Papua independence not on the agenda, Howard says

John Howard

CANBERRA - Australia yesterday slammed the door shut on any hopes of support for Papuan independence as reports of more asylum seekers threatened to further deepen tensions with Indonesia.

While Customs officials tried to confirm reports that a Papuan union activist and his family had been secretly landed on a remote Torres Strait island, Prime Minister John Howard said Canberra would always consider the troubled province part of Indonesia.

"My message to the people of West Papua is simply this: I regard them as citizens of the Republic of Indonesia," he said.

His message was reinforced by Treasurer Peter Costello, who told ABC radio that Papua had always been part of Indonesia and always would be despite the ethnic differences between the Melanesian province and the rest of the archipelago.

"Indonesia is a diverse nation of thousands of islands with different languages and different ethnic composition ... [and] you cannot say that because there is an ethnic difference this somehow means it is not part of the country."

Earlier, similar reassurances of Australian support for Jakarta's sovereignty over Papua failed to calm Indonesian anger over the decision to grant 42 Papuans visas allowing them to seek political asylum in Australia.

The decision has plunged relations between Canberra and Jakarta to their lowest point since East Timor's violent birth as an independent nation.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has ordered a review of all relations with Australia, including critical cooperation against terrorism and people smugglers.

The latest reported arrivals are said to be union activist Paulus Samakai, his wife and four children, including a 2-month-old baby.

West Papuan Catholic priest Father Yus Mawengkang told the Age newspaper that Samakai had been a thorn in the side of local officials. The Age was told the family had been taken from the Papuan town of Merauke on March 30 by fishermen in a speedboat and left with several days' supplies of food on an island called Bamboo Island.

Australian officials had not been able to confirm the report yesterday, but Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said that, if true, the new arrivals would be a matter of concern for Indonesia.

If the family claimed political asylum, they could be granted the three-year temporary protection visas already given to the first group.

This would further inflame Indonesia, which fears that with 600 Papuans reported to be ready to flee, Australia could become a base for separatists.

Protesters have been demonstrating daily outside the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, and ABC radio reported yesterday that students have been forcing hotels in South Sulawesi to refuse rooms to Australians.