Indonesia ties complex for new Australian leader
The Australian Indonesian relationship will always be a complex and challenging one for both sides.

Both Canberra and Jakarta say that during the Howard years, institutional ties between the two countries became stronger than ever.

The signing of the Lombok treaty formalised the close security and defence co-operation that came in the wake of the Bali bombings.

And Australia poured huge aid into counter terrorism, education and governance programs.

But it's the low points that appear to have tarnished John Howard's prime ministership in the eyes of the Indonesian media.

Australia's role leading the international forces in East Timor remains a gaping wound - a source of humiliation and anger among the Indonesians I met.

The fact that Australia supported Indonesia's claims to East Timor for twenty years, and that the UN forces were invited in by then President Habibie - albeit under duress - is rarely acknowledged.

What is remembered is the triumphalism of Australia's leaders in the wake of the intervention - and the fact that East Timor's independence was overwhelmingly supported by the Australian people.

A lot of the later flare-ups came from these wounds.

The furore over Australia's acceptance of Papuan refugees or the coroner's verdict on the Balibo Five reflects what seems to be an underlying Indonesian suspicion - that Australia harbours a hidden agenda to oversee the break up of the archipelago - or at least inflict further national humiliation.

Australians perceptions of Indonesia are no better informed.

Hysterical media coverage of bombings or boogie boards has done little to help Australians understand their neighbours.

Indonesians rightly complain about their country being portrayed as a hotbed of terrorism or religious extremism or lawlessness.

And neither country is helped by politicians who're always ready to whip up nationalistic fervour against the other to win cheap political points.

It's hard to see how these misunderstandings can be remedied by any one leader.

In the end, the promise of better ties between Australia and Indonesia lies in what the bureaucrats like to call people to people links.

It's the hospitality and generosity of the Indonesian people that I'll remember most.

And it was the chance to see first-hand their vibrant political culture and democratic reforms that I hope has made me better informed.

With the vast numbers of Indonesians and Australians who cross each other's shores each year, the ties they bind us will be those we forge ourselves.

Meanwhile, our leaders will remain locked in that same awkward dance - neither party quite knowing what to do, each occasionally stepping on the others' foot but both hopeful that, with time, they'll end up swinging to the same beat.

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