Alison Bevege – The Education Department has come under fire for allowing the Indonesian military to enter schools on a public relations exercise.
The Indonesian warship KRI Dewa Ruci sent naval officers in uniform to Darwin High School, Darwin Middle School and St Johns Catholic College for a marching band performance after docking in Darwin.
Photos were taken without parental permission. Some students were from West Papua, a region where the Indonesian military has recently been involved in human rights abuses.
Parent John Logan, who has a son in Year 11 at Darwin High, said he was disgusted. "This is not a cultural group," he said.
"ABDUL, get your facts straight my friend. There were NAVAL CADETS (not Army) doing a Dance, Music and Acrobats display at 3 High School GROUNDS (not classes). The whole forum has gone way off course spreading propaganda. It should go along the path of SCHOOLS... AND if you take that into perspective you will know that Naval or other Cadets have not long finished DISCIPLINED Family Life, School and a perhaps a bit of Uni. for the past 22 years.Somethings our lives lack."? Enjay
The Indonesian Consulate organised the visit in conjunction with language teachers at the schools.
Indonesian consul Ade Padmo Sarwono asked the navy to promote Indonesia while in Darwin and said he would ask for more visits next year. "If the navy are here we want to invite the Indonesian navy to meet students," he said.
Human rights law professor and Jesuit priest Frank Brennan urged caution on allowing any military except Australia's in any school. "Particularly when it comes to the Indonesian military," he said.
Department of Education executive director Allan Baillie said the visit was not a promotion of the Indonesian military but an opportunity for students to practise Indonesian language, listen to Indonesian music and participate in Indonesian dances.
He said parental permission was not sought because staff had supervised students. "This protocol is observed irrespective of the cultural group visiting the schools," he said.
Mr Baillie would not say whether or not the military would be allowed in to Government schools in future, instead saying: "School visits to broaden the cultural awareness of schoolchildren will always be encouraged".
But NT Director of Catholic Education Michael Avery said his office would reserve judgement on future dealings.
The US State Department describes human rights as a "friction point" between the US and Indonesia.
Amnesty International's 2013 regional report states that Indonesian soldiers attacked a West Papuan village in June, stabbing dozens of people with bayonets and burning buildings. Indonesian soldiers also tortured two West Papuan men during a 2010 interrogation.
Sydney Peace Foundation chairman Professor Stuart Rees said the display was not appropriate.
"It's a technique of trying to pretend everything is normal when it is not," he said. "That an Australian educational institution allowed the Indonesian military to parade their wares before school children... It's offensive in my opinion."