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45,000 BCE
The first people to come to Australia
The first Australians were actually the worlds earliest and greatest ocean explorers. Undertaking a remarkable 2,000 km maritime migration through Indonesia which eventually became the discovery of Australia, 65,000 years ago! (Indians were the first people to discover Australia) -
Australia's hidden history of Indonesian slavery.
Several words are used to depict the history of our people- indenture, slavery, kidnapping, black birding, and Kanaka. But ASSI communities will tell any inquirer that we object to the use of the term "indenture" to describe what happened to our people when they were first brought to Australia. Its's a weak word that does not express the real truth of the physical and cultural theft of human beings. (That was a story told by a person that this happened to and they told it in first person.) -
Sugar field slavery
Around the 1800s' the British came to Indonesia to blackbird Indonesians so they could work for them on sugar fields. Unfortunately they also kidnapped children from families and if they tried to hurt or kill, they would be killed. They spent long hours on boats and it was like a form of torture to them. Black birding is a horrible thing. -
Shapelle Corby
Shapelle Corby was an Australian that was convicted for smuggling cannabis, (4.2kg) she was sentenced 20 years in the Kerobokan Prison, her conviction and sentence was confirmed with finality by the Indonesian Supreme Court. In March 2010 Shapele petitioned the president of Indonesia, (Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono) for a mental illness that she claimed to have. In May 2012, she was granted a 5 year sentence reduction. Shapelle was released on parole on February 2014 after serving 9 years in prison. -
Australian/Indonesian relation
In our years, the relationship between Australia and Indonesia has been characterised by growing mutual trad of $14.9 billion in 2011-2012! An increase of 8.3% on the previous year, in addition to close links in government, education, and defence under the Lombok Treaty. Both nations are part of the G20(group of twenty), ASEAN(Association of Southeast Asia) Regional Forum, and the Australian-New Zealand-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement. Then Indonesia received $541.6 million in Australian development.