Australia 'spied on Indonesian President Yudhoyono'

[Nike]

Abusive tweets from top Liberal Party pollster
Date
November 21, 2013

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Indonesia crisis deepens
Tony Abbott repeats his statement of regret Wednesday evening, as Indonesia orders an end to bilateral co-operation. Labor continues to back the government in 'a team Australia moment'.

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• Australian politics: full coverage
• Mark Kenny: Abbott and Shorten must unite on Indonesia
• Michael Gordon: Pick up the phone Mr Abbott

As the government sought to limit damage from the phone-tapping affair, a Liberal Party senior adviser issued a series of racially-loaded remarks about top Indonesian government figures, which have been reported prominently in the Indonesian press.

Liberal Party pollster Mark Textor, who is a close counsel to Prime Minister Tony Abbott, made the front page of one of Indonesia's most prominent media outlets, the Indonesian-language Kompas newspaper for his series of abusive comments, with one likening Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa to a ''1970s Pilipino [sic] **** star''.

Textor's comments lead the hompage of popular Indonesian news website Kompas.com.

The comments threatened to inflame sensitive relations between Canberra and Jakarta at time when Prime Minister Tony Abbott was moving to reassure President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono that Australia regrets any offence caused by the reports of unauthorised phone tapping.

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In one tweet, since deleted, Mr Textor attacked the Indonesian Foreign Minister.

''Apology demanded from Australia by a bloke who looks like a 1970s Pilipino [sic] **** star and has ethics to match,'' he tweeted along with the hash-tag ''#Fairfax demands appeasement''.

In another, the Liberal insider asked ''What sort of head of state communicates with a head of a neighbouring government by twitter FFS? SBY''. FFS is shorthand for ''for f---'s sake''.

In a further tweet, Mr Textor said the phone-tapping incident revealed by whistleblower Edward Snowden was in 2009 and said ''Maybe SBY uses some sort of weird-*** ancient calendar''.

But he also appeared to justifying the phone tapping of the Indonesian President and his wife as well as eight other senior figures with the tweet: ''Last time I looked no Indonesians were ever bombed in Australia.'' He published pictures of the Bali bombers under the tweet ''Nothing to see here.''

The opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman, Tanya Plibersek, called for Mr Abbott to distance himself and the government from the Textor remarks.

''These comments are disgraceful,'' she said. ''The Prime Minister must disassociate himself, the Liberal Party, and the Australian government from them immediately and unequivocally.''

Former Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser also weighed in on Twitter, demanding Mr Textor be sacked as the Liberal pollster.

Mr Textor has been described as one of the most influential people in Australia. He has himself advocated the use of Twitter by prospective employers as a way of gauging a person's true character.

''Inevitably, Twitter users publish content about things that interest them. So instead of reading a CV with the usual list of interests - reading, movies and current affairs - you can drill down to what they actually think about a book or nod your head in approval at their latest 'retweet'. It helps determine whether a person is the right fit in the workplace culture,'' he wrote.


Abusive tweets from top Liberal Party pollster

Australian Gov. doing good in handle this matter, well good luck then

 

[nufix]

Actually by judging Australia actions on the ground, it is far from being your friend and ally. You are angry and upset right now because you mistakenly believed those words from Aussie politicians and leaders, who publicy said otherwise. Words are cheap. It is time for you to wake up. Nations act on own egoistic interests. Australia spys on Indonesia... and vice versa. It shows a lack of trust.

Please read my previous reply posts to Jhungary

I don't believe what Australian politicians had been trying to show to us and to the world, but in politics, it is about committment to what you have said (regardless wholeheartedly or not) in order to build trust between countries. Words are cheap yes, but when you study politics, you will understand that words which belong to politicians will always be noted.

As for Asian, the Aussie are not, they are caucasian.

You have mistakenly understood my words for that.

Indonesia is the one that have been wronged, it is funny if it is also the one which should be trying to understand whitemen's culture.

Australian Gov. doing good in handle this matter, well good luck then

I remember my Australian friend said that "that's so immature of Marty, commenting state to state affairs on tweeter". I thought our politicians are the worst "politician on twitter", turns out one of Abbot's underlings is worse.

