The Wire

A new report released today questions the wisdom of Australia’s security pact with Indonesia, known as the Lombok Treaty, which awaits ratification by the Australian parliament. The report, Blundering in, is by the West Papua Project, part of Sydney University’s Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies. It suggests that signing a security treaty with Indonesia would give a green light to the Indonesian army to act with impunity in the troubled province of West Papua. The report documents ongoing conflicts in both the Punjak Jaya region and the Mulia province and says that any ratification must be halted until an Australian delegation can travel to Papua to assess the situation first hand. But not everyone is opposed to the pact.