Indonesia-Australia Relations: Progress, Challenges and Potential

The Australia-Indonesia relationship has often been characterized by both sides as a roller-coaster ride.1 As Colin Brown put it, ‘… nothing so characterizes the phenomenon [of Australia-Indonesia relations] as a car on a roller-coaster. Any rise is followed inevitably by a fall. The ride is never boring, and in a bizarre kind of way it is predictable. But sometimes you might wish for a little more stability, a few more moments of calm.’2 However, as argued by Jamie Mackie,3 looking back at the history of Australia-Indonesia, it was in fact quite stable for long periods of time, even though fluctuating sharply at certain points, such as the early high point in 1948–49 when Australia supported the independence of Indonesia against the Dutch, and a low point during Indonesia’s Konfrontasi (confrontation) during 1963–66 against the United Kingdom and Malaysia. Nonetheless, since the post-New Order reformasi (reform) period, and its relatively high turnover of presidents, fluctuations in the relationship have been more evident.