Sid Maher – Australia needs to redefine its relationship with Indonesia to reflect its rise, in barely a decade, from a troubled, unstable, corruption-ridden nation to a "normal" middle-income developing democracy.
A report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute charts Indonesia's recovery from "a state of profound flux and turmoil" after the fall of the Suharto regime in the wake of the Asian financial crisis in 1998, to a stable, competitive democracy, playing a constructive role in world affairs.
Calling for an update in the way Australian policy makers approach Indonesia, the ASPI report argues that the extent of religious fundamentalism in Indonesia is overstated.
But the report by Andrew MacIntyre and Douglas Ramage finds significant challenges remain in Indonesia, particularly reform of its "notoriously" corrupt judiciary.
While progress had been made, current opinion polling shows Indonesians believe judicial reform is lagging. "One major area of impunity remains: the courts fail to uphold convictions of senior officers and officials for human rights violations," the report says.
Despite the Government embarking on a vigorous anti-corruption drive, Transparency International last year classified Indonesia as one of the most corrupt nations in the world, with problems remaining this year.
The ASPI report says while the Australian view has been to suspect Indonesians of militancy and zealotry, religious fundamentalism is overstated and there is a great degree of religious pluralism. While there has been a "conspicuous cultural flowering of Islam in Indonesia" other religions have also experienced a boom.
Public opinion showed nearly 85 per cent of Indonesians rejected a suggestion that the operation of the country should be formally based on Islam.
"While surveys also indicate that Indonesians place great faith in religious institutions and see local community religious leaders as often the most reliable sources of information about national and community life, there is no electoral, survey or other evidence to suggest that any fundamental shifts in religious trends able to significantly affect mainstream political life are under way in Indonesia," the report says.
It praises the growth of democracy in the decade since the fall of the Suharto regime and describes Indonesia as one of the world's most electorally competitive countries, with Indonesians voting in more elections and more often than in other democracies since 1998.
The report also finds the Australian-Indonesian relationship, which collapsed after East Timor voted for independence in 1999, is gradually recovering. With Australian aid topping $450 million in 2007-08, it was the largest bilateral donor to the country.
ASPI recommends funds be directed away from Papua and other eastern provinces – because of lingering suspicions over East Timor – and toward Muslim areas of high poverty in the Javanese heartland.