Chancellor, it is my privilege to present to you for conferral of the honorary degree of
Doctor of Economics, Professor Doctor Boediono.
On behalf of this University I confer the honorary degree of Doctor of Economics upon Boediono.
It is now my pleasure to invite Professor Doctor Boediono to respond to the Chancellor.
Thankyou
Chancellor, Vice Chancellor, Honorable Ministers, Members of the Senate, Deans of the Faculties,
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Allow me to thank the Chancellor and the Vice Chancellor, for their generous introduction
and their kind words. I feel extremely proud and at the same time very much humbled to
stand before you today to receive the great honour bestowed upon me by my alma mater,
the University of Western Australia. It is the more so as it happens to coincide with
the centenary of this great university.
Returning to this campus after so many years rekindles old memories. I first came to Perth
around this time of the year in 1963, forty eight years ago, together with another Indonesian
student, Abdillah Toha, joining six other Indonesian students who had come to Perth
one or two years earlier. Abdillah, my ex-roommate and now long - time friend is present among
us today. We were under the Australian GovernmentÕs Colombo Plan scholarships, a programme that
in my view has had enduring benefits for the relations between Australia and Indonesia.
Let me say that my four-year stay at this great institution as an undergraduate has
had a profound mark on my thinking. For some time after my arrival at the university I
felt like somebody coming from a totally different world, unprepared for the tasks ahead. I understand
they now call it a cultural shock. But when you were young, when you were at the impressionable
age, you would somehow manage to adjust yourself to what were around you, and even absorb them.
Fortunately, I found everyone - the lecturers, fellow students, the student counsellor and
I must also mention my first time landlady - to be completely helpful. So the adjustments
went reasonably well. Looking back I believe I had got most out of my UWA years.
If someone asked me, what was the greatest influence that this institution has had on
me personally, I would say that it was its contribution to the formation of my attitude
towards people and towards society. Yes, the basic building block of my subsequent view
of the world. I had my first serious exposure to economics, the toolkits of my subsequent
real life works, here at this university, guided by outstanding teachers. But looking
back it was the indirect benefits that have profoundly influenced my journey in life.
Almost every aspect of university life here was then new to me. But what impressed me
most was the ambience of intellectual integrity and honesty prevalent in each lecture class,
each tutorial class and each discussion group that I attended -- a hallmark of a first-rate
learning institution.
With my UWA experience, and credentials, new doors of opportunity suddenly opened up for
me. With a short interlude in the private sector, I moved on to do further academic
works in a number of universities. However, circumstances have subsequently drawn me into
government jobs ever since. It has now been over four decades since I left the UWA. But
there is no doubt in my mind that it was in this university that my intellectual foundation
was laid. Let me remind the audience that during most
of the period of my study at the university the political relation between Australia and
Indonesia was not cordial at all, and in fact it grew increasingly tense as time passed.
It was the time of Indonesia's confrontation with Malaysia, and Australia was openly on
the side of Malaysia. Yet to my recollection there was no single incidence in which we,
the Indonesian students in Perth, were treated unkindly by anybody.
Later on, during my further years of stay in other parts of Australia I came to realise
that such attitude was a manifestation of a broader value that many Australians cherished,
namely that of fairness and fair play, as you would say it in Strine, it is all and
always fair dinkum. I must also mention here that even during the height of the confrontation,
our personal relation with Malaysian students was always good, even when at times we had
heated debates on politics.
So much for a trip down memory lane. Allow me now to look forward. I will use the next
few minutes to share with you my thoughts on the relations between our two nations.
It is not an exaggeration to say that no two close neighbors are as different from each
other as Australia and Indonesia, historically, culturally and politically. It is, therefore,
not too surprising that our bilateral relations have been marked by ups and downs, caused
among others by ideological differences, different strategic orientations, mutual misunderstandings
and misperceptions as well as a host of other bilateral irritants. Yet in recent years relations
between Jakarta and Canberra have become ever closer, helped in part by IndonesiaÕs democratisation
which has narrowed the political gap between our two countries. At the same time the convergence
of our common interests in a growing number of transnational, regional and global issues
have made cooperation between our two countries both necessary and inevitable. Let me cite
some of them.
