In Reply to: take the idea one step further posted by cliff on Thursday, 6. January 2005 at 21:00 Bali Time:
Without a doubt SOME foreign companies have done this with the explicite "approval" of corrupt Indonesian officials. Unfortunately the few Australian companies of which I am a share holder have all failed to make a profit from their Indonesian subsideries. All of my investments in Indonesia have been dismal failures.
If you can provide me with some names of Aust companies actually making a profit out of Indonesia, I would appreciate it.
There are a wide range of initiatives that I would like to see DIMIA apply to Indonesia applicants for Australian visas and as an indication of of my opinion about DIMIA, I confess to a very uncharitable response to the bombing of the Australian Embassy: I think that they deserved a good shake up, and they got it. (Whether or not they actually learnt anything from it, remains to be see.)
It is true that successive Australian governments have supported TNI's brutality and abuse of human rights and have been a sycophantic mouth piece for an authoritarian regime. This started with Whitlam's craven sell out of the East Timorese in 75.
At the end of the day, they hold us in contempt, with little respect for our values, standards and way of life. We earnt their respect in the past by pretty decisive means and we need to do so again.