AIYA Links: 15 May

In the news

• Huge cuts to Australia’s development assistance to Indonesia:
  • AIYA’s Arjuna Dibley in highlighted how Australian aid brings badly-needed transparency to Indonesia’s legal system.
  • Benjamin Day says it’s a ‘missed an opportunity to proactively recast our aid relationship with Indonesia’.
  • In Jakarta, the cuts have been greeted with little fuss by the government.
• President Jokowi has won cautious praise for announcing the easing of restrictions on access to Indonesia’s Papuan provinces.
• ANU’s @RossTapsell provides some context and analysis on what the announcement means.
• The Jakarta Post‘s Endy Bayuni argues that Indonesia is pursuing a newly activist, if haphazard, foreign policy under Jokowi.
• At Bloomberg, an exclusive interview with the president’s chief advisor and a critique of poll-driven economics in Indonesia.

Musical interlude

• He’s eight years old and has won attention from the likes of Herbie Hancock and Wynton Marsalis—meet the Indonesian jazz prodigy profiled in the New York Times this week.

Events & opportunities

• SBS’ Insight program is seeking Indonesians in Australia or Indonesia to participate in an upcoming recording of the show in Jakarta.
• Beat the Dry: lend a hand to the Nusa Tenggara Association, changing lives in some of Indonesia’s poorest regions.
• Canberra, Monday: come along to AIYA ACT’s screening of the hit documentary Jalanan.
• Sydney, 21 May: Jalanan’s director @DanielZiv will also speak at AIYA NSW’s Cas Cis Cus discussion event.
• Melbourne, 22 May: Asialink hosts Defence Minister Kevin Andrews’ overview of Australia’s upcoming Defence White Paper.