Indonesian- Australia Relation Under Tony Abbott Leadership

Indonesian - Australia Relation Under Tony Abbott Leadership

By David Raja Marpaung

Tony Abbott was elected as the 28th Prime Minister of Australia that brought the Nationalist Party and Liberal coalition. He was elected on 7 September 2013 . Abbott was born in London , England on 4 November 1957 . Before turning to politics , he was a career in journalism as a writer in a newspaper column ' The Australian ' and ' The Bulletin ' . During the three years since 1990 , he became a spokesman and advisor for the current opposition leader , Dr John Hewson . He has a wife named Margaret , and three daughters .

Tony Abbott's political career journey

Under the rule of Prime Minister John Howard in 1996, he was elected as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Employment , Education , Training and Youth Affairs . In this role , he is responsible for making the Green Corps program for youth . After the 1998 elections , he was appointed Minister for Employment Services , where he was responsible for overseeing the development of trade networks .

January 2001 , Tony was promoted to the Cabinet as Minister of Labour , Employment Relations and Small Business . After the election of 2001 , he was appointed Minister of Employment and Workplace Relations and assist the Prime Minister for the Public Service . Tony has also been appointed as the Minister of Health on October 7, 2003 .

After the election of 2007 , Tony became Shadow Minister for Families , Community Services , Indigenous Affairs and the Voluntary Sector . He became Leader of the Opposition terplih new in December 2009 .




Possibility Relations with Indonesia

A. Issues In Human Trafficking Prevention
Abbott will make his first official overseas visit as prime minister to Indonesia . Abbott will soon visit Indonesia with priority to stop asylum seekers coming to Australia by boat from the waters of Indonesia, including the use of military force . He has stated that the coalition camp will allocate AUS $ 420 million to pay for Indonesian citizens who want to provide information about asylum seekers , as well as to buy a boat that will be hired asylum seekers .

The plan got a strong reaction from a number of observers of foreign relations in Indonesia , one of which is Hikmahanto Juwono of the University of Indonesia . He said the plan was just to teach Indonesian citizens , especially those living in coastal areas will become a spy . He also mentioned plans submitted Abbott policy is not going well in maintaining relations with Indonesia .

B. The presence of U.S. military in Australia
Relations between Indonesia and Australia is likely to be disrupted associated with the placement of the U.S. military in the region and also an increase in capacitance Australia Australian military in keeping its border with Indonesia . Abbott is expected to maintain and even increase the strength of the U.S. military in Australia . The U.S. military itself is planned to reach 2,500 by 2017 .

C. Conservative thought
Abbott will be closer to traditional allies such as Britain and the United States . A columnist likened Tony Abbott in the UK with former U.S. president George W Bush , because it has a strong conservative views .

D. Military relations
Australia will still see Indonesia as an important partner in Central Asia . Abbott will not change military cooperation that has existed between Indonesia and Australia , for example, grants for military Hercules Transport Aircraft .

E. Foreign relations Politics
Tony Abbott has vowed his party would run a foreign policy that is more centered on Jakarta than Geneva . He even insisted that all the Prime Minister of Australia in the future should visit Indonesia to demonstrate the importance of Indonesia and neighboring countries such as ASEAN closest to Australia .

With this statement Abbott stressed that Indonesia is a strategic partner in the regional political stage ( Asia ) , as well as the international level ( global ) . It must be considered is the type of partnership will be built by the Government of Indonesia , is a relationship that is equivalent , or one of the countries will be in a position higher or lower ?