More Jakarta and less Geneva: Great idea, just bad timing.
By Ross B. Taylor AM When Tony Abbott made his, ‘More Jakarta and less Geneva’ speech in 2013, it was seen as heralding a new era in Australia-Indonesia relations; a reflection of views held by Paul Keating in 1994 when the then Prime Minister said, ‘No country is more important to Australia than Indonesia.’ With Indonesia’s economy poised to pass that of Australia within ten years, a 245 million population including over 90 million young people and an annual growth ra…
By hook or by crook, we need to rebuild trust between Indonesia and Australia
By Ross B. Taylor AM Prime Minister Tony Abbott has calculated that despite the anger and complaints from Indonesia, his ‘no comment’ line on the allegations that Australia paid-off people smugglers will not cost him any votes, and may actually increase the popular perception that Australia will continue to be tough on issues surrounding our borders and sovereignty under his leadership. He is probably right. Many Australians simply want the boats to remain ‘stopped’, and that our government should do whatever it takes to ensure our b…
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