 

[xdrive]

As i said, your government epic failure is to address the issue comprehensibly as soon as possible and instead they are look down upon us, Indonesia as a whole. Just a single sincere apologize from Abbot to atone the "sin" and easier this row why is so hard to do and doesn't cost a penny

Not true at all. The issue was addressed straight away with our Prime Minister saying he is sorry if the media reports embarrassed your president. But because elections are coming up in your country shortly, the Indonesian government wants to go over the top and put on a massive spectacle to please nationalists.

In 2004 when Indonesia was caught out spying on Australia, our Prime Minister didn't even blink and there was none of this outrage crap. Why? Because we know EVERY government spies and gathers information on EVERY other government.

Indonesia is simply chest thumping to act tough and to pander to Indonesian voters.

There will be no apology from our Prime Minister. Why would our Prime Minister apologize for something 1. That he isn't sorry for 2. and that's going to continue?

Every single government in the world spies on every other government and it's going to continue.

Didn't I just said I almost got recruited by the B.I.N. I was told if I joined I'll be sent to Singapore to "spy" on them. By spy I mean gather information. I'll just sit there to wait for an informant and pay 'em. Not state secret (mind you). That is pretty much what counts as "Indonesian Espionage."

Sureeee you did. I'm actually the queen of england aswell.

Indonesia lacks motive and the funds to commit the massive surveillance with the like of Australia or the US.

Well that's where you are wrong. Indonesia has already been caught out multiple times spying on Australia. We just simply don't care.

"Pleasing voters." You must be white to be even suggest that is the only reason why

What does the colour of my skin have to do with anything? You seem daft, Pleasing voters and pandering to them during an election is a staple of any democracy.

Australian Gov. doing good in handle this matter, well good luck then

That guy isn't even a part of the government. Just another beat up article

Maybe our newspapers should also quote some random Indonesians off twitter who are writing abusive things and threatening to kill Australians.

 

[Nike]

Not true at all. The issue was addressed straight away with our Prime Minister saying he is sorry if the media reports embarrassed your president. But because elections are coming up in your country shortly, the Indonesian government wants to go over the top and put on a massive spectacle to please nationalists.

In 2004 when Indonesia was caught out spying on Australia, our Prime Minister didn't even blink and there was none of this outrage crap. Why? Because we know EVERY government spies and gathers information on EVERY other government.

Indonesia is simply chest thumping to act tough and to pander to Indonesian voters.

There will be no apology from our Prime Minister. Why would our Prime Minister apologize for something 1. That he isn't sorry for 2. and that's going to continue?

Every single government in the world spies on every other government and it's going to continue.



Sureeee you did. I'm actually the queen of england aswell.



Well that's where you are wrong. Indonesia has already been caught out multiple times spying on Australia. We just simply don't care.



What does the colour of my skin have to do with anything? You seem daft, Pleasing voters and pandering to them during an election is a staple of any democracy.


That guy isn't even a part of the government. Just another beat up article

Maybe our newspapers should also quote some random Indonesians off twitter who are writing abusive things and threatening to kill Australians.

Well looking into your comments deeply impressed me you are part of Abbot voter back then and i will not bother to argue with you, let us agree in disagree

 

[Maxtini]

Not true at all. The issue was addressed straight away with our Prime Minister saying he is sorry if the media reports embarrassed your president. But because elections are coming up in your country shortly, the Indonesian government wants to go over the top and put on a massive spectacle to please nationalists.

In 2004 when Indonesia was caught out spying on Australia, our Prime Minister didn't even blink and there was none of this outrage crap. Why? Because we know EVERY government spies and gathers information on EVERY other government.

Indonesia is simply chest thumping to act tough and to pander to Indonesian voters.

There will be no apology from our Prime Minister. Why would our Prime Minister apologize for something 1. That he isn't sorry for 2. and that's going to continue?

Every single government in the world spies on every other government and it's going to continue.



Sureeee you did. I'm actually the queen of england aswell.



Well that's where you are wrong. Indonesia has already been caught out multiple times spying on Australia. We just simply don't care.



