Matthew Moore, Jakarta – On the eve of his return home, Australia's ambassador to Indonesia, Ric Smith, has sought to rebut a series of "myths" which he believes are straining the relationship between the two countries.
These ranged from a well-seasoned view in Indonesia that Australia "led East Timor to independence", to a more recent belief in some quarters that a proposal to build a commercial satellite launch facility on Christmas Island, just south of Java, could result in Indonesians being hit by stray rockets.
Mr Smith, who will return to Australia next week to take up the job of secretary of the Defence Department, argued to a lunch gathering of Australian and Indonesian business people that the Australian Government understood Indonesia's problems and was sympathetic to them.
"We do indeed understand what is happening in Indonesia at this time – three major transitions simultaneously: a political transition, an economic re-building and a very major change in the way the country is governed, away from a highly centralised state to a very decentralised state." He did not say why he believed these myths were in wide circulation but said there was a "growing frequency with which I have to write in response to one canard or another" after they were published in Indonesian media.
Mr Smith sought to kill one of the more entrenched views in Indonesia that Australia sees its interests lying in a weak and divided Indonesia and interferes in Indonesia's affairs to ensure this.
He called this view nonsense and said Australia's interest was in a "democratic, economically strong, stable and, above all, a well-governed Indonesia." He stressed that the Australian Government did not want independence in any Indonesian province, especially Papua, but said it was regrettable that some Australians wanted Papua to be a separate state.
He again sought to play down a recent article in an Australian magazine that said the Australian Government was indirectly supporting Indonesian independence movements by funding non-government organisations with separatist views.
"... no NGO is funded by the Australian Government to conduct activities contrary to Indonesia's sovereignty," he said.
Australia had also been wrongly accused of tightening access to Indonesians in the way the United States has done to many people from the Middle East since the September 11 attacks last year, he said.
"The truth is there were no significant changes to visa policy post-11 September that related to Indonesia or Indonesian nationals. 11 September had no impact on the number of visas issues by my embassy."