AUSTRALIA-INDONESIA: RUDD VISIT A SUCCESS DESPITE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 001175 NOFORN SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MLS, EAP/ANP, EAP/MLS NSC FOR E.PHU E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/16/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV EAID ID AS SUBJECT: AUSTRALIA-INDONESIA: RUDD VISIT A SUCCESS DESPITE MINOR MISSTEPS REF: JAKARTA 1143 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: Deputy Pol/C Stanley Harsha for reasons 1.4 (b+d). ¶1. (U) This message was coordinated with Consulate Medan. ¶2. (SBU) SUMMARY: Australian Prime Minister Rudd's June 13-14 visit to Indonesia highlighted the overall positive relationship between the two countries. PM Rudd and President Yudhoyono agreed on a broad range of political, economic and development initiatives. A few minor mishaps--including mistranslation of Yudhoyono's comments on Australia's travel warning--marred the otherwise successful visit. END SUMMARY ¶3. (SBU) Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd visited Jakarta June 13 and met Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and range of other government and civil society leaders. He also traveled to Aceh on June 14. This was his most extensive Indonesia trip since taking office. (Rudd visited Bali in December 2007 for the UN Climate Change Conference.) POSITIVE OUTCOMES ¶4. (SBU) Indonesian Department of Foreign Affairs (DEPLU) and Australian Embassy interlocutors agreed that the visit had produced several significant positive outcomes. Rudd accepted Yudhoyono's invitation to co-chair the Bali Democracy Forum that the GOI plans to host later this year. They also agreed to begin negotiations on a reciprocal working-holiday visa program. This arrangement would allow young people to take short-term employment while on extended tourist visits. ¶5. (SBU) On the economic front, Rudd and Yudhoyono agreed to promote Australian direct investment in Indonesia and signed a five-year development partnership. Rudd spoke of the shared goal of reducing trade barriers, and stated that concluding the Australia-New Zealand-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement is a priority for his government. The two leaders also inked an MOU establishing an Indonesia-Australia Forest Carbon Partnership. The Partnership will provide for cooperation and capacity building in forestry policy development. It will also assist Indonesia develop a national forest carbon accounting and monitoring system. In public remarks, Rudd highlighted the link between forest protection and carbon markets, and committed to placing avoided deforestation on the July G8 meeting agenda. ¶6. (SBU) Rudd also agreed to developmental assistance partnerships with Nadhatul Ulama and Muhammadiyyah, Indonesia's two largest mass-Muslim organizations. Under these agreements, the GOA will provide approximately A$2.5 million to augment the groups' disaster response capabilities. MINOR MISHAPS ¶7. (C/NF) Rudd's otherwise positive program was marred by minor snafus during his June 13 joint press availability with Yudhoyono. In a comment on security issues, President Yudhoyono said that he understood Australia's need to protect its citizens and assured Rudd that the security situation in Indonesia was "normal." In translating the President's remarks, Yudhoyono's interpreter added that SBY looked forward to Australia lifting its travel advisory and implied that the GOA had already decided to do so. The President did not actually say this and the mistake set off a furious round of consultations between senior officials and several quick clarifications of the remarks. Senior Indonesian officials have pressed Australia in private to drop their travel warning, especially following the USG's recent decision to do so. Australian Embassy contacts said this was one of many logistical and protocol problems that plagued the visit. ¶8. (C/NF) Rudd also stumbled over the issue of whether Australia would consider an asylum request by members of the Ahmadiyah sect. (Note: The GOI has labeled the Ahmadiyah sect "deviant" and sharply restricted its activities JAKARTA 00001175 002 OF 002 (reftel). When a reporter pressed the issue, Rudd admitted that he was not familiar with the details. Australian Embassy contacts said they had provided a briefing paper on the Ahmadiyah issue to the PM's staff. Embassy contacts blamed the PM's lack of knowledge on inexperienced staffers in his advance team. (Note: Indonesian asylum claims can be a sensitive issue for both countries. Indonesia-Australia relations hit an especially rocky patch in 2006, when the GOA grated asylum to 42 Papuans. Jakarta temporarily recalled its ambassador in protest.) COMMITMENT TO ACEH ¶9. (SBU) Rudd spoke on June 14 in Banda Aceh, where he opened a school that had been rebuilt with Australian assistance following the December 2004 tsunami. He outlined Australian reconstruction aid to date and promised that Australia's commitment to Aceh would continue far into the future. HUME