Oz-Indonesia trade agreement is good news, only a start

After a negotiation process of over ten years, the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, or IA-CEPA, will be signed in Jakarta by the respective trade ministers, Simon Birmingham and Enggartiasto Lukita, today.

Despite the fallout from the Jerusalem Embassy fiasco that resulted in Indonesia deciding to defer the signing of the agreement, the trade ministers of both nations have since worked hard – along with their respective ambassadors – to bring this long and drawn-out negotiation process to a positive position. Now both Houses of Parliament will need to ratify the agreement so we expect some further ‘bumps’ and hopefully a conclusion to the process by the end of the year. This agreement will be a good outcome in particular for Australia who stands to gain significant opportunities in a number of market sectors that include education and agriculture.

The importance of this major trade agreement cannot be underestimated as it will open-up significant trade and business opportunities for both countries. Politically it is also a ‘good news’ story in Australia with a 2016 survey by the Australia-Indonesia Centre (AIC) showing almost 60% of Australians agreeing that Indonesia is economically important to Australia.

But as we celebrate the conclusion of this trade deal, we should also reflect on this same survey by the AIC that showed, apart from our transactional relationship with Indonesia, the understanding and trust of our largest neighbour is terrible.

The survey went on to reveal that whilst 87% of Indonesian’s felt ‘favourable’ towards Australia, only 43% of Australians – and that included business people - shared that warmth towards Indonesians. The paradox here being that our attitudes towards the Balinese, is extremely high.

In a 2018 survey, the highly respected Lowy Institute found that only 24% of Australians knew that Indonesia embraced and functioned as a vibrant democracy. Furthermore, only 32% of Australians felt Indonesia ‘worked hard’ to fight terrorism, despite the Indonesian Police and the Australian Federal Police working in a close partnership since the Bali bombings to identify and destroy many terror-cells.

Despite Australians generally viewing Indonesians with a combination of distrust and ignorance, there are some positive signs. The New Colombo Plan, operated by the Australian Consortium of In-Country Indonesian Studies, or ACICIS, is placing almost 400 Australian students each year into Indonesia where they learn high-level Indonesian language, and are immersed into local culture. Conversely, Indonesian students and backpackers see Australia as a positive choice as a destination. And despite the diplomatic ‘bumps’ that inevitably occur between neighbours, numerous government departments and officials work closely with their Indonesian counterparts to address and manage a wide-range of issues including anti-terrorism, regional security, health and business facilitation.

This is the good news story about our bi-lateral relationship. The bad news story is these positive relationships are not shared or understood by the majority of our population, driven by short-term policy and political decisions - that continually challenge the long-term trust and consistency that is so important in our region – and the barrage of negative media reports about what goes wrong in, and with, Indonesia.

The IA-CEPA is an important process but the real challenge for our respective nations is to really build capacity within the relationship between ‘everyday’ Australians and our neighbours to our north. This can be done in taking the lead from ACICIS, for example, by allowing easier and less costly access for tourists and young people to visit and to get to know each other through work and holiday opportunities.

Indonesia has 95 million people under the age of 30. Most of them use a smartphone, are tech-savvy and are keen to learn, progress and see their country develop into becoming a member of the G7, as predicted, by 2050.

By mid-year, both nations will have concluded their national elections, and the new leadership teams will have the rare and simultaneous opportunity to not only implement this new trade agreement, but more importantly create the environment whereby our relationship with this huge and diverse neighbour to our north can move from one that is essentially transactional to one that really brings our two nations together, and in doing so create security and opportunities to this dynamic part of the World.

The challenge, of course, will be whether our politicians have the vision, interest and foresight to actually make this happen?

© Scoop Media