During the 19th century, Dutch fears of British imperialistic designs encouraged colonial expansion to the Outer Islands; by 1910 all of present-day Indonesia was under Dutch control.17 June 2005 - It's all in the numbers!
Trouble is brewing in the Indian Ocean. First, the Bali bombings shed tears for a few AFL players. Then, the embassy bombing in Jakarta. The last straw could be Schapelle Corby, Australia's very own damsel in distress. Sentenced to 20 years in a Balinese prison for critically overlooking the fact that her luggage weighed 4kg more, she has captured the media and thus the hearts of all her countrymen.
There's no doubt Australians have been burnt by Indonesia. How dare they take honest, god-fearing, civilised Aussie citizens and kill/oppress/imprison them like any other Indonesian? Could Australia repay these insults by taking things international? Australia's already taken East Timor. PM Howard has not ruled out pre-emptive strikes in the war on terror. Should they even try move on to Jakarta?
Let's see how the numbers come up.
During the 19th century, Dutch fears of British imperialistic designs encouraged colonial expansion to the Outer Islands; by 1910 all of present-day Indonesia was under Dutch control.
In 1942 the Japanese overran the archipelago. Indonesia was to be granted 'independence' within Japan's "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere". Sukarno worked with the Japanese, promoting his own vision of Indonesian independence. On 17 Aug. 1945, three days after the Japanese surrender, independence was declared, with Sukarno as president. The Dutch returned to Indonesia but faced a republican guerrilla war. A period of Western-style constitutional democracy was initiated. However, the country lacked the prerequisites necessary for the system to work, and four decades of authoritarian governments could not address the country's political and economic problems.
Indonesia's relations with Australia, which had cooled in 1986 after Australian press reports alleging corruption in high places, steadily improved and saw the finalisation, in June 1991, of the Timor Gap Agreement sharing oil and gas resources from the designated Timor Gap area between the two countries. Relations were tested again in Nov. following the Dili massacre (East Timor) but improved after PM Paul Keating's visit to Jakarta in Apr. 1992
A long drought, exacerbated by land clearing by logging companies and small landowners, led to widespread bushfires in July 1997. A huge pall of acrid smoke obscured large parts of Kalimantan and Sulawesi and spread as far as Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. It continued until late monsoonal rains arrived in Dec. This, along with the Asia-wide currency crisis, which began in mid-1997 and hit Indonesia hard, was to spell the end of the Soeharto regime. The rupiah's value fell 82% between July 1997 and Feb. 1998, banks collapsed and protests erupted as costs for basic commodities such as rice and cooking oil spiralled upwards. The ethnic Chinese community, who made up 3% of the population but controlled 70% of the nation's wealth, bore the brunt of popular anger. Indonesian Chinese were accused, without evidence, of hoarding to inflate prices further. The IMF offered a $US43 billion loan to stabilise the currency on condition that Soeharto reform the domestic financial system, curtail nepotism, reduce government subsidies of basic commodities and address the country's $US137 billion foreign debt. Soeharto balked, instead proposing a currency board, which would peg the rupiah to the dollar. In Feb. 1998 Soeharto sacked the governor of the central bank for raising questions about the board's efficacy.
The first free and fair nationwide elections since the 1950s, held on 7 June 1999, resulted in the Democratic Party for Struggle (PDIP), headed by Megawati Sukarnoputri, emerging as the biggest single party. Sukarnoputri became Vice Pres., with Abdurrahman Wahid (a respected Javanese Muslim leader) becoming the nation's fourth president. Withdrawal from East Timor occurred following a massive popular rejection of Indonesian occupation (30 Aug. 1999).
Indonesia came to international attention as a base for terrorist activity when, on 12 Oct. 2002, bomb blasts in two popular night clubs in Bali killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.
Now that old problems like corruption, poverty, and sectarian violence have been put in the shade by the 21st Century dangers of pollution and terrorism, can this developing nation threaten the likes of Australia? Let's see...
Archaeological evidence indicates that Aborigines were living in Australia at least 40,000 years ago.
By the time Europeans settled, Aborigines numbered around 300,000 but their numbers rapidly dwindled after settlement through introduced diseases and death at the hands of settlers. In the 17th century, European explorers sailed along the coast of Australia. No country took formal possession until 1770, when Capt. James Cook claimed it for Britain.
The first settlement was a British penal colony, established on 26 Jan. 1788 at Port Jackson (now Sydney). Transportation to New South Wales (NSW) ended in 1840. In all, around 160,000 convicts were sent to Australia.
