The "neighbour" to our North: an examination of Australia's foreign policy toward Indonesia, 1991-2007

Developing foreign policy towards Indonesia has been a challenge for Australian governments and this has resulted in a paradox of friendship and suspicion in the bilateral relationship between the two states. The Australian public's perception of Indonesia has amounted to an 'imagined fear' of the country and this has pervaded foreign policy discourse in the public sphere. However, there is a gap between the public's perception of Indonesia and consecutive Australian governments' desire to develop a solid bilateral relationship based on the strategic importance of Indonesia to Australia.