lottery. PD is idiopathic.

In 1817, British chemist and doctor James Parkinson identified the disease, though ancient Indian and Chinese writings suggest it may have existed for more than a thousand years BC.

One in five Aussies - mostly men - will die where “neurological conditions are the underlying cause.” The median age for Parkies’ hospitalisations is 76.

Most admissions are from infectious diseases, trauma, cardiovascular (heart and blood), cerebrovascular (blood flow to the brain) and gastrointestinal (gut) emergencies.

Losing balance is the lurking terror. Almost 70 per cent of falls are “due to postural instability, rigidity, and slower reflexes; injuries are more frequent and severe than in age-matched peers.”

Parkies shuffle with bent backs, alert for strong street furniture, like lamps and power poles, to grab for stability. There’s a resistance to wheelchairs because use marks the end of independence.

Smart homeowners install vertical and horizontal rails on walls, particularly WCs. The edge of a toilet bowl can kill.

Another spotters’ clue is Parkies needing both hands to sip a cool drink, hence the now unfashionable ‘shaking palsy’. If your dependent uses a keyboard, you’ll notice clusters of errors and texts of garbage.

Health authorities say PD is caused by a loss of nerve cells that produce dopamine.

This chemical/hormone “acts as a messenger between the parts of the brain and nervous system that help control and coordinate body movements. If these nerve cells die or get damaged, the amount of dopamine in the brain is reduced.

The daily drug levodopa boosts dopamine, while add-ons help reduce side effects like nausea and vomiting. But these aren’t cures,

PD is progressive and so far, incurable. Much lab work is funded by former US/Canadian child film star from the 90s, Michael J Fox.

He was diagnosed with PD at 30, proving it’s not just for oldies. Now 65 and mainly retired, it shows the disease is not a killer.

Fox wanted a cure, and in 2000, he set up a foundation in his name. So far, it claims to have raised US$ 2.5 billion.

He advocates stem-cell research. Cell replacement therapies are opposed by pro-life advocates and some religious groups, claiming:

“… the embryo is morally equivalent to a person, a fully developed human being. So, extracting stem cells from a blastocyst is as morally abhorrent as harvesting organs from a baby to save other people’s lives.”

The regulated research is legal in Australia.

Parkinson’s Australia was founded in 2000 as a national advocate based in Canberra. Services and support for individuals come from GPs and independent, state-based organisations funded by public donations, sponsors and government grants.

An Australian survey found poor public knowledge and “that people with PD are more likely to be a marginalised group within their communities,” with the disease often dismissed as part of aging.

So next time you get annoyed at the way Parkies walk, forever alert for hazards, consider that you could be next when the spinning wheel stops.

Disclosure: Readers will have guessed that DG and PD are, as the cops say, “known to each other.”

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First published in Pearls & Irritations, 6 July 2026: https://johnmenadue.com/post/2026/07/thanks-mr-fox-please-keep-digging/

#Indonesianculture #indonesianlanguage #indonesianlifestyle #indonesianeconomy #indonesianpolitic #indonesiantravel #exploreindonesian #indonesianactraction #wonderfullindonesia #nusantara #batikindonesia #fyp #fouryourpage #indonesianfood #visitindonesia #wonderfulcultureindonesian #natureindonesia #indonesianisland #indonesianphotographer #indonesianfashion #like #substack

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THE INDONESIAN VERSION:

TERIMA KASIH TUAN FOX; TOLONG TERUSLAH MENGGALI

Duncan Graham

Anda mengumpulkan makanan utama. Olok-olok riang dalam antrian. Tiba-tiba, nampan tergelincir – tangan melepuh dan bakso (sup bakso) spesial koki memercik punggung sesama pengunjung. Ini paling sering terjadi pada acara formal dan menjamin daftar hitam. Penyimpangan – atau guncangan yang tidak terkendali?

Parkinson’s terdengar seperti merek fesyen Inggris eksklusif. Sayangnya, tidak ada yang mewah tentang “ kondisi neurologis yang tumbuh paling cepat di dunia dan yang paling umum kedua setelah demensia.”

Sekitar lima puluh kasus baru penyakit ini didiagnosis di Australia setiap hari, dengan diperkirakan 150.000 pasien di seluruh Wide Brown.

Jangan bingung dengan Alzheimer, sekarang penyebab utama kematian. PD tidak membunuh tetapi membawa persenjataan yang dapat mempercepat perjalanan ke pemakaman atau krematorium.

