An Indonesian and two Albanians placed on vessel by Australians, boat crew tells Indonesian navy An asylum seeker boat has been turned back to Indonesia with three additional passengers on board, according to a statement issued by the Indonesian navy. The wooden boat was found on a small island in eastern Indonesia. The crew told the Indonesian navy that two Australian vessels had been involved in...
Operation Sovereign Borders believed to be reason behind postponement of PM's meeting with president Yudhoyono The prime minister, Tony Abbott, has postponed a trip to Indonesia that was scheduled for next week. Concerns about an asylum-seeker operation north of Australia are believed to be behind the decision. Arrangements were being made for Mr Abbott to visit Bali early next week for a regional...
Queensland plumber Matt Lockley is expected to be charged with interfering with a Virgin Australia crew member An Australian man who sparked a hijacking scare on a flight to Bali will face court in June. Australian federal police have issued Matt Christopher Lockley with a notice to appear in the Brisbane magistrates court on 6 June, when he is expected to be charged with interfering with a crew member....
In distant days, if Britain went to war, we also were at war. We have tragically put ourselves in the same position with the United States My latest book Dangerous Allies focuses on Australias strategic dependence first on the United Kingdom, and then on the United States. It tells the story of sometimes enormous sacrifice and loss of life, and of fighting wars that were not always in Australias direct...
Paper company responds to criticism with 1m hectare conservation plan but green groups say it won't stop loggers Asian Pulp and Paper, one of the worlds biggest paper companies, is to support the conservation of 1m hectares of rainforest in Indonesia, as a way of reducing its impact on the habitats of endangered species such as orang utan, elephants and tigers. However, green experts said the plans...
Tony Abbott said that West Papuan activists were not welcome in Australia. With our first office opening in Perth, I hope Australians will disagree This Anzac Day weekend, we opened the first ever Free West Papua campaign office in Australia. For more than 50 years, my people have suffered what I considered to be a slow-moving genocide under the repressive military occupation of Indonesia. During...
Companies involved in illegal logging, forced evictions and child labour have been backed financially, report claims Australias biggest banking institutions have provided financial support to companies involved in illegal logging, forced evictions and child labour, according to a new report from Oxfam Australia. A new report released on Monday says ANZ, Westpac, National Australia Bank and the Commonwealth...
Queensland plumber has been released from hospital after having drug and alcohol tests and recovering from exhaustion An Australian plumber will not be charged by Indonesia for causing a hijacking scare at Bali's airport, with authorities now looking at the procedures leading to the false alarm. Continue reading... ...
In Indonesia, a loud and politically committed generation of punk bands are shaking big business and getting results The briefing took place in a small commercial office in Jakarta, with no insulation from the heat, smog or noise of the bustling Indonesian capital. The 24 young Indonesians in attendance were scheming about how best to get themselves arrested. Young activists in developing countries...
Passenger believed to be drunk attempts to enter the plane's cockpit on flight from Brisbane to Indonesian island of Bali A Virgin Australia plane flying to Bali was the focus of a hijack scare after an apparently drunk passenger attempted to enter the plane's cockpit. Continue reading... ...
Award-winning Hong Kong photographer and photojournalist Paul Hilton's latest series of images looks at the impact of deforestation on Indonesia's wildlife. Basing himself in one of the most biodiverse hotspots in the world - the Leuser ecosystem in Aceh, home to rhino, orangutan, tigers and elephants - Hilton found that the clearing of forests for palm oil plantations means more roads are being cut...
The legacy of our foreign military adventures doesn't vanish when we lose interest in it which is why having journalists ask tough questions is vital The Australian government recently successfully blocked the release of sensitive documents that would have revealed the complicity of Indonesian forces in massive abuses during their occupation of East Timor . Canberra directed the National Archives...
UNHCR criticises boat turnbacks and Cambodia resettlement plan, and claims Australia is not cooperating with investigation United Nations officials have repeatedly criticised Australias refugee policies at a regional conference in Indonesia. The potential resettlement of refugees in Cambodia and policy of turning back boats were both singled out at the two-day conference in Jakarta. Continue reading......
Coalitions hardline border policy causing overcrowding in Indonesian detention centres, Jakarta claims Australia will be asked to "share the burden" of asylum seekers with Indonesia, where detention centres are overcrowded with people stymied by the Abbott government's hardline border policy. Australia and Indonesia will meet on the sidelines of a workshop on the protection of asylum seekers...
One officer stripped of command and another sanctioned in announcement made same day Guardian Australia revelations cast doubt on investigation's findings The chief of the Australian navy has sacked a senior commanding officer involved in one of the incursions into Indonesian waters. Vice Admiral Ray Griggs announced on Thursday that one commanding officer would be removed from command and another...
Guardian Australia exclusive: Nine-kilometre incursion into internal waters by customs vessel the Ocean Protector casts doubt on findings of review that investigated territorial breaches An Australian customs ship entered far deeper into Indonesian waters than has previously been disclosed despite having digital navigational charts that displayed the correct boundaries of Indonesias territorial baselines,...
Global trade union IndustriAll accuses Anglo-Australian firm of 'very wide breaches of fundamental rights' in failure over safety Protesters and unions from around the world heavily criticise mining company Rio Tinto on Tuesday over alleged lapses in safety leading to the deaths of 41 people and a string of claimed environmental abuses. Global trade union IndustriAll, which represents 50 million industrial...
Indonesian fishermen who inadvertently breach Australian waters suffer punitive circumstances, but Australian warships receive differential treatment Last year, during a visit to Kupang, in West Timor, I met a fisherman with a 12 year old daughter and a seven year old son. His two boats were burned by the Australian government as they were said at the time to have breached Australian waters. He was...
With Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono barred from running for a third term, attention has turned to opposition candidate, Joko Widodo Indonesians headed to polling booths across more than 900 islands on Wednesday in a parliamentary election seen as a key pointer for the presidential contest in July. The results of Wednesdays vote will play a crucial role in determining which parties reach the electoral threshold...
Projections show PDI-P with 19% of the national vote, below the 25% threshold needed to put forward its presidential candidate Indonesia's opposition party, Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P), led in the country's parliamentary elections on Wednesday, but is unlikely to get enough votes to independently field a presidential candidate, according to projections after polls closed. PDI-P emerged...