Documento sin título

Tsunami

Commodore James Goldrick,
Professor John Baird,
Professor Robin Prior,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,

First of all, I would like to convey my appreciation to the Australian Defense Force Academy, in particular Ms. Minako Sakai, for inviting me again to speak before this esteemed institution. As requested, my today's presentation will focus on tsunami relief operation in Aceh and the future relationships between Indonesia and Australia.

Ladies and gentlemen,
The tsunami struck Indonesia and other countries across the Indian Ocean region at around 8 o'clock on 26 December 2004 sending waves of around 35 meters high to the coastal lines and devastating parts of the provinces of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam and North Sumatra. This tsunami practically destroyed all public and private properties in 22 regencies and almost 250.000 people in Aceh and North Sumatra are either dead or presumed dead in this tragedy.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono immediately declared a national disaster and ordered Vice President Jusuf Kalla as the Chairman of the National Coordinating Agency for Disaster Relief and Refugees to coordinate the emergency relief operations. Within its limited resources, the Indonesian government quickly earmarked around $2 billion to finance a massive relief and reconstruction operation for the tsunami-hit regions.

The government also acted swiftly by inviting friendly countries and, indeed, foreign humanitarian workers to help Indonesia conduct this gigantic operation. Thousands civilians and military personnel from around the world -notably from Australia - have since worked relentlessly with Indonesians to help lessen the burdens of the victims of the Boxing Day Tsunami by providing food, medicines, clean water, and temporary shelters, for which the Indonesian government has expressed its sincere gratitude.

What we missed most of all in the Australian media's coverage of the disaster was its failure to acknowledge the response made by the Indonesian public to the emergency. If there was any comment at all it invariably referred to a certain tardiness of my fellow countrymen and women to respond to this disaster. This is quite misleading. Within hours of the tragedy, groups from all over Indonesia sent advance teams to help the suffering. From every corner of the country, Indonesians turned out in droves to generate and donate money to help the victims.

Ladies and gentlemen,
The situation in the affected areas in Aceh and North Sumatra is improving. We are very grateful also that we are able to prevent the outbreak of diseases which usually followed such a disaster. The government is confident that the emergency relief operations will be completed by the end of this month and then followed by a rehabilitation program until December 2006 to ensure that essential services and basic needs are met and to allow the reconstruction program to start from June 2006 until December 2009.

The government has determined to make sure that every cent in aid is accounted for and allocated in accordance with the real needs of the people. Toward this end, the government has decided to open the office of the Supreme Audit Agency in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh tasked with closely monitoring the use of tsunami aid.

At the same time, the government is also determined to ensure that foreign humanitarian workers working in those devastated areas fully respect the existing Indonesian rules and regulations, including respecting the local cultures in an attempt to maintain social harmony, security and public order.

We have recently been able to identify some irresponsible elements abusing their presence in Aceh by conducting evangelism missions or by establishing contacts with the rebels in Aceh. In order to create a healthy environment for the Australian Non-Governmental Organizations to operate in those disaster-hit areas I have recently been invited by members of Philanthropy Australia Inc and the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) in Melbourne during which I reminded them to always observe the Australian government's code of conduct that clearly stipulates that all non-government agencies operating in Indonesia should not engage in or be involved with activities related to evangelism, separatism, labor disputes, or any activities contrary to the national interests of the two neighboring countries.

Ladies and gentlemen,
Let me now turn to discuss the future relationship between Indonesia and Australia. As you may be aware, while other countries were still trying to comprehend the massive scale of the tsunami tragedy, Australia was the first to come to our aid and help the victims to weather this indeed tragic calamity by immediately sending several transport planes loaded with emergency supplies followed by around 1000 of its military personnel to Aceh and North Sumatra. Australia deployed several Hercules transport planes, water purifying, medical and heavy-duty equipment. The Australian government has also sent the supply ship, HMAS Kanimbla, to Indonesia to support the operations.

The quick response from Australia to the tragedy in Indonesia was highly appreciated by the Indonesian government. When President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono met PM John Howard on the occasion of attending a special ASEAN Leaders' meeting on the Aftermath of Tsunami and Earthquake in Jakarta on 6th January, he was quoted as saying: 'You were first on the phone. You were the first to have aircraft on the ground. That is a gesture / will never forget.'

PM John Howard also echoed a hope that the tsunami tragedy can bring the two countries closer together in the future. He was quoted as saying during his visit last month to the disaster-hit areas: 'Out of this dreadful tragedy the people and governments of Australia and Indonesia have worked together harmoniously, purposefully and in a compassionate way to bring relief. And, we look to the future'.