Kata kerjanya tepat; seperempat korban jatuh pada tamasya pertama mereka. PD menguntit selama bertahun-tahun seperti pembunuh bayaran Rusia, kemudian membuka agen saraf.

Organisasi Kesehatan Dunia memperkirakan bahwa lebih dari 8,5 juta orang di seluruh dunia menderita, jumlah yang meningkat dua kali lipat dalam 25 tahun terakhir. Pertanyaan jurnalis: Mengapa, bagaimana, kapan, di mana, apa? Kita masih tahu jauh lebih sedikit daripada yang kita butuhkan. Bahkan AI tidak bisa menjawab.

Dapat diwariskan? Apakah diet merupakan faktor – dan bagaimana dengan gaya hidup? PD “dapat terjadi dalam keluarga sebagai akibat dari gen yang salah yang diturunkan kepada anak oleh orang tua mereka,” kata para ahli. Tapi itu jarang terjadi.

“Faktor lingkungan dapat meningkatkan risiko seseorang ... Telah disarankan bahwa pestisida dan herbisida, lalu lintas atau polusi industri dapat berkontribusi pada kondisi tersebut. Tapi buktinya ... tidak meyakinkan.”

Itu tidak menular; Anda dapat menjabat tangan penderita – jika mereka tetap diam. Berciuman dan berpelukan baik-baik saja. Parkies membutuhkan cinta seperti semua orang.

Sampai saat ini, tampaknya korban harus melanjutkan dengan makanan bergizi normal. Jalan-jalan setiap hari itu bagus, bersama dengan menjaga pikiran yang tajam dengan membaca Pearls & Irritations dan mengabaikan The Australian. Hindari stres.

Orang-orang yang sangat religius mungkin beralasan bahwa dewa yang pendendam memukul mereka karena dosa-dosa masa lalu, tetapi sebagian besar menyadari diagnosis adalah lotere. PD bersifat idiopatik.

Pada tahun 1817, ahli kimia dan dokter Inggris James Parkinson mengidentifikasi penyakit ini, meskipun tulisan India dan Cina kuno menunjukkan bahwa penyakit itu mungkin telah ada selama lebih dari seribu tahun SM.

Satu dari lima orang Australia - sebagian besar pria - akan meninggal di mana “kondisi neurologis adalah penyebab yang mendasarinya.” Usia rata-rata untuk rawat inap Parkies adalah 76 tahun.

Sebagian besar penerimaan berasal dari penyakit menular, trauma, kardiovaskular (jantung dan darah), serebrovaskular (aliran darah ke otak) dan keadaan darurat gastrointestinal (usus).

Kehilangan keseimbangan adalah teror yang mengintai. Hampir 70 persen jatuh adalah “karena ketidakstabilan postural, kekakuan, dan refleks yang lebih lambat; cedera lebih sering dan parah daripada rekan-rekan yang seumuran.”

Parkies mengocok dengan punggung membungkuk, waspada terhadap furnitur jalan yang kuat, seperti lampu dan tiang listrik, untuk meraih stabilitas. Ada penolakan terhadap kursi roda karena penggunaan menandai akhir dari kemandirian.

Pemilik rumah pintar memasang rel vertikal dan horizontal di dinding, terutama WC. Tepi mangkuk toilet bisa membunuh.

Petunjuk pengintai lainnya adalah Parkies membutuhkan kedua tangan untuk menyesap minuman dingin, oleh karena itu ‘kelumpuhan gemetar’ yang sekarang tidak modis. Jika tanggungan Anda menggunakan keyboard, Anda akan melihat sekelompok kesalahan dan teks sampah.

Otoritas kesehatan mengatakan PD disebabkan oleh hilangnya sel-sel saraf yang memproduksi dopamin.

Bahan kimia/hormon ini “bertindak sebagai pembawa pesan antara bagian otak dan sistem saraf yang membantu mengontrol dan mengoordinasikan gerakan tubuh. Jika sel-sel saraf ini mati atau rusak, jumlah dopamin di otak berkurang.

Obat harian levodopa meningkatkan dopamin, sementara add-on membantu mengurangi efek samping seperti mual dan muntah. Tapi ini bukan obat,

PD progresif dan sejauh ini, tidak dapat disembuhkan. Banyak pekerjaan laboratorium didanai oleh mantan bintang film cilik AS/Kanada dari tahun 90-an, Michael J Fox.