What does the colour of my skin have to do with anything? You seem daft, Pleasing voters and pandering to them during an election is a staple of any democracy.

First rule of spying is "don't Get caught", when you get caught, it is the leverage of you target countries to gain advantage from this revelation. Back in 2004, Australian government simply ignored the spying issue because they know they would not gain any advantage by pressing Indonesia more. In fact, back then, Australia was trying not to damage the relationship with Indonesia especially after East Timor case.

But now, in 2013, it is Australia that get caught, and Indonesia has plenty of advantage to gain. It is to be expected, especially from the incomptent Tony Abbott that keep pushing "boat people" issue to Indonesia. Indonesia are not really that keen to share the burden of handling these boat people, and by using this issue, Indonesia has finally find an excuse to cancel the cooperation.

The fact that in 2004 Australia didn't protest about the spying issue only reflect how Australia need Indonesia more that Indonesia need Australia. It is Indonesia that has the leverage, not Australia.

Btw, What Tony Abbott said in front of Parliament doesn't count as apology you know. It is a non-apology apology. It means "Sorry to embarass you, it's not my fault cause the media leak it!"

Non-apology apology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Maybe you should take clue of how Obama handled the fiasco with Merkel, and you know who are the competent one.

 

[xdrive]

First rule of spying is "don't Get caught", when you get caught, it is the leverage of you target countries to gain advantage from this revelation. Back in 2004, Australian government simply ignored the spying issue because they know they would not gain any advantage by pressing Indonesia more. In fact, back then, Australia was trying not to damage the relationship with Indonesia especially after East Timor case.

But now, in 2013, it is Australia that get caught, and Indonesia has plenty of advantage to gain. It is to be expected, especially from the incomptent Tony Abbott that keep pushing "boat people" issue to Indonesia. Indonesia are not really that keen to share the burden of handling these boat people, and by using this issue, Indonesia has finally find an excuse to cancel the cooperation.

The fact that in 2004 Australia didn't protest about the spying issue only reflect how Australia need Indonesia more that Indonesia need Australia. It is Indonesia that has the leverage, not Australia.

Btw, What Tony Abbott said in front of Parliament doesn't count as apology you know. It is a non-apology apology. It means "Sorry to embarass you, it's not my fault cause the media leak it!"

Non-apology apology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Maybe you should take clue of how Obama handled the fiasco with Merkel, and you know who are the competent one.

The only "advantage" Indonesia gains from acting this way is to pander to Indonesia voters as i already pointed out. This is a well observed fact in Australia and we all know why Indonesia is being over the top about this.

Tony Abbot and our new government are great. Our previous government(which this spying happened under) were completely incompetent and their government was in chaos. They would have easily buckled under pressure and probably apologized which is a massive foreign policy mistake.

Indonesia has much more to lose in the long term for behaving like this, but they are only focusing on the short term with their election.

There will be no apology as i explained above because all governments gather information and this will never change. Why apologize for something that everyone does and for something that will continue?

Well looking into your comments deeply impressed me you are part of Abbot voter back then and i will not bother to argue with you, let us agree in disagree

I'm not sure what you are saying? Tony Abbot and his government have only been in government for 1 month now, the spying occurred under the previous government which was voted out for being incompetent.

 

[Reashot Xigwin]

Mua, ha, ha. ha!

Australia to stop phone tapping Indonesians, says Jakarta security chief

Read more: Australia to stop phone tapping Indonesians, says Jakarta security chief

Still to soon to tell, but at least its an improvement.

 

[xdrive]

But Australia won't, Australia will just make sure it's never court again again. Just like Indonesia and every other country in the world.

Countries will NEVER stop spying on each other. It's just reality.

 

[Nike]

The only "advantage" Indonesia gains from acting this way is to pander to Indonesia voters as i already pointed out. This is a well observed fact in Australia and we all know why Indonesia is being over the top about this.

Tony Abbot and our new government are great. Our previous government(which this spying happened under) were completely incompetent and their government was in chaos. They would have easily buckled under pressure and probably apologized which is a massive foreign policy mistake.

Indonesia has much more to lose in the long term for behaving like this, but they are only focusing on the short term with their election.

