Let’s kick off the Edict‘s mid-2025 series with a look at Australia’s relationship with Indonesia, because Jakarta was the first international city prime minister Anthony Albanese visited after his re-election. Our special guest is journalist Erin Cook, who specialises in South-East Asia.
Erin produces the excellent newsletter Dari Mulut ke Mulut, an English-language summary of what’s happening in the region, and an occasional newsletter specifically on the Australia-Indonesia relationship, Flat White, Kopi Susu.
In this episode we talk about Albo’s meeting with Indonesian president Prabowo Subianto back on 15 May. But we also discuss that weird drama over a supposed Russian airforce base in Papua, the long-running Cambodian–Thai border dispute, the decline of specialists journalism, crafting and what counts as copying someone’s work, discipline, and horseback adventures.
Oh yeah, and we talk about the presidential cat. Bobby Kertanegara is his name.
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Episode Links
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Following Southeast Asia and Timor-Leste, mostly elections, FP and Instagram posts. Don't complain to me that I don't cover business enough, I do not know of such things.
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News and analysis from Southeast Asia three times a week.
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Erin Cook's newsletter covering South-East Asia, but in June 2025 it's moving to Substack.
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Erin Cook's newsletter covering South-East Asia, this being its new home from June 2025.
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Erin Cook's other newsletter, specifically about the Australia-Indonesia relationship.
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Prabowo Subianto Djojohadikusumo (EYD: Prabowo Subianto Joyohadikusumo, born 17 October 1951) is an Indonesian politician, businessman and retired honorary army general who is the president-elect of Indonesia and current Minister of Defense. Prabowo will be Indonesia's third president who had military background after Suharto and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY). In 1998, he was discharged from the military and subsequently banned from entering the United States for allegedly committing human rights abuses.
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[15 May 2025] Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has praised the strong and resilient partnership between Australia and Indonesia, emphasising their ability to address differences respectfully. He met with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto on May 15 in Jakarta for talks on defence cooperation and global trade, marking the first stop on his overseas trip since his re-election earlier this month. Saifulbahri Ismail reports.
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The May 1998 Indonesia riots (Indonesian: Kerusuhan Mei 1998), also known colloquially as the 1998 tragedy (Tragedi 1998) or simply the 98 event (Peristiwa 98), were incidents of mass violence, revolutionary protests, and civil unrest in Indonesia in May 1998, many of which were targeted at Indonesia's ethnic Chinese population. The events were mainly in the cities of Medan, Jakarta and Surakarta, with small incidents in other regions of the country.
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[2 February 2008] More than any figure in the post-Second World War period, including any American president, Soeharto, by his judgment, goodwill and good sense, had the greatest positive impact on Australia's strategic environment and, hence, on its history.
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[15 April 2025] Diplomatic alarm bells are ringing after reports emerged Russia wants to base long range aircraft in Indonesia. It's become the focus of this afternoon's federal election campaign with questions being raised about when the Prime Minister found out about Putin's intentions.
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[20 May 2025] Indonesia has plenty of reason to reject basing of Russian aircraft at its air force base on Biak, an island north of New Guinea at 1,400 km from Darwin.
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Janes is a global open-source intelligence company specialising in military, national security, aerospace and transport topics, whose name derives from British author Fred T. Jane.
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[5 June 2025] The Bali Narcotics Board detailed the arrest of 40-year-old Puridas Robinson in connection with drug possession.
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Live export is the commercial transport of livestock across national borders. The trade involves a number of countries with the Australian live export industry being one of the largest exporters in the global trade.
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[8 August 2011] An explosive exposof the cruelty inflicted on Australian cattle exported to the slaughterhouses of Indonesia.
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[11 May 2024] Speaking in Perth, Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said the closure of live exports — which was a 2022 election promise — would be "orderly and considered".
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Indonesia is undergoing a process of rapid change, with an affluent middle class due to hit 141 million people by 2020. While official statistics suggest that internet penetration is low, over 70 million Indonesians have a Facebook account, the fourth highest group in the world. Jakarta is the Twitter capital of the world with more tweets per minute than any other city around the globe. In the past ten years digitalisation of media content has enabled extensive concentration and conglomeration of the industry, and media owners are wealthier and more politically powerful than ever before
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[7 May 2025] For much of April and into May, a team of negotiators from Indonesia have been in Washington to discuss trading relations between the world’s largest economy and another forecast to be in the Top 5 within a generation.
