Indonesia wants to 'look ahead' and cooperate with Australia after Bali Nine
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Version 0 of 1. The Indonesian government has said it wants to improve cooperation with Australia after the executions of Bali Nine members Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, and said the country would not be concerned if Australia cut foreign aid in the federal budget. On Thursday Indonesia’s foreign ministry spokesman, Arrmanatha Nasir, responded to Sunday’s departure of Australia’s ambassador, Paul Grigson. “It is what it is,” he said in Jakarta. “We certainly now want to look ahead at how we can improve cooperation. “As I have said on many occasions, the Indonesia and Australia relationship is an important partnership, not only for Indonesia, but I believe for Australia. “That’s why we want to look ahead so that we can immediately go back to increasing cooperation in many fields, whether it be security, politics, economy and culture.” Related: Chan and Sukumaran families arrive in Sydney before funerals of Bali Nine pair Nasir said Indonesia would not be concerned if the Australian government cut aid in Tuesday’s federal budget. “Indonesia at the moment is no longer a country that needs aid for development,” he said. “Nevertheless, any aid given by Australia is their effort to increase, to strengthen our partnership. “And so, it’s their right to give, but Indonesia is not asking.” Grigson left Jakarta to consult with the foreign afffairs minister, Julie Bishop, on the consequences for the relationship in the short, medium and long term. The recall was a signal that Australia was “very displeased and dismayed” that Indonesia did not respond to calls for clemency for Sukumaran and Chan, Bishop said. Despite outrage in Australia over the executions, most Australians favour a restrained response which doesn’t damage the two countries’ relationship, a new poll has shown. The poll for the Lowy Institute for International Policy showed limited support for cutting Australian aid (28%) and even less for suspending military and police co-operation (27%). Only 42% backed the recalling of the ambassador. A majority (59%) favoured private diplomatic protests. The poll surveyed the views of 1,200 people both before and after Indonesia proceeded with the executions. Lowy executive director Dr Michael Fullilove said this indicated Australians favoured a restrained diplomatic response. “Despite strong opposition to the death penalty for drug trafficking, it seems that Australians are cautious about taking strong actions against Indonesia in response to the executions of Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan,” he said. The poll showed most Australians would prefer normal diplomatic relations with Indonesia be suspended for only a few months. Most of those polled (63%) said this would make no difference to any Indonesian travel plans. Even more (76%) said it should make no difference to companies willingness to do business in Indonesia. Only 25% supported use of the death penalty for drug trafficking while 31% backed the executions of Chan and Sukumaran. A slight majority (51%) said Australia should play an active role in an international campaign to abolish the death penalty. Family and friends will farewell Chan at a funeral in Sydney on Friday, where his widow will read from the final letter he sent her. Chan and his widow, Febyanti Herewila, were married during his last hours on death row in Indonesia. The funeral will also include a reflection Chan wrote about his life before he was executed on 29 April. Expected to run for two hours, the service is being held at Hillsong Church in Baulkham Hills from 11am and will also be streamed online. A private cremation will be held afterwards. For those planning on buying flowers for Chan, his family asked that they instead adopt “the pay it forward attitude and bless someone”. Andrew’s brother, Michael, said: “We’d love to see this money used to help others or be donated to a worthy cause.” The family has not authorised any website asking for donations, so are warning the public to be wary of fraudulent sites. |