Indonesia Council Digest – June 2025
We start June on a sombre note, joining many others in expressing our deep sadness over the recent passing of Emeritus Professor Tony Reid, a giant in Indonesian and Southeast Asian studies and also a genuinely wonderful human being.
We are grateful to his former student, Dr Myra Abubaka Mentari, for the beautiful obituary she wrote on Beloved Pak Tony and which we shared with newsletter subscribers earlier in the week. Myra remembers Pak Tony as a wonderful supervisor, companion with a great sense of humour, generous mind, and a visionary historian of Southeast Asia. Vale.
In that same spirit of scholarship, engagement and generosity, we turn our minds this month to ICOC 2025, hosted by the University of Melbourne and kicking off in just a few weeks. With a wonderful keynote, a dedicated postgraduate day and a special awards and networking event for Indonesia Council members, there is plenty happening at the conference – read on for all the details below.
And even as the ICOC 2025 convenors make their final preparations, we are delighted to share with you that ICOC 2027 will be hosted by Charles Darwin University. This will be the first time an Indonesia Council Open Conference has been held in the Northern Territory. A big thank you to Dr Nathan Franklin, Lecturer in Indonesian Studies and Associate Vice-Chancellor Indonesia (which is a position all universities should have) for championing this exciting development. More details to come but for now please put a placeholder in your calendar!
Natali
What’s happening
University of Tasmania axes Bahasa Indonesia
On the very day the Australian Prime Minister reaffirmed in Jakarta that Indonesia is our most important bilateral relationship, news emerged that University of Tasmania plans to withdraw from teaching the national language of that very partner. This juxtaposition highlights a growing disconnect between national policy aspirations and institutional realities. We (and many others) wrote to UTAS to highlight the strategic importance of Indonesian language education for Australia and to call for the decision to be revisited. You can read our letter here.
Tony and Yohanni Johns Lecture 2025
Professor Michael Laffan, Director of the Center for Collaborative History and Professor of History at Princeton University, will deliver the Annual Tony and Yohanni Johns lecture on 12 August 2025 at ANU. I attended a seminar by Laffan many years ago and can confirm he is an amazing speaker and scholar. More details via the link.
If we’re lucky, Laffan might offer some reflections on Indonesia’s new history project, which has fuelled debates over objectivity and political interference, and who gets to remember and interpret the past. Titled Sejarah Nasional Indonesia, this 11-volume historical rewrite spans prehistory (or is it early history…? cue some of the controversy) to contemporary times and is coordinated by a team of 113 scholars from 34 universities and eight institutions. But the project has its critics, as evidenced by the recent resignation of project editor Professor Harry Truman Simanjuntak, citing concerns over the erasure of prehistory and the lack of scholarly consultation. He also warned of political bias influencing the project’s direction, which is increasingly seen as part of a broader effort to shape national memory in ways that align with the Prabowo government’s political narrative.
Indonesianist appointed to the Order of Australia
In happier news, we were delighted to hear that Emeritus Professor Tony Johns AM was appointed to the Order of Australia in recognition of his significant service to tertiary education particularly to language and culture. Johns was founder of the Indonesian language and Indonesian Studies program at ANU. Reflecting on his career he once wrote that his concerns “were, and always have been, language, character and human responses to crises – of pain, joy and hope”. Selamat!
Other cool stuff
The Indonesia Council hosted its inaugural Public Speaking Workshop last month, featuring expert tips from Dr Myra Mentari Abubakar, Dr Elly Kent, Tamara Megaw, and Dr Natali Pearson. Participants honed their presentation skills, practiced their “hook” and developed their narratives, with many on track to showcase their work at ICOC 2025. Alongside the two postgraduate bursaries we awarded recently, this Workshop is part of Indonesia Council’s efforts to return benefits directly to our members. Be in touch if you have other suggestions!
For our teacher friends, master puppeteer Pak Sumardi is touring NSW in 2025, bringing the magic of Wayang Kulit to schools and communities. Enquire here for more information.
Meanwhile, the 16th International Academic Conference on Social Sciences and Culture (IACSC) will be held on 4 August 2025 in Makassar. But be quick – abstracts are due TODAY, 20 June!
Finally – a shout out to Dr Liam Gannon, who was a last-minute fill-in at the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre’s recent Politics in Action event where he gave the Indonesia update. It was a great presentation and you can catch it on the SSEAC YouTube page.
Indonesia Council Open Conference
Well, it’s almost upon us: ICOC 2025!
Co-convened by Prof. Kate McGregor, A/Prof. Edwin Jurriëns, and Dr Ken Setiawan, ICOC 2025 is a free and open conference welcoming all interested in Indonesian studies. The conference theme is Indonesia Now – Eighty Years of Independence, with a keynote address by renowned environmental activist Farwiza Farhan, who will discuss Indonesia’s environmental governance and reflect on the progress and challenges that have unfolded in the eight decades since the country’s independence.
Other special events at the Conference include:
Australia–Indonesia in Conversation: Bridging Development, Representation, and Indigenous Knowledge: Learning from Australia and Indonesia on 9 July
Arief Budiman Lecture on 9 July, delivered by film-maker Dandy Dwi Laksono
Guided tour of the 65,000 Years exhibition at The Potter Museum of Art, Corner Swanston Street and Masson Road, The University of Melbourne, Parkville Campus, 4-5pm, 9 July
A reminder that conference registrations close 30 June 2025. Visit the Conference site, view the Program and read up on the FAQs to get all the information before you hit Melbourne!
