National

In the past decade, 140 Indonesian fishermen drowned in Australian waters, a further 400 were imprisoned. JILL ELLIOTT reports that policies dealing with the issue are costly, ineffective and have tragic consequences. She suggests better alternatives.

While top officials hail the Australia-Indonesia security agreement, ARTHUR KING is appalled to find that, on the ground in East Timor, youths who resist still face torture.

Modern gay men in Indonesia learn to live alongside traditional concepts of homosexuality. DEDE OETOMO explains.

Should child labour be abolished or regulated? WENDY MILLER spoke with activist ARIST MERDEKA SIRAIT during the Child Labour Conference at Melbourne's Monash University.

Authorities blame the recent Jakarta riots on the coalition PRD. It has hundreds of members, but military leaders liken it to the PKI of the 1960s, which had millions. Who are these 1990s activists? VANNESSA HEARMAN visited with one of the coalition partners earlier this year, and filed this inside story.

Amidst great enthusiasm, Megawati Sukarnoputri was elected chairperson of the small political party PDI in December 1993. But last June she was ejected from the leadership by military-backed rivals. Many now look to her to lead a democratising movement wider than the PDI. To find out how she felt about this wider role, SAILENDRI recorded this exclusive interview with Megawati in her home.

The events of 27 July have led many to speculate about a more democratic order after the end of Suharto's powerful rule. MICHAEL VAN LANGENBERG warns such speculation may be misplaced.

Satellite TV and the Internet are opening Indonesia to the globe. MARK CRAWFORD asks: Will this mean less mind control by the state?

Transition to a post-Suharto era in Jakarta could be window of opportunity for East Timor. What might that window offer, asks COKI NAIPOSPOS?

Students are few in number but loom large on the political stage. The PRD affair demonstrated this once more. In this reflective essay, ARIEL HERYANTO asks why this should be so.

Indonesians in search of justice can go no higher than the Supreme Court. But whistle blowers have exposed deep-seated corruption within. Worse, the main whistle blower is now threatened with the sack.

As riots erupt across the country, Suharto is forcing rich companies to contribute to a private anti-poverty foundation. But, for DAVID BOURCHIER and IAN CHALMERS, the move smacks of personal greed.

On 2 September 1996, the Philippines government signed an agreement with the Moro National Liberation Front that promised to end decades of violence and give Moro Muslims substantial autonomy. Indonesian Ambassador to Australia, Wiryono Sastrohandojo, helped broker the deal.

Parliament, Aberson Marle Sihaloho explains to SHARON TICKLE over lunch, can never do a good job under Suharto.

Is Indonesia a 'tinder-box'? A potential Bosnia in Southeast Asia? Or is it essentially peaceful, but someone is stirring the pot, perhaps to make a point before the 1997 elections? GERRY VAN KLINKEN visits the sites of three riots.

Street children are not social misfits. They are creative exiles from an oppressive state system, according to LAINE BERMAN and HARRIOTT BEAZLEY.

Spend a day in an Indonesian courtroom during the recent wave of political trials and you will probably leave at the end of the day hot, sweaty and confused. Make a habit of it and cynicism becomes the order of the day.

FRANZ MAGNIS-SUSENO believes that riots happen because people feel threatened by change.

Goenawan Mohamad explains to GERRY VAN KLINKEN why the independent electoral monitoring committee KIPP inspired so many volunteers to take action.