Andrew Burrell, Jakarta – Indonesia's Foreign Minister, Hassan Wirajuda, has claimed that lobbying by his government led Australia to slash funding to an ACTU-backed aid group that campaigns for independence in Papua.
However, Dr Wirajuda's claim has been denied by the Australian government and the Australian People for Health, Education and Development Abroad (APHEDA), the overseas aid arm of the ACTU.
Australian Embassy officials in Jakarta say the Indonesian government has been told repeatedly the group's funding has not been cut.
Dr Wirajuda's comments highlight the extreme sensitivity in Jakarta about the perceived role of Australian government-funded NGOs in allegedly fomenting the separatist movement in Papua.
With a series of national elections to begin within weeks, the Indonesian government is eager to be seen to be taking action against foreigners who meddle in separatist hot spots such as Papua and Aceh.
Jakarta has waged a brutal battle for the past nine months to crush rebels in Aceh, and some fear a further military crackdown in Papua, where separatist sentiment has been strong for decades. APHEDA, which receives most of its funding through the Australian government's aid agency, AusAid, has been a target for claims it channels some of those funds to support separatists in Papua.
The agency operates in several countries, including Indonesia, where it is helping to establish a workers' rights centre in Bandung. However, it is not active in Papua.
Dr Wirajuda made the claim that APHEDA's funding had been cut while appearing last month before a parliamentary commission on security and defence in Jakarta.
However, neither a spokesman for Dr Wirajuda in Jakarta nor a spokeswoman from the Indonesian embassy in Canberra could confirm whether the claim was correct.
Dr Wirajuda also told the commission that in response to Jakarta's lobbying, Australia had issued a code of conduct for NGOs in Indonesia that would prevent them funding separatist groups. He said that Prime Minister John Howard had assured him the Australian government would not fund NGOs that supported independence for Papua.
APHEDA's executive officer, Peter Jennings, denied claims the group channelled funds to separatists in Papua. He cited the Institute of Public Affairs, a conservative Melbourne-based think tank, as the original source of the claims.
Mr Jennings said that APHEDA supported a United Nations-backed referendum on independence in Papua, as had occurred in East Timor in 1999.
Feelings among the people of Papua are considered to be volatile at present.