Jakarta – Australian Prime Minister John Howard on Friday wrapped up a fence-mending visit to Indonesia with a sightseeing tour, unfazed by a student protest in the Central Java city of Yokyakarta and an earlier snub by top legislators in Jakarta.
Between 100-200 students in the historic city clashed briefly with police near Gajah Mada university, the second stop in Howard's Friday itinerary. The students tried to break through a police cordon but were kept some 200 meters from the university, a policemen told AFP by phone. He said one officer was slightly injured and one student arrested before the crowd dispersed.
The protesters, some of them women in Islamic headscarves and veils, carried placards reading "Mr Rector, don't sell our campus to Australia" and "Go to hell with your aid" – a Sukarno-era slogan. Embassy spokesman Geoff Leach said Howard and his party, who arrived in the country Wednesday, had not seen the protest. In Jakarta earlier, parliament leaders Amien Rais and Akbar Tanjung boycotted a planned official meeting with Howard. Rais cited Canberra's complaints last year that Indonesia was doing too little to curb people-smugglers who use the archipelago to ship Middle Eastern asylum-seekers to Australia. He also raised Australia's supposed backing for independence supporters in Papua province, a charge strongly denied by Howard.
Some Indonesians are also still angry at earlier Australian support for an East Timor independence referendum and its leadership of a peacekeeping force which ended military-backed milita bloodshed in the territory in 1999.
Howard on Thursday dismissed the snub from Rais as driven by local political considerations and said his visit to Indonesia yielded "very positive outcomes", including a pact to cooperate in fighting international terrorism.
He took pains to express understanding for Indonesia's handling of Australia-bound asylum-seekers, saying the issue could not be settled bilaterally. The two neighbours will co-host an international conference on people-smuggling in Bali on February 27-28.
Leach described the visit as a success. "Indonesia is a very important neighbour for Australia and the meeting with President Megawati (Sukarnoputri) was very cordial. There were very constructive gains from the visit."
Howard arrived in Yogyakarta Thursday afternoon as the guest of the Sultan, Hamengkubuwono X. Early Friday he toured the nearby ninth century majestic Buddhist monuments at Borobodur before visiting Gajah Mada university to meet staff and students.
Australia is the first choice for Indonesians seeking overseas education, with 18,000-19,000 studying there in any given year at schools, universities or language centres.
Leach said the Indonesian government had suggested the visit to Yogyakarta to give Howard a broader view of the country. "It was a very nice way to conclude his visits to the United States and Indonesia. I think he left in a very positive frame of mind." Howard flew home via Bali after wrapping up his university visit.