IS INDONESIA ASSERTING ITSELF NOW, TAKING MORE OF A LEADERSHIP ROLE IN ASEAN?
I think Indonesia will recover its significant asean role; it should always have been in such a position. But Yudhoyono’s style is not to dominate for the sake of domination; he’s not that kind of person. He will work in a very collegial way with Malaysia and Singapore and others, as he does with us. We’re very happy with the renewed higher profile of Indonesia because they were very supportive of us getting to the East Asia summit (in Kuala Lumpur in December). WHAT BENEFIT DOES BEING PART OF THAT FORUM BRING? I don’t think there’s an enormous material benefit. It adds to the proper view that Australia is a fully integrated part of the region, but the architecture of the region matters far less than the strength of the various bilateral relationships. YOU’VE GOT A GOOD RELATIONSHIP WITH THE INDONESIAN PRESIDENT. DO YOU FEEL THAT THE PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE RELATIONSHIP LAGS A BIT BEHIND THE LEADERS’? Yes and no. There were times when the relationship at a government level lagged behind. That
