Philip Dorling – The news that Australia's electronic spy agency, the Defence Signals Directorate, has targeted Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's mobile phone won't come a

Clinton Fernandes – Just before Christmas 1981, Indonesia's foreign minister Mochtar Kusumaatmadja asked to meet Australia's ambassador to Jakarta, Rawdon Dalrymple.

Andrew de Sousa, Bangkok – This Nov.

Neles Tebay, Jayapura, Papua – The central government and the provincial government of Papua have taken the initiative to produce another new policy for Papua under the name of "special

[An interview with Said Iqbal, President of the Confederation of Indonesian Workers' Union (Konfederasi Serikat Pekerja Indonesia, KSPI) published by the Asian Human Rights Commission.]

Michael Bachelard – Twice now the smooth-talking Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa has lifted the veil on his discussions with Australian counterpart Julie Bishop to reveal w

Max Lane – Widespread strikes and worker protests took place in many Indonesian town and cities on 31 October and 1 November.

Maire Leadbeater – Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully has confirmed that a controversial three-year aid programme will go ahead next year in Indonesian-ruled West Papua.

In September 1999, Sander Thoenes, the Financial Times correspondent in Jakarta, travelled to East Timor to report on the turmoil engulfing the territory.

Tom Benner, Dili, East Timor – The 2014 budget unveiled last week by tiny East Timor is a $1.5 billion spending plan funded almost exclusively – 95 percent – by lucrative oil and gas re

Damien Kingsbury – With much of the recent discussion about countries spying on each other, the only startling thing is that anyone would bother to feign surprise.

Petrus K.

Step Vaessen – Everything seems easier in my role as a journalist; I handle the death, pain, danger and even murder I encounter scarily well.

Budi Hernawan, Jayapura – Late in September, Vanuatu broke the silence over human rights abuses in Papua.

Tom Benner – There is a free health clinic in Dili, the capital of Asia's newest and poorest country, Timor-Leste, that treats some 400 people a day.

Celebrations this week mark the 15th anniversary of the National Commission on Violence against Women, or Komnas Perempuan. Established on Oct.

Pandaya, Jakarta – As expected, and despite critics' objections, the House of Representatives on Thursday endorsed Comr. Gen.

Pandaya – What could be the best solution to Jakarta's horrendous traffic so that people can get to work on time without them having to leave at dawn and get home again at dusk every ot

Keith Bettinger, Wendy Miles & Micah Fisher – A remarkable study published last week in the highly regarded scientific journal Nature detailed a new method for predicting specific d

Hugh White – Travelling abroad, Tony Abbott has been saying things very different from what we have heard from him in Australia. There are two ways to interpret this.

Elaine Pearson – Indonesia is an early test for of the new Australian government's foreign policy.

Republika, Jakarta – It was distressing to witness the departure of members of the House of Representatives (DPR) on a haj pilgrimage this year.

Benny Wanda – Ever since West Papua was annexed and colonised by Indonesia in 1969 through a referendum ironically called the Act of Free Choice (we call it the Act of No Choice), my pe

The final verdict on the murder of human rights activist Munir Said Thalib, announced on Monday, was not just another puzzling note in our history.

If Australia wants a fair and open relationship with Indonesia, as it should, and if Indonesia seeks the same of this nation, then it is incumbent on both countries to keep a firm eye o

Ary Hermawan, Jakarta – Why are we surprised? The fact that our judiciary is riddled with corruption is a foregone conclusion.

Damien Kingsbury – West Papuan activists are testing Prime Minister Tony Abbott's statements in relation to his asylum-seeker boat turnback policy, that he has "total respect for Indone

Andreas Harsono – On Sept.

Jason McLeod – Despite Prime Minister Tony Abbott's speech insisting that his government will do all they can to prevent West Papuans and their supporters "grandstanding" in support of

Phelim Kine – Delegates to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation ("APEC") CEO summit October 5-7 on Indonesia's island of Bali aren't likely to hear about Eko Mardi Santoso.

With some canny scaling back of his asylum seeker rhetoric and a hardening on West Papua, Prime Minister Tony Abbott has done much to retrieve his first international trip.

Dessy Sagita, Jakarta – As Indonesia's 1965 communist purge is under the spotlight with the screening of "The Act of Killing" across the United States and other parts of the world, the

Max Lane – The systematic political murder of around 1 million people in Indonesia began on 1 October 1965 and lasted around three years.

Elisabeth Kramer – American whistle-blower, Edward Snowden, revealed that Australian intelligence agencies had been tapping the phones of Indonesia's president, the first lady and a sle

Jess Melvin, Melbourne – Forty-eight years ago on Oct.

An American director working in Indonesia with survivors of the bloodshed relating to the 1965 purge gained trust and stories from first hand sources – killers of thousands of fellow In

Tom Clarke – The Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, should use his visit to Indonesia on Monday to cast aside the wilful blindness previous Australian governments have had about the human rig

The recent signing of a peace deal between the Sunni and Shia Muslim communities in Sampang on the island of Madura in East Java was surely more than just typical ceremony.

William Pesek – Indonesians are taking to the streets to demand the government heed their complaints. Are they livid about corruption? No. Fed up with poverty? Not really.

Camellia Webb-Gannon – The very unpredictability of politics is the greatest hope for those seeking an independent West Papuan state.

Bali, Indonesia – If public graft were a symphony, Djoko Susilo might be its Mozart.

Aruna Kashyap – Calls for "virginity tests" for high school girls emerge regularly in Indonesia, with education officials, politicians and religious leaders proposing tests every few ye

Tony Abbott has backed away from his pledge to visit Indonesia in his first week in office, but the promise stands to make it his first overseas destination as prime minister.

Ary Hermawan, Jakarta – We who are concerned about the state of religious freedom in the country are likely enduring what the character Gil Pender suffers from in Woody Allen's Midnight

Nadia Bulkin – The Act of Killing, a new documentary on Indonesia's anti-Communist mass killings, is making the rounds globally and earning praise for its innovative cinematography.

Jason MacLeod – Tineke Rumkabu handed me a bright yellow piece of A4 paper, double-sided, and folded in half.

Loro Horta – Following the July 2012 elections Timor-Leste formed one of the largest governments in the region made up of 57 cabinet members.

Phelim Kine – It's degrading, discriminatory, not to mention junk science – so why does the notion of "virginity tests" keep rearing its ugly head?

Andreas Harsono – This week fresh violence erupted against some of Indonesia's religious minorities.

Jess O'Callaghan – More than decade on from when Timor-Leste gained independence, and six month since troops left the country, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bob Carr has initiated an inqu