By Vannessa Hearman

MELBOURNE -- Victorian premier Jeff Kennett has recently returned from a tour of south-east Asia. On September 17, he said that he had offered the Indonesian regime aid to get through the economic crisis.

Kennett offered to “loan” President Habibie several senior public servants. This offer is part of the moves by business and governments in Australia to legitimise the Habibie dictatorship.

Kennett's tour aimed to raise the profile of Victoria as a source of trade and investment for Asia.

Habibie, the adopted son of former dictator Suharto, replaced Suharto in May to avert a mass uprising against the regime. Since then, the Habibie government has been gradually increasing the power of the Indonesian military. Far from bringing in an new era of democracy, the level of repression in the country is increasing.

Such matters do not concern western business and governments keen to invest in Indonesia. Western governments have for decades bankrolled the Indonesian dictatorship to enforce low wages and living standards on Indonesia's population and protect the super-profits that result.

An excuse offered by many supporters of the regime is that “authoritarianism” is part of “Indonesian culture”. If cutting wages, curtailing union rights and attacking civil liberties is “Indonesian culture”, then Kennett is the most “Indonesian” person I know of.

Kennett's aid to Habibie reflects his common interests with the dictatorship. Just as Habibie wants to increase the military's ability to crack down on a population demanding democracy and real change, so Kennett serves big business by attacking the rights of working people in Australia.

Australians should oppose Kennett's aid program. There must be no ties with the Habibie regime. Instead we should demand that Australian governments support the democracy movement in Indonesia and the freedom struggles in East Timor, Aceh and West Papua.

[Vannessa Hearman is an Indonesian immigrant to Australia and a leader of Action In Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor. She is a Senate candidate for the Democratic Socialists in Victoria.]

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