There will be no apology as i explained above because all governments gather information and this will never change. Why apologize for something that everyone does and for something that will continue?



I'm not sure what you are saying? Tony Abbot and his government have only been in government for 1 month now, the spying occurred under the previous government which was voted out for being incompetent.

Kevin Rudd has doing apology for Stolen generation case in which his cabinet doing nothing about it, and right now TA (Tony Abbot) the current PM of Australia simply blame the previous government and it is their fault, what a leader he is. You can see what Obama doing when facing the same predicament as Abbot, he is say sorry to Merkel, although US has spying Germany a long time before his administrations. A good leader he will trying at his best to restore and improve the conditions of his organization (say country, gov. institutions, company you can name it for yourself) not trying to run away from the problems and blame the previous headmaster for his/her mischief.

 

[Viet]

Australian Gov. doing good in handle this matter, well good luck then

I´m afraid this dispute is going slowly out of control. Your president tweeted and now some of the morons in Aussie country react by posting insulting tweets. The damage is done.

 

[xdrive]

Kevin Rudd has doing apology for Stolen generation case in which his cabinet doing nothing about it,

That's a completely irrelevant and unrelated thing and cannot even compared to this situation.

and right now TA (Tony Abbot) the current PM of Australia simply blame the previous government

Well it did happen under the previous government, but that's irrelevant. He isn't blaming the previous government for anything because Australia hasn't done anything wrong. Every country gathers information, it's no secret and it's not going to change. This is why people can't work out why Indonesia is being so over the top and over reacting.

They do it too and they are acting as if its something wrong and out of the ordinary.

You can see what Obama doing when facing the same predicament as Abbot

,

He may have apologized but the spying will continue and the Germans know it. Why would you apologize for something that is normal and that is going to continue? Doesn't make sense.

I´m afraid this dispute is going slowly out of control. Your president tweeted and now some of the morons in Aussie country react by posting insulting tweets. The damage is done.

It's not even a big deal. The Indonesian government is simply overreacting to pander to the Indonesian public for election purposes. Gathering information is a natural part of any countries operations. Our Government is cool calm and relaxed.

The Indonesians will get over it when the election comes around.

 

[Nike]

well the Australian just don't expect the same attitude from the Indonesian folks, your high esteemed Prime Minister just pour another salt into the wound

 

[Viet]

It's not even a big deal. The Indonesian government is simply overreacting to pander to the Indonesian public for election purposes. Gathering information is a natural part of any countries operations. Our Government is cool calm and relaxed.

The Indonesians will get over it when the election comes around.

dude, some folk in Indonesia tend to overreact and tend to nationalism, you should not pour more fuel into the flame. The election is scheduled next mid 2014, do you want to sit down and enjoy the storm?

 

[xdrive]

dude, some folk in Indonesia tend to overreact and tend to nationalism, you should not pour more fuel into the flame. The election is scheduled next mid 2014, do you want to sit down and enjoy the storm?

Our government isn't pouring more fuel onto the flame. I think most Australians are sitting down and enjoying the storm but are slightly getting annoyed at how much they are over reacting and at how they are trying to flex their political muscle for no reason in the hope that Australia will bow down to them.

They could do the decent thing, say they aren't happy and then move on and continue on with the good relationship but it doesnt seem like its going to go that way

 

[Nike]

dude, some folk in Indonesia tend to overreact and tend to nationalism, you should not pour more fuel into the flame. The election is scheduled next mid 2014, do you want to sit down and enjoy the storm?

Yeah Abbott and his administrations just doing it right, giving us a plenty reason why our peoples should to choose a more hard liner President for the next election, and it will be bad for the future of Indonesia Australia relations for the long term. And you guys from around the world can see what a country Australia and what kind of jerk Australia administrations is capable of, pulling out such schemes and back stabbing the person who give you a lot of trust and mutual respect like Sir Yudhoyono while he and his administrations trying so hard to laying the better foundation for Indonesia Australia in the future. It is too hard to say sorry for a while and you doing it not for us exactly but for the better future of Indonesian and Australian peoples in an era we calling it as Asian Centuries