“For me personally, and for Indonesia, the wiretapping conducted by Australia toward some officials, including me, is really hard to comprehend,” Yudhoyono said. “It’s not the Cold War-era anymore.”
The president delivered the firm warning to Australian officials in the televised speech Wednesday afternoon, demanding an explanation one day after Prime Minister Tony Abbott refused to apologize for the incident. Bilateral cooperation on intelligence and military matters will be put on hold as Indonesia reviews allegations that Australia’s intelligence agency, the Australian Signals Directorate, attempted to listen in on phone conversations between Yudhoyono, his wife and members of his inner circle.
The allegations, which broke in reports by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and the domestic version of the Guardian on Monday, inspired anger in Indonesia as lawmakers and Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa promised repercussions to diplomatic relations if Australia failed to directly address the spying scandal.
“We are downgrading Australia’s relations with us,” Marty said. “Like taps, we are closing off areas of cooperation one by one.”
The cessation of Indonesia’s efforts to combat people smuggling, a hot-button issue in Australia, is a serious step by the Indonesian government. Abbott was elected amid a wave of anti-asylum seeker sentiment on a platform promising a hard-line stance on Australia’s so-called “boatpeople problem,” including claims that Australia’s navy would turn asylum seeker boats around once they entered national waters.
The Australian government’s policies and a previous spying scandal have since damaged ties between the two nations. Jakarta viewed the “tow-back” plan and intelligence activities as a violation of Indonesia’s sovereignty. This most recent scandal added further strain, pulling Yudhoyono into the fray and setting off a flood of nationalist sentiment on the floor of the House of Representatives.
Deputy House Speaker Priyo Budi Santoso, typically a vocal opponent of the central government, applauded Yudhoyono for taking firm action on the spying issue.
“I highly appreciate the government this time,” Priyo told the state-run Antara News Agency, “[They] acted firm and strong by recalling our ambassador to Australia. This action is clear and shows that Australia has made us uncomfortable and unhappy with the wiretapping.”
Indonesia’s intelligence agency, the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), said their Australian counterparts reached out and promised to no longer wiretap Indonesian officials.
“In communication with us they said that the most important thing is now and in the future there won’t be any more wiretapping,” Marciano Noorman, the head of the BIN, said. “There should be a commitment from [our] intelligence partner in Australia to evaluate and improve the condition in the future.”
But for some Indonesian politicians, assurances from Australia were not enough. The Golkar Party’s Poempida Hidayatulloh urged the Indonesian government to invest in advanced spying technology of its own. The nation needs to take retaliatory measures against Australia, including diplomatic sanctions, as a show of force, he said.
“In solving this problem, just getting angry is not enough,” Poempida said. “This is the time we should leave this loser mentality behind, especially concerning foreign countries. This is the time for Indonesia to remain tough and show the world that we cannot be humiliated.”
Fahri Hamzah, of the Islamist Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), said Indonesia needed harsher laws against wiretapping, a controversial view that could both provide legal action for those caught spying but also defang the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), which can currently wiretap phones without a warrant.
“”How is the president’s handphone unprotected?” Fahri told the Indonesian news portal Okezone.com. ”If [Yudhoyono] and his intelligence advisors are not aware that the whole world is now wiretapping [each other], they’re naive.
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