Kunjungan PM Australia Menzies

The visit of PM Australia Menzies. Only a short time after PM of New Zealand Walter Nash carried out an official visit to Indonesia, now it's the turn of Australian PM Robert Menzies. Today he will arrive in Kemayoran [airport] and will be in Indonesia until the 7 December.

It is interesting to note also, that the [Indonesian] government has really endeavoured to positively acclaim and receive the visit of PM Menzies [in English] "has gone out of its way to welcome the Australian Prime Minister" as they say. This is evident in the government's broadcasts on Radio Republic Indonesia last Saturday, in which different aspects of the people and country of Australia were explained, giving rise to the conviction that, "the visit of PM Menzies will strengthen Australian-Indonesian ties." Other proof can be seen in Minister Djuanda's press statement which "announced how pleased he was to welcome the visit of the PM of Australia to Indonesia as the representative of a friendly neighbouring country." In the name of President Sukarno and all the Cabinet Ministers, Djuanda hoped for in-depth discussions of issues connected to "the major priorities of the two countries, Indonesia and Australia."

Undeniably, Australia provides much aid to Indonesia, as the Ministry of Information has explained in broadcasts, the Australian government plays a major role in implementing the Colombo Plan, to which it is a major donor.

"Especially for Indonesia", the Department's broadcast stated, "Australia has donated aid valued at A£2.2 million, in the form of telecommunications equipment, generators, repair equipment and transportation equipment to advance and develop Indonesia's economy, including 39 trucks, 100 diesel busses, 10 cranes etc. More than 250 Indonesian student trainees have carried out studies in Australia, 10 Australian experts are working in Indonesia and 53 correspondence scholarships have been given to Indonesia."

[in English and Indonesian] A very impressive list indeed! We very much value this assistance, especially because it will give opportunities for as many as 500 students to study in technical areas, medicine, economics and so on in their universities. As a newspaper, we have already stated that university education will bring enormous benefits in creating intellectual leadership for the future, and besides those that we call "the Americans" (those educated in America) and "the Germans" (those educated in West Germany), we will have "the Australians" (those who have formed their spirit and thoughts in the lecture halls of Australian universities). All this will add to the spiritual diversity and outlook of Indonesia’s leaders in the technical, economic humanities and other fields in time to come.

After expressing this appreciation, we should also put forward the matter that they Irian Barat [West New Guinea/West Papua] problem continues to be a "complicated issue" in our relations with the Australian people and state.

Ten months ago, the foreign minister, Dr Subandrio, visited Australia, and that visit did much to increase understanding between the two countries, producing the Joint Communique between Minister Subandrio and Foreign Minister Casey on 15 February 1959. From his explanations to us, that visit was a personal success for Minister Subandrio. He said that he was given an exceptional opportunity to speak in an Australian government cabinet meeting and there he unrolled Indonesia’s position on a number of matters, including Irian Barat. But in national politics, the visit of Minister Subandrio hasn’t been successful. The proof? Australia still holds firm to the position that it is the The Netherlands that has sovereignty over the area of Irian Barat. The pronouncements of the Australian representatives to the United Nations General Council on this issue were clear and without obfuscation. Thus, Minister Subandrio's diplomacy in relation to Australia has had poor results. But it is also clear that this situation has been caused by inadequacies on the side of the Indonesian ambassador to Australia, Dr Helmi.

We can't expect that Australia will change its position from supporting The Netherlands to supporting Indonesia over the Irian Barat conflict. We know that Dr Subandrio is only human, and he cannot work miracles. But the minimum possibly we can hope for is that Australia, like America, will have an attitude and positon as 'neutral' in the conflict between The Netherlands and Indonesia regarding Irian Barat. The US is acting neutrally because it is an ally of The Netherlands in NATO and wishes to be friends with Indonesia. There is no reason for Australia to sympathise with the Dutch, since it has nothing to do with NATO, its orientation is more directed to the framework of the Pacific, where it has become a member of ANZUS and SEATO. How can it be that Australia values The Netherlands over Indonesia? Why? How have the explanations and eloquence of Minister Subandrio been confirmed?

The reality of the attitude of Australia in supporting The Netherlands means that as a newspaper we are not yet ready to be "intimate and warm" with Australia. But it will be a different matter if at least it wants to act neutrally on the Irian Barat question. But as is the custom with every important guest who walks on our shores, we say to PM Robert Menzies: Welcome; and along with the Department of Information, we hope "That the visit of PM Menzies to our country will be a great success in creating understanding and experience after enjoying the environment in Indonesia and in connecting with the Indonesian people in an atmosphere of friendship."