Listening to these statements, we can confidently anticipate that post-tsunami will herald a new era of close relations between our two countries in the future. The establishment of a new mechanism for cooperation namely the Australia - Indonesia Partnership for Reconstruction and Development (AIPRD) will become a common vehicle for the two governments to engage and develop understanding between each other. Chaired by the president and the prime minister and equipped with a joint commission of their foreign and economic ministers, this body will oversee the utilization over the next five years of Australia's A$ 1 billion assistance package to help rebuild the devastated areas in Aceh and North Sumatra. This is over and above the A$ 800 million, over five years, already committed by the Australian government under the Official Development Assistance programs across the entire country.

Within days, we will have the Seventh Indonesia - Australia Ministerial Forum at which the Partnership program will be a principal item for discussion.

We are also looking forward to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's visit to Australia in the near future in an attempt to further solidify our bilateral ties.

In the area of military to military relations, I am also optimistic that post-tsunami we will see more cooperation between the two institutions. Before the tsunami especially after the Australia's involvement in East Timor in 1999, we could not have imagined Australia's forces operating openly on Indonesian soil. But now, Australian military personnel have joined hands with their counterparts in providing humanitarian assistance to the people in Aceh.

PM John Howard in Banda Aceh correctly portrayed the situation when he stated that: 'the close relationship between Australia's military and Indonesian troops in Jakarta's hour of need proved both countries had turned the corner from the strains of East Timor in 1999'.

On the visit to Aceh recently, the Chief of the Australian Defense Forces, General Peter Cosgrove, expressed his hope that the cooperation that had been built in Aceh would improve understanding between the two countries' militaries and professionalism in humanitarian operations. General Cosgrove also hoped that the good cooperation between the two countries' militaries would increase mutual trust and understanding in creating regional security.

To strengthen the military to military relationships between the two countries, it is important that the channel of dialogue should always be open in order to continuously build mutual trust and confidence between the two institutions. The developments so far are very encouraging. In addition to the Chief of Defense Forces, all of the Australian Service Chiefs have visited Indonesia. Similarly, all the Indonesian Service Chiefs have visited Australia. I am confident that with such extensive exchange of visits, it would pave the way for further close cooperation between the two forces.

Ladies and gentlemen,
At the trading front, the total value of merchandise trade between the two countries continues to grow. Indeed, last year, it hit the all time record high of US$ 5 billion, which was a 12 per cent increase from 2003. Indonesian commodity exports to Australia in 2004 were US$ 2.66 billion, almost the same as the previous year, but significantly our commodity imports from Australia, at US$ 2.37 billion, soared by 31 per cent. The trade balance remained in Indonesia's favor at US$ 296 million.

Australia's investment in Indonesia is still expanding. With Indonesia rapidly maturing as a democracy and with a new leader bent on creating economic growth and making change - particularly to aspects of our investment environment - we are confident that Australian companies will soon find that it is now time to look to Indonesia again. The flood of interest from Australian companies and others towards the Infrastructure Summit, which we held in Jakarta in January, suggests a very positive outlook for the future.

The Australian public traveling to Bali has resumed in earnest and is fast moving back towards the pre-bombing levels, regardless of the incessant issuing of travel warnings by the Australian government. Indeed, none of those travel warnings proved to be true.

Ladies and gentlemen,
It is interesting to be noted that the recent improvements of Indonesia - Australia bilateral ties were apparently achieved not by design but basically by default or dictated by divine intervention through tragedies, such as terrorist attacks and natural disasters. It is therefore high time for the two neighboring countries to put in place well-drafted policies geared to smoothen and strengthen the relations, although we should always expect differences to come up from time to time. Indeed, we do not need to wait for another tragedy to happen in order to better our bilateral ties.

It is against this backdrop that Indonesia and Australia need to consult and discuss matters of common concern in order to avoid any misunderstandings and misapprehensions and to prevent distrust from reigning again. Only through dialogues and consultations will the two nations be able to address issues of common concern, especially those directly affecting Indonesia's national interests, such as, travel warnings, pre-emptive strikes, missile defence systems, and the recently introduced Australian Maritime Identification Zone.

Ladies and gentlemen,
We cannot afford to fail, for it may run the risk of annihilating the huge political and economic investments painstakingly invested by the two. And, I sincerely hope that this forum may serve as yet another building brick to better understand Indonesia and hopefully, in turn, will contribute to advancing its relations with Australia.

Thank you.