Australia became a commonwealth of the British Empire in 1901. It was able to take advantage of its natural resources to rapidly develop its agricultural and manufacturing industries and to make a major contribution to the British effort in World Wars I and II. Long-term concerns include pollution, particularly depletion of the ozone layer, and management and conservation of coastal areas, especially the Great Barrier Reef. A referendum to change Australia's status, from a commonwealth headed by the British monarch to a republic, was defeated in 1999.
Rising concern regarding the increasing number of illegal immigrants led to two new pieces of legislation. The first allowed police to board vessels in international waters (14 Nov.), and the second barred refugees from seeking asylum if they had lived somewhere else for more than seven days or had the right to live somewhere else (23 Nov.).
The government announced a Medicare national health service levy for middle to upper income earners to pay for Australia's contribution to the peacekeeping force in East Timor (23 Nov.).
In what became known as 'the Tampa crisis', 460 asylum seekers were rescued from a sinking Indonesian fishing boat by a Norwegian ship, the Tampa, in Australian waters which was refused entry into Australia (Aug. 2001). A lengthy impasse between Indonesia, Norway and Australia was broken after an agreement, called the 'Pacific Solution' by the Australian government, was made to process the asylum seekers in NZ and Nauru before they settle in other countries. In Aug. the Federal Court ruled that the government had acted illegally and must allow the rescued asylum seekers to land on Australian soil.
Claims of a pro-Jakarta lobby influencing Australia's Defence Intelligence Organisation, made by Col. Lance Collins and backed by a military inquiry, raised concerns about Australia's work in East Timor (14 Apr.).
Australia, great southern bronze land - bleached white since 1788 - has always been deadly serious about protecting its borders, especially against unscrupulous foreigners who would (shock, horror) jump the immigration queue. Can the shining beacon of Western secular democratic socialism (read: Anglo-saxon liberals) in Oceania defend itself against its largest rival (not New Zealand). Let's get ready to rumble!| (July 2005 Est.) | Australia | Indonesia |
| Population | 20,090,437 | 241,973,879 |
| Population Growth | 0.87% | 1.45% |
| Life Expectancy | 80.39 years | 69.57 years |
| Fertility rate | 1.76 children/woman | 2.44 children/woman |
Contrary to mainstream Australian opinion, Indonesia is not Bali. It's not an archipelago of jungle islands with good surf, colourful batik, and cheerful, brown skinned savages. It's a teeming horde eleven times the size of Australia's population, jammed into roughly double the landmass.
Majority rules. Round one to Indonesia!
| (2004 Est) | Australia | Indonesia |
| GDP (USD) | $611 billion | $75.4 billion |
| GDP Per Capita (USD) | $30,700 | $3,500 |
| GDP growth | 3.5% | 4.9% |
| Inflation | 2.3 | 6.1% |
| Unemployment | 5.13% | 9.2% |
| Current Account (USD) | $-38.3 billion | $7.338 billion |
| Public debt (% of GDP) | 17.4% | 56.2% |
Notwithstanding Australia's huge current account deficit, the rest of its economy looks a lot healthier than Indonesia's. Indonesia's sizable public debt is probably the result of IMF rescue funds.
Round two goes to Australia!
| Australia | Indonesia | |
| Military Manpower - fit for service | 4,092,717 males aged 15-49 | 48,687,234 males aged 15-49 |
| Military expenditure (USD) | $16.65 billion | $1.3 billion |
| Military expenditure - % of GDP | 2.7% | 3% |
The battle boils down to budget versus manpower, with each side's roughly 12 times the other's. Unfortunately, money is only indirectly related to more sophisticated weaponry, whereas manpower is directly proportional to victory.
Round three goes to Indonesia!
Indonesia, the most populous Islamic nation on Earth, would crush Australia in an open conflict. Australia's wealth makes it an attractive target, and her posturing in recent times would make a strike even more appealing.
Indonesia seems content to try and solve its own problems for the time being. But growing anti-Muslim sentiment, and increased meddling in domestic affairs may persuade her to take the easy solution to her woes.
Before Australia aims more criticism or action at Indonesia, she should consider who could land the heavier punch. A pre-emptive strike on Jakarta would have less impact than a pre-emptive strike on Sydney.
Australia should wake up as to who is really Oceania's weak pariah, before they wake up to morning prayers in Melbourne.
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