Asian Angle | How the Australian SAS raised the ghosts of Indonesia’s brutal past
A row over ‘offensive’ training materials that led to Jakarta briefly breaking military ties with Canberra highlights sensitivities regarding Indonesia’s secular ideology
It is turning out to be a storm in a smaller-than-usual teacup, but the latest spat between Jakarta and Canberra over what was perceived to be insulting content in military training materials underlines once again the sensitivities surrounding Indonesia’s often brutal past.
It also speaks to the current state of Jakarta’s domestic politics, with government sources revealing that President Joko Widodo didn’t know armed forces chief General Gatot Nurmantyo had suspended all military cooperation with Australia over the issue.
Indonesia suspends military cooperation with Australia over offensive special forces training material
Indeed, the sources say he only woke up to what was happening when his close adviser, chief maritime minister and retired special forces general Luhut Panjaitan, received a call last month from an Australian friend asking what more could be done beyond an apology and an investigation.
As the episode broke in the media this week, political coordinating minister Wiranto, a one-time military commander himself, issued a hasty statement saying only language classes had been suspended, not the entire military relationship.
Widodo also sought to play down the fallout, saying relations remained in good shape. So did normally hard-nosed Defence Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu in a January 5 phone conversation with his Australian counterpart, Marise Payne. Payne has said the Australian military must produce “culturally appropriate” training material, which apparently means avoiding any reference to East Timor and Papua where Indonesia has a checkered past.
