It is difficult to conceive of the essential barbarity and cowardice being shown by so many of Australias academics, journalists and politicians.
Just how many murders and rapes in Papua does it take before people like the author are willing to stop being friends with the murderous thugs to our north.
That country should more properly be called the Javanese empire than Indonesia.
Papua was taken illegally and immorally for purposes of theft and is being held in the same way.
Bali also has little in common with the Javanese.
Australia should be at war with Indonesia on the side of the invaded territories.

Proud to Be Indonesian,

You must be joking!

"combined with the small amount of Indonesian soldiers (only 10,000 troops guarding area size of France and Low Countries) needed to maintain law and order, indicates that overwhelming proportion of Papuans are satisfied with their current political situation."

ROTFLMAO!

Do you know how many troops France, Belgium, Luxemburg, and Holland need to maintain law and order? Give you a hint. The same number of troops that Australia, New Zealand, and Great Britain have for maintaining law and order. ZERO.

Democracies don't use military against their own people. Wanna know what Australia's latest military venture is? Helping cyclone affected areas. They're not wandering around Oxford Street armed to the nines. Their wandering around Oxford street dressed in civies on a pub-crawl. Sure, some of them are in Iraq and Afghanistan, but most are still at home, training and waiting.

As the previous posters have stated, put the barrel of a gun in someones face, and they'll vote anyway you want them to. If you don't believe Wikipedia, feel free to write an opposing opinion. I doubt your propaganda will be published though

To "Proud to be Indonesian".

So you, an individual stands above Wikipedia which is peer reviewed and recently adjudicated by Nature to be almost equivalent to Encyclopedia Brittanica. What an ego!

Indonesia has shown to have low scruples as seen in East Timor (I dont need to refer to the massacres there do I?).

Australia has stepped out of PNG, what about Indonesia acknowledging its illegal occupation and like East Timor, allow the indigenous people determine its future? Sadly for them, Australia sees Papua as its defense hat and swallows its scruples. Time therefore for the UN to point the finger north to Indonesia's illegal, yes illegal, occupiers.

Mr 'Proud to be Indonesian',

Please come back when you are 'Proud to be Australian'...

I am going to use the Liberalist line here, and say that it is racist to Australians not to be 'proud to be Australian' in Australia, but to be proud to be of some other soveriegn state - Indoneisia or whatever.

Mr 'Proud to be Indonesian', the only reason Australia does not support Pupua is that a 'stable' Indonesia, an oximoron, is in the Realist strategic interest of Australia, but not in our moral interest - and the 'target practice' for our F111s (which represent a long range offensive nuclear capable stike weapon) and the lasser guided missiles on the Nth Korean drug vessel is the 'slap in the face' to Indonisia - not our granting of visas to Papuan refugees who were being massacred by Indonesia - the US and russia do not aloow other states to acruire such long range nuclear capable bombers, but Australia got its of the US - our F111's are capable of blowing every Indonesain ship out of the water that tries to make its way to Austrlaian land for an invasion - and you have NO capability to defend agaisnt them, send millions of troops, they won't even make it here - that is why the display of Australian power upset the Indos, the 'slap in the face' - and on top of having no power you massacre your own people - still proud to be Indonisian? hahahaha

Proud to be Indonesian you really should get your hands out of your pockets, give them something productive to do .... maybe go to West Papua and shoot a few more Nationals, maybe even go across to Aech and shoot a few more over there - BUT stop playing pocket billiards with yourself.

Words usually fail me with self grandiose cretins like you and in this forum space is also against me - and I just do not know enough ways of saying your country is an invading force of rapacious corrupt thieves and murderers - I have seen the results of your country's incursions into Papuan territory and to speak bahasha in markets is enough to empty them in less than 5 minutes.

The only rate of high participation from the West Papuans has been at the point of a gun - and as it has been succinctly written in wikipedia is so very true - and only 10,000 troops armed with modern weapons to control fairly primitive native nationals rates with your also failed control over Aech - with the exception that Aech are your fellow muslims, rather than animists and christians.

Bull, Narcissist and Remco - apart from agreeing 110% I can only add that - "I have been there and done that" (sorry about that hackneyed phrase) - I have seen the early results of Indonesian "pacification" and their efforts of "maintaining law and disorder[sic]" and the sooner that effete boofheaded foreign minister prattling on about nothing in general realizes he is even more despicable that booze guzzling Gareth Evans was for his shameless betrayal of Timor - absolutely gutless cowardice ...... more suitable word fail me - and would not be acceptable here, so rather than descending to the same gutter level of speech they display in our Parliament - I leave knowing that not all Australians are fazed by the recall of Indonesian Ambassadors - it is more a pity they also do not recall their 10,000 "Law and Order" troops

It is interesting to note, that our government is overtly committed to fighting for freedom and democracy in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Yet, our government baulks at supporting these values where there is a case to support them in our region. What does this say about our government?
Proud to be Indonesian claims that West Papua is apart of Indonesia. This may be so, but the people of West Papua are not Indonesian. They are West Papuan.