Jakarta Globe, Erin Cook, September 2015
An anti-Tony Abbott protester attends a demonstration at the Australian embassy, South Jakarta, earlier this year. (Reuters Photo/Beawiharta) |
Jakarta. An
expected foreign policy pivot under the guidance of new prime minister, Malcolm
Turnbull, will see Australia pay particular attention to mending and
maintaining relations with China and Indonesia, regional pundits have
predicted.
Turnbull,
who rose to the country’s top job after trumping former prime minister Tony
Abbott in a party room vote late Monday night, has been a long term supporter
of Asian business in Australia and a vocal advocate of the China Australia Free
Trade Agreement.
While
Turnbull has indicated continued support for the “boat turn backs” policy,
which sees asylum seekers entering Australian waters towed into Indonesian
waters by local law enforcement, experts have suggested his style of diplomacy
may weather the controversy better than that of his predecessor.
Evi Fitrani,
international relations head at the University of Indonesia heralded the change
of leadership as a likely improvement to relations.
"Even
though Malcolm Turnbull hasn't made any statement about foreign policy yet ...
judging from his personality — judging from Abbott's personality at least — we
think we will deal more communicatively and maybe in a better situation and
better environment with this kind of leader," she said in an interview
with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Sydney-based
Tom Wheelwright, a managing director of BowerGroup Asia focusing on government
relations in the region, told ChannelNews Asia that Turnbull’s pragmatic and
respectful style will likely be welcomed by his Asian counterparts.
“The big
change we’ll see is that there will be no more three-word slogans to confuse or
irritate our Asian neighbors,” he said.
“I think
we’ll see more substance to foreign policy and I think Julie Bishop will have a
stronger hand with foreign policy and less interference from domestic considerations.”
Bishop is
tipped to retain her role as Foreign Minister under the new leader, a move
likely to be welcomed across the region. Bishop and her Indonesian counterpart,
Retno Marsudi, met in August for the first time after the Australian Ambassador
to Indonesia, Paul Grigson, was recalled in response to the April execution of
two Australian drug traffickers. Grigson returned to Jakarta in June.
After a
private meeting on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(Asean) foreign ministers conference in Kuala Lumpur on on Aug. 6, both
ministers welcomed a return to warm relations.
Abbott’s
time at the helm is marred by a series of events marking a particularly
tumultuous period in the Australia-Indonesia relationship, from a phone hacking
scandal targeting Indonesia’s political leaders to the #CoinsforAbbott campaign
which saw thousands collect rupiah coins to “pay back” Australian aid to
Indonesia after the then-prime minister linked the 2004 Aceh tsunami to the
Bali Nine executions.
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