Dia didiagnosis menderita PD pada usia 30 tahun, membuktikan itu bukan hanya untuk orang tua. Sekarang berusia 65 tahun dan sebagian besar pensiun, itu menunjukkan penyakit ini bukan pembunuh.

Fox menginginkan obatnya, dan pada tahun 2000, dia mendirikan yayasan atas namanya. Sejauh ini, pihaknya mengklaim telah mengumpulkan US$ 2,5 miliar.

Dia menganjurkan penelitian sel punca. Terapi penggantian sel ditentang oleh pendukung pro-kehidupan dan beberapa kelompok agama, yang mengklaim:

“… Embrio secara moral setara dengan seseorang, manusia yang berkembang sepenuhnya. Jadi, mengekstraksi sel punca dari blastokista sama menjijikkannya secara moral dengan pengambilan organ dari bayi untuk menyelamatkan nyawa orang lain.”

Penelitian yang diatur legal di Australia.

Parkinson’s Australia didirikan pada tahun 2000 sebagai advokat nasional yang berbasis di Canberra. Layanan dan dukungan untuk individu berasal dari dokter umum dan organisasi independen berbasis negara bagian yang didanai oleh sumbangan publik, sponsor, dan hibah pemerintah.

Sebuah survei Australia menemukan pengetahuan publik yang buruk dan “bahwa orang dengan PD lebih mungkin menjadi kelompok terpinggirkan dalam komunitas mereka,” dengan penyakit ini sering diabaikan sebagai bagian dari penuaan.

Jadi lain kali Anda kesal dengan cara Parkies berjalan, selamanya waspada terhadap bahaya, pertimbangkan bahwa Anda bisa menjadi yang berikutnya ketika roda berputar berhenti.

Pengungkapan: Pembaca akan menebak bahwa DG dan PD, seperti yang dikatakan polisi, “saling mengenal.”

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Image: https://careercandour.com/p/indonesia-innovation-who-carries-risk

Indonesia needs investors, super smarties with overseas education and experience, money, ideas and the courage of their convictions - people like Singapore-born management consultant and Indonesian citizen Nadiem Makarim, 42

It would be hard to find a better example of a most-wanted man.

After returning from Harvard University, he worked as a management consultant and then started his own show as a tech entrepreneur and co-founder of Gojek.

This is the wildly successful motorbike ride-sharing service that has crippled the traditional urban-transport systems, like taxis and bemo. These are kerb-crawling mini-buses that pick up and drop off anywhere on a scheduled route for a small fixed fee.

Motorbikes are everywhere in Indonesia – mostly step-throughs around 110 to 160 cc. There are about 140 million, making the Republic’s roads the second most crowded after India.

KEYBOARD A RIDE

Indonesians whinge furiously about the traffic, but Nadiem did something.

He became famous from 2010 as Indonesians rapidly adapted to keyboarding a ride on their smartphones, detailing their needs and getting a price, arrival time and journey length, no voice necessary.

The independent drivers known as ojek carry a spare helmet and plastic coat for wet days. The system wouldn’t thrive in Australia because of licensing, insurance and training – but Indonesia is largely free of such regulations, meaning rides cost little.

The original service in traffic-choked Jakarta started with 20 bikes. Now it has more than two million owner-drivers working in more than 200 cities.

It has expanded into food and parcel deliveries, home massage, house cleaning and the cashless digital payment platform GoPay, now increasingly in use. The company is Indonesia’s first ‘decacorn’ – a privately-held start-up worth more than US$ 10 billion.

Puff pieces lauded Nadiem’s “aim to improve the economic growth of Indonesia using technology as a means of social impact; Gojek has created jobs, improved livelihoods of multiple people and helped nudge micro-entrepreneurs.

“Today, Gojek is a household name, almost a verb.”

Nadiem won more than the claps of drivers who could now earn using bikes bought for work or recreation, but also the admiration of big-biz. Not far behind was President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo who in 2021 invited him to become Minister for Education.

(In the Indonesian political system outsiders can be appointed as Cabinet ministers.)

Nadiem immediately created enemies among the hard-line religious. One of his first rulings was to ban schools forcing students to wear faith garb. He started pushing computers, determined to make schools tech-literate.

