Despair would be a natural but unproductive reaction to this SMH article yesterday, http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/carr-helps-to-remove-the-blinkers-20120305-1ue67.html

Both Bob Carr and Mr Hartcher are products of an American fantasy about Indonesia which benefits Bechtel, Freeport, Exxon, NewMount, Conoco Phillips, to name a few.. Just find a membership listing of the US Indonesia Society lobby to get a full listing. But an Australian foreign minister needs to know the difference between illusion sprouted in US publications and reality, and he needs to understand our regional interests. Bob Carr is a wonderful choice for Indonesia, but not so much for us.

I agree the Balinese are a nice people, but Jakarta is not ruled by the people of Indonesia, it is a oligarchy mostly of Indonesian Generals and US corporate interests. The effect of the 1975 invasion of East Timor was that Portugal Oil was replaced by Conoco Phillips, and the effect of the 1962 American deal (the “New York Agreement”) for the UN to trade our neighbours of West Papua to Indonesian rule, was that Freeport got to mine Papua's gold & copper etc.

The NSW Parliament is well aware that West Papua is victim of an illegal UN resolution (resolution 1752 (XVII)) which Australia supported in August 1962, an act which benefited the US corporations and Jakarta but not Australia or our regional interests. Colonialism is good business for Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.; and it is the unspoken Australian policy for the indigenous population of West Papua.

Over this coming year watch as Bob Carr, just like Kevin Rudd, refuses to answer a simple question; why did Australia support UN General Assembly resolution 1752 (XVII) ?

Daeron,we live in a corporate controlled world.They own us via the banking system and controlling the oil/gas supplies.

Bob Carr if he wants a future has not the will or the courage to buck the system.He like Obama will seduce us with nice words while letting the big boys take more.They all think that too many people on the planet is surpressing mother Earth and they will stop our consumption.

Their ultimate goal is a New World Order in which the individual counts for nothing.Bob Brown has publicly stated he wants,"Global Governance" 10% of our carbon taxes will go to the UN.This is a totalitariarn Communist philosophy which under Starlin saw 20 million + people exterminated.

Our banks now ignore interest rate guidlines set by the RBA.Greece and Italian Govts are now ruled by Bankers.By the time the people wake up,it will be too late.

Many threads about Bob, and many axes being ground.
Even a willingness to hop on and ride,claiming, as our Arjay does the whole thing is but a symptom of western deceit.
Time, and not much, will tell.
Bob is invulnerable to such comments.

Belly, there is no axe being ground, as no better replacement than Mr Carr has been suggested yet. But it would be an act of despair to do nothing while waiting for Bob to prove he is cut of the same cloth as all the other politicians - sheep listening to any adviser who promises to keep them in power if they limit their thinking to whatever the adviser dictates. People like the (US) Council on Foreign Relations and the Australia Indonesia Institute or the Lowry Institute have a vested interest in maintaining the status-quo; their advisers want our politicians to be mindless mouth pieces.

Arjay, I am aware of the history of Indonesia and I assure you that the reputable banks have not been involved in mis-guiding that 'nation' into it's national disregard of human rights. Although less reputable organisations like BBH (Brown Brothers Harriman & Co), the IMF, and the 'banks' owned by Indonesian Generals have each played their part in turning Indonesia into a genocidal nation; those financial institutions represent the interests of a small percentage (the 1% ?) who support colonialism and genocide as a means to get minerals and other resources which they want.

And if you believe using 10% of a tax equates to 'communism', I would appreciate hearing of any sensible alternative to taxation as a means of funding governments.

I wish Carr well, and hope that his abilities are more suited to Foreign affairs than as a Premier.

That's the 2nd rather graceful line I've seen from you recently *Shadow Minister*

Hmmm ...

(What a shame that the coalition appear to be beginning to splinter, at least in my interpretation of the view that they have expressed re:the A.D.F.A. real time sex broadcast abuse victim. Regardless of the technical legal fact, could they not speak also of how they would further honour women if elected above and beyond the current state of play?)

But back to the thread.

In my limited experience of "the internationals," in amongst those things that they share in common is at least one significant view relevant to the "Foreign Ministry" and this thread, and that is that they WILL NOT stomach double standards, which in a nut shell for Australia means that as long as you continue to not make your best efforts for the *BlakFellas* for the depravities that the crown and others have and are still inflicting upon them, a debt which cannot really be repaid in my view, then they will ignore you when you point the finger at their abusive practices, and hate you irrationally if you try and coerce them.

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I additionally believe that conversely, the same applies, and that is that if you come out and do some quality outreach, something gracious, something noble, then you may be pleasantly surprised to see "echoes" shall I say?

I note of course that in some cases, such as the Yahoodee/Hamas situation, that this approach seems to have little to no effect, however, I do not believe it to be true of all cultural frontiers.

DreamOn wrote "if you come out and do some quality outreach, something gracious, something noble, then you may be pleasantly surprised"

And in fact I've already helped friends achieve that, in 2005 the US republican Congress added a section 1115 to that year's US Foreign Relations Authorization bill that required then US Sec. of State Rice to produce a report on both the conditions inside West Papua, and a report on the 1969 "Act of Free Choice". And around 2008 or 2009 the Vanuatu Parliament unanimously supported a motion directing the government to transmit (fax) notice of a motion to the UN Secretary General that would ask UN members to vote on whether the International Court of Justice should be allowed to provide it's opinion on the legality of the 1962 "New York Agreement" and associated UN General Assembly resolution 1752 (XVII).

Of course in 2005 SBY swore public outrage and promised he would have the US Senate revoke section 1115, and in response to the Vanuatu parliament a California Energy company funded by Indonesia offered the PM & Finance Minister a deal to open a fuel depot project on one of Vanuatu's islands. The request by the US Congress was removed, and the request by the Vanuatu Parliament was ignored.

Both Washington and Vanuatu have governments that Australians and others can appeal to, but not Canberra. Jakarta's mouth piece in Washington is the US Indonesia Society, a corporate lobby group posing as a independent expert. But Canberra has created a government Department whose job is to promote & maintain Jakarta's agenda in Australia, the Australia Indonesia Institute. This is one of many examples of a denial of civil rights in Australia, rights which our State & Federal governments refuse to admit have been squashed.

Interesting *Daeron* though some citations would add further credibility to your assertions and I for one would certainly be interested to read some of the primary source material.

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All things said and done, one solution to these sorts of issues is to simply not vote for either blue or red, but rather say *Green* or others who commit to a reasonable alternative to the issues that you have raised.