Postgraduate students attending ICOC can (and SHOULD!) attend Beyond the Thesis: A Day for Postgraduate Scholars of Indonesia, hosted by the University of Melbourne’s Indonesia Forum and featuring leading scholars of Indonesia (including some members of our Exec; thanks team)
When: 9:00am - 3:00pm Monday 7 July 2025
Where: Yasuko Hiraoka Myer Room 106 (Level 1, Sidney Myer Asia Centre)
Registrations essential
Indonesia Council Award and Networking Event
When: 4:30pm - 5:30pm Tuesday 8 July 2025
Where: Yasuko Hiraoka Myer Room 106 (Level 1, Sidney Myer Asia Centre)
Registrations essential, by 26 June
Indonesia Council will host a members-only Award & Networking Event at ICOC 2025, generously sponsored by Indonesia Forum (co-convened in 2025 by Dr Tiara Marthias and Dr Charlotte Setijadi). This event includes a Public Award Ceremony for the two winners of the inaugural Indonesia Council Postgraduate Bursary Prize. Light refreshments will be available, courtesy our friends at Indonesia Forum – many thanks! If you want to come along but aren’t a member… you know what to do.
Finally, Indonesia Council members are invited to our Annual General Meeting, which will be held in-person and online during ICOC 2025. We have provided further details via direct email to members; please be in touch if you believe yourself to be a member but have not yet received the AGM information.
Call for Papers
The ANU Indonesia Institute is hosting its annual two-day interdisciplinary workshop for students conducting Indonesia-related research at the PhD and masters-by-research level on university campuses in Australia. The workshop will take place on 10 and 11 September, in-person on ANU campus in Canberra.
The workshop will take place before the ANU Indonesia Update Conference 2025 on ‘Navigating climate change in Indonesia: Mitigation and adaptation pathways' (12-13 September) and students are encouraged to stay and attend this free conference too. More info and register here!
Publications and Podcasts
Lots of great reading and listening for you this month…
There’s no country more important to Australia than Indonesia. Trouble is, the feeling isn’t mutual
Professor Tim Lindsey penned a thought-provoking piece for The Conversation, ‘There’s no country more important to Australia than Indonesia. Trouble is, the feeling isn’t mutual’, in which he reflects on the persistent asymmetry in Australia–Indonesia relations. Despite decades of diplomatic effort, Australia continues to struggle to gain meaningful traction in Jakarta’s foreign policy priorities. Lindsey argues that this imbalance has real consequences for Australia’s regional influence and calls for a more nuanced, long-term approach to engagement.
Former Vice Minister Denny Indrayana on the role of the Indonesian diaspora
Our Digital Engagement Editor, Billy Adison Aditijanto, is keeping up the great work with The Perantau Podcast, which focuses on sharing stories from Australia's Indonesian diaspora.
A new episode has dropped featuring Billy in conversation with Denny Indrayana: former Vice Minister of Law and Human Rights, lawyer, anti-corruption activist, and visiting professor at The University of Melbourne.
In this episode, Denny Indrayana shares his perspective on how Indonesian academics and professionals abroad can contribute meaningfully to legal reform and civic progress back home.
Towards the Indonesian Republic: Marxist Lineages in the National Revolution
A new book from ISEAS Publishing, Towards the Indonesian Republic: Marxist Lineages in the National Revolution, offers a bold reinterpretation of Indonesia’s independence struggle. Geoffrey Gunn traces the often-overlooked Marxist influences that shaped the revolutionary movement, challenging the dominant narrative of a purely nationalist uprising. Drawing on archival sources and historical analysis, Gunn reveals the ideological diversity and grassroots agency that defined the revolutionary era.
Reviving Indonesian Language Education
Following hot on the heels of the UTAS announcement, Australian politician (and great supporter of Australia-Indonesia relations) Luke Gosling OAM, MP made the case for revitalising Indonesian language education in Australia. In his article Time to Rediscover the Indonesian Language, Gosling argues that language is not just a tool for communication but a bridge to deeper cultural understanding and regional cooperation. You can download the article here.
Indonesia’s Wildlife Gets a Second Look
This Mongabay feature, ‘After Years of Silence, Indonesia Moves to Assess Its Iconic Wildlife’, caught our eye. In it, Dyna Rochmyaningsih reports on Indonesia’s long-overdue effort to reassess the conservation status of its most endangered species. After nearly two decades of inaction, the government is finally taking steps to evaluate populations of orangutans, elephants, and tigers. The article highlights both the promise of renewed scientific engagement and the challenges posed by limited funding and data gaps.
From Seaweed to Statecraft in South Sulawesi
Finally, did you know that carrageenan (a gelling substance derived from red seaweed) is used all over the world – from the thickener in your yoghurt to the stabilisers in your shampoo – but it comes primarily from one place: Indonesia… and that this seaweed is almost exclusively harvested by household operators? Don’t miss this article by Yunie Nurhayati Rahmat for New Mandala, ‘Sea Space, Conflict and State Building in Sulawesi. It examines how a surge in global demand for seaweed—driven largely by Chinese markets—has reshaped coastal life in South Sulawesi. Her research shows how local communities are asserting claims over “sea space,” prompting new forms of grassroots governance and state involvement. It’s a compelling case study of how global economic forces intersect with local politics and environmental change. Yunie is a scholar to watch; read this to find out why.