Australian And Indonesian Relations Essay

Though Australia is a powerful country and is considered a main player in the surrounding area yet it is does not hold a primary rank in the global environment. Australia's contribution in military interventions beyond the Asia Pacific is smaller and follows the lead of another country such as the United States. The Australian Defense Force (ADF) has the capability to tackle with the crises in its neighborhood, because of emergence of security concerns constantly from Indonesia and many other smaller states. Australia has adopted a strategy to support and strengthen the presence of United States in the region. This mutual cooperation is very important for Australia as regards economy and security. Its alliance with United States has been due to many reasons.

However, the domestic sphere is vital to Australian policy and must be engaged to improve relations with Indonesia. A 2013 survey of the Australian public commissioned by DFAT in 2013 found that 53% of Australian believe Indonesia is not a democracy and 54% believe Australia is right to worry about Indonesia as a military threat (Roberts and Habir 2015: 205). This is worrying as domestic support does effect on Australian foreign policy (Stephens and Gruber 2010: 38) Australian generosity, diplomacy and funding have been the most successful method of deepening relations

Since the very beginning of UN peacekeeping, Australia has partaken in various operations in Cambodia, Korea, Namibia, Rwanda, Somalia and many others, this would have been large contributions to Australia's current inter-relationships.

The U.S. and Australian alliance share an interest in maintaining the peace and stability in the Asian- Pacific

Bipartisan support for the deepening security relationship is an important factor in its growth. Despite several changes of ruling party or prime minister in each country between 2007 and 2014, the two Governments have maintained a strong commitment to the high-level security relationship.13 The relationship in 2015 is extremely strong, demonstrated by a recent defence technology treaty and discussion of potential Australian acquisition of a Japanese submarine, with strong personal ties between national

Australia’s traditional reliance on ‘’great and powerful friends’’ thus became outmoded, leading the Whitlam government to develop an independent Australian foreign policy premised on an increased economic and diplomatic engagement with Asia and defence through self-reliance that continued under Hawke-Keating. Australia’s economic development under Hawke-Keating began with the reduction of tariffs and removal of restrictions preventing foreign banks from operating in Australia, signaling the government’s desire to further distance itself from the protectionism and reliance on trade with the United Kingdom and Europe that had dominated Australia’s trade patterns prior to Whitlam. However, the Hawke-Keating government’s willingness to commit troops to the Gulf War illustrated a desire to retain strong ties with the US. An increased focus on regional trade began with the Closer Economic Relations trade agreement with New Zealand eliminating all trade quotas and tariffs between the two countries and continued with the promotion of economic cooperation with Indonesia through the Timor Gap treaty. On a multilateral scale, the Australia-led formation of the Cairns group in 1986 further reflected a governmental impulse towards trade liberalization and Australia’s economic engagement within the Asia-Pacific. However, the Hawke-Keating government’s

The first challenge for Australian foreign policy is to maximize the economic and security opportunities by maintaining their relationship with Indonesia and ASEAN. In the case with Indonesia, Indonesia is one of Australia’s closest friends as the two countries share strong security and economic system. In terms of politics, Indonesia is essential to Australia because Indonesia plays a key role in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations so a steady relationship with Indonesia is required for a cohesive and productive relationship with ASEAN. Moreover, Indonesia is the most important country in Southeast Asia with one of the most powerful military forces in the region. Therefore, Indonesia already controls and wants to improve its effect over ASEAN. According to researches, Indonesian motives for improving its role as regional peacekeeper have been revealed in recent perspectives by the general of the Indonesia’s military, who stated, Indonesian motives of playing a ‘big brother’ role with the respect to security in ASEAN and in the region (Tiernan, 2007).

Australia’s strong links to countries nearby due to the aid we provide also means an increased regional security, especially as helping

By successfully conducting an effective and efficient economic administration, building and running a solid economic performance and joining lots of free trade agreements and the World Trade Organization (WTO) in order to get high trade profits are some of the reasons why Australia is known as a competent and well-governed country. This economic attainment has allowed Australia to be able to nurture its development assistance program in the Asia-Pacific region. In the future, this program is expected to strengthen and sharpen the prospects for better governance and communities in the region in particular and in elsewhere in general. Australia has been working together with

“Today Australia is one of the most ethnically diverse societies in the world. Almost one in every four Australian residents was born outside of the Australian boarders and many more are first or even second generation Australians. These children and grandchildren would have recently arrived as migrants or refugees, But in the ninetieth and twentieth century, Migration was not accepted the same way. Australia had various laws that aimed to keep people who were from non-european backgrounds out of the country. These laws also restricted the lives of people who were not white and were already currently living in Australia. The Immigration Act 1909 - most popularly known as the White Australia Policy - which caused upset within Australia’s international relationships with Britain and Japan. This caused other nations to criticise Australia’s racial views and eventually immigration restrictions were gradually loosened and Australian’s began to be less fearful of people from a wide range of different countries and backgrounds. The big push for the Immigration Act 1901 in the first place was due to Australia’s fear of Asian migration and population take over. “

Australia has several ties with other countries. These ties are established in several ways, one of which is through trade. The nature of trade includes exporting and importing goods and services which form trade links with partner countries. Trade comes with its advantages and disadvantages. Australia also takes part in multilateral agreements, such as APEC, to be able to strengthen trade links.

This essay will reason that in a more contested Asia-Pacific strategic environment, Australia will not need to develop a more independent strategic and defence policy, but should reduce reliance on its United States’ ally. The Asia-Pacific region is continuously undergoing great economic growth and development and many countries are enjoying the benefits derived from it, including Australia. On the other hand, the world is seeing a rise of military and economic powerhouses in the region, most notably China. This topic is critical for academics and policy makers to understand the implications of the contested environment and how to deal effectively with all the consequences that could undermine the region’s prosperity, peace, and stability.

In my Rel 240 class, Introduction to Southeast Asia, I have learned many Interesting things from lectures, broadcasts, videos, and the textbook. For example in the video “Indonesia at the Crossroads”, I learned about how activists seek to return to their country back to its original way. More specifically they wanted to go back to the old traditional and moral values after period of rapid of economic growth. Another aspect of the video that intrigued me is seeing all the Christians and Muslim and other faiths living side by side in harmony. It’s a great thing to see such a thing because there is major conflicts and clashes between religions in other parts of the world that often leads to bloodshed. Another great thing that i noticed is that the Christians and the Muslim activists got together to try and return their country back to its moral roots and values and try to implement a democratic System.

Indonesia is the largest economy in the Southeast Asian economic region, which has been strongly influenced by globalisation over recent decades through increased international trade, foreign investment and rapid industrialisation. Globalisation refers to the integration between different countries and economies and the increased impact of international influences on all aspect of life and economic activity. Indonesia has a mixed economy where both the private and government sector play significant roles in the country 's economy, which enables the country to be highly influenced by free market forces, while ultimately protecting the economy from

Indonesia lives off of their international trade. It has a very high impact on their country and some people will do whatever they need to do in order to keep business. This is where illegal trading comes into effect. Wild, exotic animals are illegally captured, sold and shipped every day in Indonesia. They have access so easily through their rainforest and because they are so close to ports they can be transferred and traded (BOSA, 2008). China and the United States make up over 20% of Indonesia’s trading and do over 140 billion dollars a year in exports (OEC, 2017). When comparing Indonesia and the United States most say the two