POLITIK LUAR NEGERI INDONESIA
Bryan Lodewyk Pardede
Hubungan Internasional
Universitas Teknologi Yogyakarta
Australian Espionage Against Indonesia : Solutions and Completion
Diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Australia had heated up in 2014 due to espionage incidents committed by Australia against several Indonesian officials. One of them, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's cellphone, became a victim of wiretapping. Australia's main motive for wiretapping was to get a security council seat at the UN. This wiretapping by Australia was to spy on conversations conducted by Indonesian officials with the aim of obtaining important information that is useful for Australia's political interests. An anonymous source revealed that Australia's interest in tapping Indonesia was to win a seat on the UN Security Council, Australian PM Kevin Rudd was also said to be very eager to obtain intelligence information from Asia Pacific leaders including President SBY, Indian PM Manmoham Singh and former Chinese President Hu Jintao. In response to the news of the wiretapping of Indonesia, Prime Minister Tony Abbott held a press conference in Australia but instead of answering questions from the Indonesian government about whether or not the wiretapping had taken place and the demand for an apology, he stated that Australia did not need to apologize for what had happened because wiretapping cases are common in the international world and it is about the need to protect Australia's national interests.
President SBY was not satisfied with PM Tony Abbott's statement which according to him did not answer the questions and demands of the Indonesian people but only responded to the Australian domestic community itself. The President then took firm steps with the issuance of three policies towards Australia, the first was the withdrawal of the Indonesian Ambassador to Australia Nadjib Riphat in Canberra and summoned the Australian Ambassador to Indonesia Greg Moriarty to provide information about this wiretapping case, the second reviewed the Indonesia-Australia cooperation and even some important cooperation was temporarily stopped, one of which was cooperation in the field of defense and security, the last was the President sent an official letter to Australia containing a protest over the wiretapping case that occurred.
Moving on from President SBY's three policies towards Australia, PM Tony Abbott responded by replying to an official letter from President SBY regarding protests against Australia's espionage actions, Abott expressed his desire to normalize relations between the two countries and promised that in the future Australia would not take actions that could harm Indonesia. The reply letter given by Abbott then formed five Indonesian foreign policies towards Australia taken by President SBY after a meeting with the Vice President and a number of Ministers, as follows :
1. Assign Marty Natalegawa, Minister of Foreign Affairs, to conduct in-depth negotiations on this matter, covering sensitive matters relating to Australia and Indonesia's diplomatic relations. Based on the mutual understanding and agreement, the President tried to follow up with the parties after they discussed the protocol and code of conduct, also known as the Code of Conduct Protocol.
2. To ensure the settlement meets Indonesia's needs, the President personally reviewed the code of conduct after the incident.
3. Furthermore, the heads of state of both countries will be present during the ratification of the protocol and code of conduct.