He lasted as golden boy till Jokowi’s second five-year term expired in 2024, and he was replaced by the disgraced former general with a dodgy human rights record, Prabowo Subianto. His ideology is the militarisation of government agencies and businesses.

It didn’t take long for Nadiem to lose his influence in the Palace. In less than two years, he was under house arrest, charged with corruption for buying Chromebook laptops and software during the Covid epidemic, though knowing many of the 79,000 schools being supplied could not get the Internet.

The simple answer was to extend the network and modernise the nation, but that didn’t suit the plan to kill a capitalist threatening the establishment.

The prosecutors argued that the 1.4 million laptops – each worth about Rp 5.2 million (AUD 420) were inappropriate. They claimed Nadiem had personally benefited by receiving IDR 809 billion (AUD 65 million).

The indictment stated that the decision to procure laptops with the Chrome operating system was made solely for business interests and to benefit Google, which runs Chrome.

Nadiem denied owning shares in Google and put out a statement: “The case against me is not a criminal case, but rather a narrative of friction between a new group seeking change and an old guard wanting to maintain the status quo.

“This is why the contents of the indictment do not rely on facts and criminal evidence, but rather on witness narratives designed to create the perception that my team was coercing a decision at my command.”

He was widely criticised for earlier moving from commerce to government. Kompas newspaper commented: “From the moment he accepted the offer to become a minister, Nadiem understood the risks associated with the position he held, including the possibility of being sacrificed.”

But did he? Nadiem reminisced on his failed mission: “Together with me, the idealistic and brave young people entered the (Education) ministry full of enthusiasm, unaware of the fierce resistance we would face … by prioritising transparency and technology, many established parties feel disadvantaged and threatened.”

All to no avail. After a six-month trial before five judges (one dissenting), he was jailed for a decade (the prosecution wanted 18 years) and fined the equivalent of US $550 million.

If he doesn’t pay, his properties and goods will be seized.

Nadiem’s legal team has vowed to appeal. So far Prabowo hasn’t commented. (Under the Constitution, a President can change, reduce, lighten, or pardon a sentence, though the verdict of guilt remains.)

The American Chamber of Commerce in Indonesia said:

“It will be a long road back to investor confidence for the IDX, which has fallen about 33 per cent in 2026, making it one of the world’s worst-performing stock exchanges. Foreign investors have sold roughly Rp 71.7 trillion ($4 billion) worth of Indonesian equities in 2026.

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Image below: Career Candour

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So the average observer might expect the Australian media to run regular stories on the continuing violence in the nearby Indonesian province and for NZ to largely ignore the ongoing strife.

Yet it’s the other way around with NZ papers, TV and radio keeping Kiwis alert to the demands of the independence movement and the alleged brutality of the campaign by Jakarta to crush rebels.

Just as in the 1945-1949 guerrilla campaign between partisans and the Netherlands trying to hang on to its former colony.

The Javanese who fell in the fight are now commemorated as heroes and remembered with statues. Their equivalents in Papua are labelled traitors.

This report from senior journalist Johnny Blades tells Kiwis what’s happening high in the Pacific and far away

Australians wanting to be informed should use Radio NZ, the source of the story below broadcast on 3 July 2026. Here’s the reference: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/pacific/657653/indonesia-defends-high-number-of-military-in-papua

Indonesia defends high number of military in Papua

Caption:Soldiers from the Indonesian Army’s 112th Raider Infantry Battalion sing during a ceremony at a military base in Japakeh, Aceh province on June 25, 2024, ahead of their deployment to Papua province.Photo credit:AFP / Chaideer Mahyuddin

Indonesia has defended the high number of military personnel it has deployed to West Papua, which dwarves the size of deployments to others parts of the republic.

But under Indonesian president Subianto Prabowo, a former military strongman, militarisation of Papua is changing gears and being shaped by a type of warfare that includes drone technology.

Recent research reported by Project Multatuli, says that 56,517 Indonesian military forces are deployed in Papua - at least six times more military per capita than any other region in Indonesia.

The figures also note that Indonesia’s military far outnumbers the amount of Papuan pro-independence fighters, estimated at 1438 members of various disparate, small groups with only 361 firearms.

The research figures come amid ongoing violent incidents related to a long running conflict between Indonesia’s security forces and the West Papua National Liberation Army, or armed factions of the OPM Free West Papua Movement.

The Indonesian Embassy in New Zealand said not all the numbers are active combatants or personnel directed to fight Papuan resistance forces.