Indonesia and Australia share common concerns about the threat posed by terrorism. The first
Bali bombing in 2002 killed over two hundred innocent victims, the majority of whom were
Australians. The problems of people smuggling and drug trafficking are also major issues
in our bilateral relations which call for closer cooperation and coordination of policies.
In 2005 the leaders of Indonesia and Australia signed the Joint Declaration on Comprehensive
Partnership that elevated the bilateral relations Between Indonesia and Australia to a new level.
Currently Indonesia-Australia relations are at their best ever. Bilateral cooperation
covers almost all fields of interests. In 2006 Indonesia and Australia signed a framework
agreement on security co-operation, better known as the Lombok Treaty. It should be noted
that Indonesia has not signed such a treaty with any other country. There are many forums
and processes in which representatives of our two governments meet regularly to tackle
common problems. The economic relations between Indonesia and Australia have continued to
grow, albeit not as fast as we would have liked. Indonesia now only ranks 12th among
AustraliaÕs trading partners. With the talks currently ongoing to finalise Indonesia -
Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, we hope to see acceleration of
trade and investment between our two countries.
Australia has been a generous friend to Indonesia. At a time of adversity, such as when Indonesia
was hit by a giant tsunami in late 2004, Australia was one of the first countries that came to
IndonesiaÕs assistance. AustraliaÕs aid programmes to Indonesia throughout the years
have been significant.
People-to-people relations have also grown steadily over the years. Over the past fifty
years more than 11000 Indonesian students have obtained scholarships to study in Australia.
Currently around 18000 Indonesian students are studying in Australia, the 8th largest
pool of international students in Australia.
Notwithstanding the close relations between our two countries we can see that there is
still much room for improvement. The volatility in our bilateral relations over the decades
remains a concern. At certain periods it was rather like a roller coaster with its slow
rise and rapid fall, sometimes over quite trivial issues. Clearly we need to develop
more ballast in our bilateral relations that can cushion the occasional shocks that may
come unexpectedly from various sources. After all, the differences between our two societies
remain great, and we should accept it as a fact.
I am aware that, as a recent survey revealed, many in Australia still look at Indonesia
with varying degrees of suspicion, mostly due to historical legacy but partly also because
of a general lack of information about Indonesia. I have the sense that at least the lay public
here may not have been too well informed of the fundamental transformations that have
taken place in Indonesia, which has made Indonesia into the world third largest democracy, where
Islam, democracy and modernity go hand in hand. It is true that democracy is still in
the process of consolidation and inevitably there are glitches in its working. But by
any measures it has been taking roots quite rapidly.
Australia is the home of the largest number of world-renowned scholars on Indonesia, which
also help to attract Indonesian students to study in Australia. Efforts to improve understandings
such as through the BRIDGE programme (Building Relationships through Intercultural Dialogue
and Growing Engagement) are commendable and need to be supported. Yet the number of Australians
studying in Indonesia and learn more about Indonesian language and culture has remained
very small, only around 100 a year, and mostly for short periods. Frequent travel advisories
have also hampered Australians coming to Indonesia to study or do research.
I have also heard that a number of schools and universities in Australia are closing
down their Indonesian language programmes. If this is true it is quite regrettable. It
is my view that only by developing closer people-to-people interactions at all level,
with genuine efforts to understand each other, can we develop the necessary ballast in our
bilateral relations to ensure a deeper and more sustainable long-term relationship.
With these thoughts in mind, I consider the honour bestowed upon me today to be also a
tribute to the unfailing spirit of our peoples to build a durable bridge of goodwill between
our two nations. The works have started in earnest from both ends, and the work should continue.
Chancellor, Vice Chancellor, Members of the Senate, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I accept the Honorary Degree with pride and appreciation.
Thank you.