Australia–Indonesia relations: Don’t mention Papua
In November 2018, the Australian activist group Juice Media produced one of its satirical ‘Honest Government Ads’ promoting tourism in West Papua. The video is highly critical of Indonesia’s repressive and exploitative policies in West Papua and the Australian government’s support for and complicity with Indonesian policies.
During the current crisis in Papua, the Juice Media video was repurposed anonymously to voice Indonesian concerns about Australia’s intentions in Papua. The video was posted on YouTube and retitled in Indonesian as ‘A provocative advertisement from Australia: Be careful Australia is ready to annex Papua; Guard the unity of Indonesia’. The rebadged video circulated widely in Indonesia until it was blocked on YouTube.