It said the assignment of military doctors, medics, and territorial development divisions was part of efforts to provide for communities in Papua.

“Continuing the expansion of provinces in Papua, previously from two to six, there will be obviously the need to provide security, health, and the capability to adapt to the new administration structure, with also the assignment to guard and maintain the land and maritime borders with our neighbouring countries,” a statement from the Embassy said.

Andreas Harsono of Human Rights Watch Indonesia.

Supplied

Andreas Harsono of Human Rights Watch Indonesia said that under the country’s new president, Prabowo Subianto, there’s been an escalation of military sent to Papua, with at least a battalion each year being deployed.

“The Prabowo administration is to increase the figure up to 42 battalions by 2029. Today, Papua has around 56,000 Indonesian soldiers. The ratio is one soldier per 100 civilians in Papua. It is much higher than the national ratio in Indonesia - one soldier per 696 civilians.”

The purpose of the huge military deployment is working hand in glove with a gradual change in demographics in Papua, whereby Papuans are becoming a minority in many districts, and an increase in development projects backed by the Indonesian state.

“It obviously is more than securing the area and to protect the population, but to grab lands to clear forests and to occupy this vast land,” Harsono said.

“The biggest detachments is in South Papua Province, including Merauke and Boeven Digoel regencies, where the Indonesian government is clearing nearly three million hectares of land and swamps, starting to produce what President Prabowo said to be the ‘food and energy estate’.”

West Papuan villagers hold a drone and grenade following an alleged aerial attack in Kiwirok, 2024.

Free West Papua campaign

Meanwhile, Papuans are not only seeing more military personnel in their homeland these days - they’re witnessing a new type of warfare and technology being used by the Indonesian military.

“Military units, usually equipped with drones, are dispatched in areas where the Papuan militants operate. These units patrol their respective areas with foot soldiers and drone units also armed with grenades and other explosives attached to the drone.”

Indonesia’s military also works together with a large Indonesian police presence in Papua - the research figures showed there are 26,660 police deployed in Papua region.

Additionally, countless officers from the State Intelligence Agency, who are scattered through the region, work in tandem with the security forces to protect the interests of the Indonesian state.

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Why wait for the Senator to empty language labs when we have an education system doing the job already?

The ABC reports that a major parliamentary report has found ‘ a looming crisis in Australia’s understanding of Asia’, with students not studying Asian languages at year 12 or at university level at high enough rates.

The report warns that Indonesian language teaching is set to be “functionally extinct” within the next five years, while only 3.3 per cent of Australian year 12 students studied Chinese, Indonesian or Japanese in 2023, down from 4.7 per cent in 2012.

Domestic enrolments in SEA languages at Australian universities fell by 75 per cent between 2005 and 2024.

The only university to offer a dedicated program on South Asia is the Australian National University, the report said.

The committee chair, Labor MP and Special Envoy for the Indian Ocean Tim Watts, told the ABC that Australia’s Asian language capability was close to falling off a cliff.

“Of the 1 million domestic university students in Australia, barely 500 are studying Indonesian.”

“The institutions that build Australia’s Asia capability now face an existential crisis.”

HANG ON – THIS MIGHT BE SERIOUS

Here’s proof the situation is getting dire, impacting business, and God forbid, security. This suggests some improvements possible, sometime, maybe.

The Australian Financial Review is paying attention. Sit up straight, this is more than an ABC filler:

The dearth of “Asia capability” education – the term used to describe the ability to understand and engage effectively with Asian countries and cultures – is also leaving Australia’s security exposed as it faces its “most challenging strategic environment” since World War II, concluded the committee.

“Asia capability is now a vital sovereign capability. You would not know this to look at our schools, our universities or our businesses,” said committee chairman and Special Envoy for Indian Ocean Affairs Tim Watts.

“While Australian statecraft in Asia has never been more active than it is today, the pipeline building the capability that enables it is in crisis.”

In one of the report’s starkest revelations, it warned that while neighbouring Indonesia was on track to become the world’s fourth-largest economy by 2050, barely 500 of the 1 million domestic Australian university students were studying Indonesian language.

Fortunately for our reputation (if we still have one), an isolated school teaching Indonesian was featured in the RI media. It makes us look good.

The full story of why and how is here. As usual the driver was one dedicated person with a vision.