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Daya Anagata Nusantara Investment Management Agency (Indonesian: Badan Pengelola Investasi Daya Anagata Nusantara), commonly known as Danantara Indonesia or simply Danantara, is the second sovereign wealth fund of Indonesia, after the Indonesian Investment Authority.
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[16 May 2025] Before leaving Indonesia, Anthony Albanese gifted the President's pet cat Bobby a red scarf that reads "Australia loves Indonesia", with the Prime Minister's own furry friend Toto sporting one to match back home.
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Bobby Kertanegara (adopted 2017) is a domestic shorthaired tabby cat, known for being the pet of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto.
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Rosario de Marshall, commonly known as Hercules, is an Indonesian gangster and political broker hailed from the current Timor-Leste. Hercules was a porter for the Indonesian army during the Indonesian occupation of East Timor. Once moved to Jakarta, he formed his own preman gang in the Tanah Abang district, ruling the Jakartan criminal underworld during the 1990s. Today, Hercules retains a celebrity status as a fearsome gangster, occasionally appearing on TV programs as well as tabloid magazines. He is also notable for his political ties with the 2014 and 2019 Indonesian presidential election candidate and current president Prabowo Subianto.
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[16 May 2025] And Russia? Everyone's over it except for like six journalists so we have to keep hearing about it endlessly
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[6 June 2025] The Australian government seems determined to stick to the plan of sending a minister up to Indonesia once a month or every few weeks. Which is good news for both me and this newsletter, and Richard Marles who appears to be having a good time for once.
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Wolfmother is an Australian hard rock band from Sydney. Formed in 2004, the group is centred around vocalist and guitarist Andrew Stockdale, who is the only constant member of the line-up.
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A minced oath is a euphemistic expression formed by deliberately misspelling, mispronouncing, or replacing a part of a profane, blasphemous, or taboo word or phrase to reduce the original term's objectionable characteristics. An example is "gosh" for "God", or fudge for fuck.
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Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont-Spelling Bee is an Australian television comedy panel show on the ABC, created and presented by Guy Montgomery and co-hosted by Aaron Chen, based on the New Zealand TV show of the same name.
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An all new line-up of Australian comedians are put to the test by hosts Guy Montgomery and Aaron Chen in the series return of Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont-Spelling Bee.
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The Gell-Mann amnesia effect is a cognitive bias describing the tendency of individuals to critically assess media reports in a domain they are knowledgeable about, yet continue to trust reporting in other areas despite recognizing similar potential inaccuracies.
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Immerse yourself in Indonesian culture and journalism studies with Acicis’ Journalism Professional Practicum.
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[29 May 2025] Calls for calm after clash along Thai-Cambodia border.
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[2 June 2025] Cambodia said it plans to seek a ruling from the U.N.’s International Court of Justice over border disputes with Thailand, one of which triggered a fatal military clash last week.
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The Cambodian–Thai border dispute began in June 2008 as part of a century-long dispute between Cambodia and Thailand involving the area surrounding the 11th-century Preah Vihear Temple, in the Dângrêk Mountains between Choam Khsant District, Preah Vihear Province of northern Cambodia and the Kantharalak District, Sisaket Province of northeastern Thailand.
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[4 June 2025] Why the border tensions are hurting perceptions of the government.
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UNESCO established its Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage with the aim of ensuring better protection of important intangible cultural heritages worldwide and the awareness of their significance.
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[20 May 2023] Mr Risby-Jones has been in detention since police arrested him on April 27, accusing him of running drunk and naked from his room at the Moonbeach Resort, and assaulting everyone in his path,
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CONVERSATION TOPICS: Joanna Forbes, Peter Viertel, and one person who chooses to remain anonymous.
THREE TRIGGER WORDS: Bernard Walsh, Paul Williams, and Peter Lieverdink.
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Series Credits
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- Edict fanfare by neonaeon, via The Freesound Project.
- Elephant Stamp theme by Joshua Mehlman.