12-05-07, 9:30 am

There is nothing like a severe defeat to bring out the critics. That is what is happening to John Howard as he sinks slowly into the shadows of politics. That Howard’s policies and his attitude to others played a major role in the overthrow of the Coalition government is beyond dispute.

However, it is not only domestic critics who have lined up, one after another, to vent their criticisms.

The Sydney Morning Herald (28/11/07) reports the Indonesian mass media as joining the list of vehement critics. The media there has branded Howard as a 'white imperialist', a 'condescending big brother', 'a puppet of the US' and 'a leader with an inflated sense of self-importance'. Even aid money sent to Indonesia in the recent period was seen as being 'insincere' on the part of the Australian government.


Australia’s largest Embassy is being built in Jakarta. Yes, Indonesia is important to Australia but what is the need for Australia’s biggest Embassy to be located there? Are not India, China and Japan even more important to Australia in their different ways?

Is Australia’s diplomatic activity intended to pull Indonesia away from its Asian neighbours and its ASEAN membership? Is Indonesia also seen as (hopefully) providing the US and Australia with military bases at some time in the future which would enable those two powers to control the very important trade route between the Far East and Europe, America and the African continent? This trade route through the Lombok Straits is also vital to both China and Japan and other Asian countries.

When Indonesia, earlier this year, decided to buy advanced Russian fighter planes rather than Australia’s choice of the US Hornet there was much criticism of Indonesia. The ABC, at that time, ran a program that showed Australian Hornets invading Indonesian airspace and actually bombing an Indonesian air force base in Java. It is certain that Indonesian authorities watching this program would have regarded it as an indication of the Australian government’s real intentions.

If the Indonesian authorities have such a view of Australia under Howard, other Asian governments would have come to similar conclusions.

The Australian government displayed its imperialist arrogance in Foreign Minister Alexander Downer’s treatment of Mari Alkatiri, the former East Timor Prime Minister, at the time of negotiations over oil rights in the seas between Australia and this new Asian state. Downer treated Mari Alkatiri as a puppy dog to be insulted, stood over and pushed to one side — which the government’s intervention in East Timor was intended to do. Their action was a blatant interference in the sovereignty and independence of East Timor.

Closer to home a similar attitude has been displayed towards a number of the small Pacific Island states such as in the Solomon Islands where an Australian occupation force is still on the ground. The Australian government tried to force the government of PNG to accept a similar occupation but they refused.

There is a big struggle at the present time between those governments which subscribe to non-interference in the internal affairs of other states and work for the settlement of disputes between countries by negotiation and the imperialist powers which continue to pursue force, occupation, boycotts and other such means to install governments of their choice.

The war against Iraq and Afghanistan are two clear examples of this policy of force. In other countries where the imperialist powers are no longer in a position that they can just march in and appoint who-ever they like, other tactics are being used. Subversion, sabotage of the economy, assassination of leaders unacceptable to the US (and Australia and Britain), huge payments to prop up opposition figures and so on. The policy of the US towards Venezuela is a classic example of the use of subversion and assassination threats.

A different approach is expected from the newly installed Rudd Government, but will it change the fundamentals or will the same basic policies be pursued with only small changes in the crudities of Howard and Downer in the past?

From The Guardian