Bibi Ahmed (left) along with Indonesian teacher ‘Pak’ Karl and ‘Pak’ Mur at Scotts Head Public School in a small coastal village on the Mid-North Coast of NSW – population 899.

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In most societies, job seekers with little experience or skills learn more through post-school providers. In Indonesia, Politeknik and Balai Latihan Kerja (vocational training centres) are among government and private services. Now comes the Army.

Camouflage strides and combat boots are the right gear for a career with a gun. If the ambition is shopkeeping aprons and plastic gloves - no need for armaments.

Retailing is big business in Indonesia, though packaging is small to match slim wallets.

This story is being written close to a vast Malaysian-owned supermarket with freezers, air con and fast service by uniformed kids from distant suburbs.

Nearby are two traditional markets where quivering beef carcases hang over fly-strewn counters. Meat is sliced by people you know, and they’ll show the best cuts; this is neighbourhood.

The slow-moving dawn customers are here to chat, and shop.

Economist Mohammad Hatta (1902 – 1980) was Indonesia’s first Vice President, PM and author of many of the nation’s foundation principles, including for co-ops:

‘His conception of cooperative economics was based on his conviction of the efficacy of collective endeavour and societal accountability.

‘Hatta advocated for the foundation of economic progress on principles of equality, solidarity and cooperation rather than individualism and competitiveness.

‘He believed cooperative economics presented a fairer and more enduring alternative to capitalist structures, which he saw as intrinsically exploitative.’

Indonesian cities and big towns have supermarkets much like those in Australia, while the suburbs are served by chains of private convenience stores, upmarket versions of the rapidly vanishing family corner shops, warung kelontong.

A decade ago, there were more than six million; now just two.

‘Kop Des Merah Putih (Red and White Village Cooperatives) is President Prabowo Subianto’s plan to build 80,000 cooperatives. His last-century ideas are driven more by nostalgia than economic reasoning.

The policy was not revealed during the 2024 Presidential election campaign. It’s up against Indonesia’s two convenience store giants, Indomaret and Alfamart.

Together theyhold over 92 per cent of the Indonesian convenience store market.

Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman told the media that village cooperatives “could shorten the food supply chain and improve both farmer welfare and consumer purchasing power.

“It is important for the agriculture sector to cut and shorten the supply chain, which used to have eight stages but now will be reduced to three.”

The big fear is corruption that has already struck another Prabowo initiative. The free kids’ meal programme Makan Bergizi Gratis has been so damaged by alleged fraud that the budget has been cut by 20 per cent and three top executives arrested.

Prabowo has reportedly told Forbes magazine that “corruption is a disease; once it reaches stage four, like cancer, it is very difficult to eradicate.”

Prabowo, a disgraced former general dismissed last century for disobedience, is insisting that staff in the Red-and-Whites must first get training in a military camp.

How the stores can effectively compete with the private profit-driven competitive franchises in a competitive market is a puzzle.

To outsiders, the government’s policy is socialism and close to communism, an observation fraught with hazards for the philosophy is banned and promoters ferociously persecuted.

Academics at a university seminar commented: “Rather than emerging from grassroots initiatives, these cooperatives stem from a top-down scheme that treats villages merely as administrative objects.

“Beneath the rhetoric of serving the people lies a potential for statism that disregards the spirit of self-reliance as envisioned by Hatta.”

Indonesian government bureaucratsreckon Prabowo’s plan could eventually create more than 1.4 million jobs across Indonesia’s rural regions. The data backing this estimate hasn’t been revealed.

“About 30,000 prospective managers for village cooperatives and another 5,476 candidates for fishing village cooperatives are participating in the training program at 67 military facilities nationwide.”

To get their jobs selling teas and tissues, candidates must “undergo 45 days of training, including 30 days of basic military instruction under the Defence Ministry’s reserve component program, followed by 15 days of managerial and technical training.”

Tragically, one man and two young women trainee managers in separate get-tough Army camps have died, causes unknown but believed to be heatstroke. Inquiries are reportedly underway, but calls to shut the system have been ignored.

The franchisees who manage the modern well-stocked stores don’t have military training. Prabowo’s plan is not about self-defence. Armed hold-ups are rare and usually confined to gold and jewellery traders. Many employ satpam, doorway security guards.

The system seems to work for most consumers, though not the Prez who wants the military installed in every sector of society – including the retail trade.

