A major Australian government festival in Indonesia was cancelled weeks after news broke of a spying row between the two countries late last year in a sign that relations between the two countries were more frail than previously thought.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Ozfest Indonesia, a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade program planned for January to April this year to promote Australian culture, was replaced in December 2013 with a lower-profile year-long program of events. The festival was to follow in the success of Ozfest India, a four-month festival of 100 performances over 18 Indian cities opened by former Prime Minister Julia Gillard in New Delhi in 2012.
Dr Alison Broinowski, a researcher at the ANU and Macquarie University, was formerly an Australian diplomat and cultural attache at the Australian Embassy in Japan. Along with five other academics, she was part of a planned Macquarie Soft Power Advocacy and Research Centre (SPARC) research project of which Dr Broinowski said Ozfest Indonesia was to be the “centrepiece”.
"We had been putting together a project assessing the success of Australia’s public diplomacy with Indonesia,” Dr Broinowski said. She had met senior DFAT staff late last year and informed them of the centre's research plans. DFAT head Mr Peter Varghese helped launch Ozfest India during his time as Australian high commissioner.
“We were in the planning process in collaboration with SPARC and it was all going ahead, then everything went very quiet.”
In November documents released by Edward Snowden revealed Australia's intelligence efforts against Indonesia went as far as monitoring the private mobiles of Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his wife Kristiani Herawati. A diplomatic struggle ensued, protests took place at the Australian embassy in Jakarta and Indonesia recalled its ambassador to Australia.
Dr Broinowski waited for news until January this year and called the (now former) director of the Australian Indonesia Institute, an organisation also funded by DFAT.
"When I asked if the year of Australia in Indonesia was cancelled they said, 'Yes, we cancelled it under the circumstances'. So since then we thought, oh gosh, what are we going to do with our project?"
Ozfest Indonesia was to be delivered by DFAT's cultural diplomacy body, the Australia International Cultural Council (AICC), as part of a wider Year of Australia in Indonesia, which Dr Broinowski said "was going to be a very special year" .
"It all went quiet in November because of the revelations from Edward Snowden and what went on with the spying scandal," Dr Broinowski said.
Early in November, before the spying revelations, it is understood an Australian arts professional was to be formally named as the festival producer for Ozfest Indonesia. online job descriptionstaken down
Arts organisations that were to be involved in the festival were never formally notified of the change. The creative director of one Australian arts organisation, who did not want to be named, said "it was a bit of a shock" at the time.
Dr Broinowski said: “It’s when you have problems in bilateral relationships, it’s best to do everything you can to make it right.” But, she said, "On the other hand if you have such a bad situation that you can’t even talk to the other government, then you have real problems.”
DFAT has refused to comment on the existence of the festival as laid out in press releases and social media accounts followed by the Australian ambassador to Indonesia, Mr Greg Moriarty.
The department declined to comment on the existence of Ozfest Indonesia or whether events had been cancelled or defunded. Instead the spokesperson said, "The Australian embassy in Jakarta's Arts and Cultural Program 2014 began in March this year and will run through to November" and detailed six cultural events.
Other cultural events, including those funded by the AICC, have still taken place in Indonesia under the lower-profile arts and culture program. It is understood these have been successful and well received. A DFAT spokesperson said the events were part of "Indonesia focus year activities".
Tony Abbott declared relations with Indonesia were back on track last week after a meeting with the Indonesian President in Batam despite a recent Lowy Institute poll of Australian attitudes to Indonesia revealing Australians feel "warmer" towards Spain, Fiji and Papua New Guinea than they do towards Indonesia.
Ross Tapsell, lecturer in Asian Studies at the ANU, said: “The government has been pushing people-to-people relations as the key driver of the Australia-Indonesia relationship. Programs such as cultural exchanges are central to this message.”