Getting an explanation for Prabowo’s ideology from his office has been splendidly unsuccessful. No worries - its origins are in the Orde Baru (New Order) authoritarian regime of the last century, run by second President Soeharto – Prabowo’s former father-in-law.

The supporters of Prabowo’s logic-free policy, like the Ministry’s General Rico Ricardo Sirait, claim the “training is designed to instil discipline, leadership, teamwork, integrity, a spirit of service and a strong work ethic.”

This doesn’t resonate with investigative filmmaker and government critic Dandhy Dwi Laksono:

“Military training is not intended for capacity building. Don’t compare it with training at Alfamart.

“This is part of a broader government approach that relies on rigid, militaristic methods rather than practical, civic administration.”

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One Nation denies connection to cyber army of Indonesian supporters

A cyber army of Indonesian influencers supporting Pauline Hanson on social media has been labelled “deliberate foreign interference” by the party itself.

In the past seven months, many new pages supporting Hanson have been popping up on Facebook, with rapid growth among Australians, while being controlled from Indonesia.

Hundreds of thousands of Aussies are consuming this content every day, and it’s easy to miss where it’s coming from, with the poster’s name appearing in small print on Facebook feeds. A Current Affair

One page has 117,000 members, with all three admins based in Indonesia and dozens of posts daily in support of One Nation.

Some of the content targets Muslims, yet is being posted by Indonesian accounts often with a profile picture of a woman wearing an Islamic headscarf.

One such poster, named Yeti Marati, has posts calling for mosques to be closed down in Australia, which generated many comments of support from Australian fans of One Nation.

One such poster, named Yeti Marati, has posts calling for mosques to be closed down in Australia, which generated many comments of support from Australian fans of One Nation. A Current Affair

Another top contributor named Ayu Ollshop also posts about preventing “islamification” of Australia.

While her account name means “online shop” in Indonesia, she appears to be a real person, posting for years about food and daily life in South Sumatra, before a sudden switch to Australian issues.

On April 18, the Ayu Ollshop account suddenly pumped out three posts in support of Ben Roberts-Smith, who is currently facing war crimes charges.

There are also positive posts about other conservative favourites in Australia: Gina Rinehart and Holly Valance.

Hundreds of thousands of Aussies are consuming this content every day, and it’s easy to miss where it’s coming from, with the poster’s name appearing in small print on Facebook feeds.

Ed Coper is a political communications expert and author of the book Angertainment.

Images like this one are being shared by the online groups. A Current Affair

He says much of the foreign content is what’s described as ‘rage bait’ – making people angry to drive more clicks.

“It’s incredibly easy on social media just to make you really angry about something,” he said.

“Your gut instinct when you see something that’s ‘rage bait’ is to immediately engage with it and so people know they just have to make something that’ll make you really angry and they’ll get all the engagement.”

ANU researcher Ross Tapsell believes it could be the first time a shadowy industry operating in Indonesia has been used to influence Australian politics.

“So there is this underground, hidden industry, it’s an influence operations industry,” Tapsell, who’s spent the past decade researching disinformation in South-East Asia, said.

Indonesian elections are regularly influenced by social media, involving people known as “buzzers”.

“A ‘buzzer’ is an organised digital labourer who is generally posting content on social media for some form of financial gain,” Tapsell said.

It can be a controversial occupation; a “buzzer” was arrested last year in Jakarta for impeding an Indonesian corruption investigation.

On April 18, the Ayu Ollshop account suddenly pumped out three posts in support of Ben Roberts-Smith, who is currently facing war crimes charges. A Current Affair

“Buzzer” teams are available for hire, deploying social media accounts they’ve been crafting for years.

“Their job is to just continue to post what is given to them,” Tapsell said.

“It’s very top-down, and they’re at the bottom of the rung they often don’t meet their employers.”

A Current Affair messaged around 25 different Indonesian Facebook accounts supporting One Nation and failed to receive a single reply, though one account removed a video that had been questioned.

“Sometimes one person might be managing 15 different Facebook pages and they would be putting out the same content on those 15 different Facebook pages,” Tapsell said.

One Indonesian post viewed by A Current Affair accidentally included the instructions they were given to “ask your audience this question.”

The pro-One Nation content from Indonesia flooding Australian feeds appears to be highly coordinated with identical images repeated across multiple accounts.

Tapsell said they were clearly not doing it because they’re interested in One Nation but rather for “financial purposes”.

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