Politics - Indonesia at Melbourne

All eyes on politicians: luxury brands and public scrutiny

This is about more than just luxury handbags, designer shoes, or expensive watches. It is about visibility and power in the digital age. Social media has fundamentally transformed the relationship between citizens and political elites by enabling ordinary people to scrutinise, archive, and interpret the everyday lives of those in authority.

Police vs prosecutors? Indonesia’s latest corruption scandal exposes elite fracturing under Prabowo

Analysis, Corruption, Law, Politics

The corruption case implicating top prosecutor Febrie Adriansyah reflects not only the institutional rivalry between the police and the prosecutors. It also exposes the broader conflicts involving major oligarchic factions in the country.

Prabowo’s managed coercion is reshaping Indonesia’s political-economic order

Analysis, Economy, Policies, Politics

Prabowo’s regime has demonstrated that the state retains a latent, potent capacity to dictate the terms of economic accumulation. But this does not imply the erasure of Indonesia’s elite networks, but rather a structural rearticulation of their relationship with the state. While the oligarchs are currently forced to adapt to these centralising arrangements, their compliance should not be mistaken for permanent submission.

A China-Russia showdown? New great power tensions brewing in Indonesia’s North Natuna Sea

Analysis, Law, Policies, Politics, Security

The recent developments in the North Natuna Sea are very important, given recent geopolitical shifts that have severely disrupted the global economy. Energy self-reliance has become increasingly vital due to the Hormuz crisis, so how Indonesia deals with the Tuna Block will inevitably send geopolitical signals about its positioning as regards the great powers.

Whitewashing military responsibility: disappointing verdicts in Andrie Yunus acid attack trial

Analysis, Human Rights, Politics, Security

In our view, military courts should not have jurisdiction to try members of the military and security forces for human rights violations. Military courts in Indonesia often lack the impartiality, independence, and transparency required under international legal standards for a fair trial. This case is a perfect example of the problem.

How Prabowo is expanding the military’s civilian role as an instrument of presidential rule

Analysis, Policies, Politics, Security

Under the Prabowo administration, the Indonesian military is becoming increasingly embedded in civilian policy implementation under direct presidential control.

Academic freedom in peril as Indonesian campuses face deepening state incursions

Analysis, Human Rights, Politics, Society, Uncategorized

Indonesia does not need universities that merely repeat government policies and adopt its priorities. It needs universities that can examine and criticise them - and warn society when public power begins to exceed its proper limits.

Prabowo’s foreign stooge myth: Are Indonesians buying it?

Analysis, Highlights, Policies, Politics, Prabowo Subianto, Society

Although more people disagree with the president’s statement, the fact that 39.5% of the public agrees with Prabowo’s statement cannot be taken lightly, especially given that the president’s supporters and aides continue to amplify allegations of foreign interference through Indonesian proxies on traditional and social media.

From ‘foreign agents’ to ‘deep state’: how security rhetoric is redefining who counts as Indonesian

Analysis, Politics, Society

The broader implication is a shift in how political contestation is understood. When criticism is framed through the language of security and foreignness, political debate moves away from questions of policy and towards questions of belonging, which, ironically, are then used to isolate and exclude many loyal Indonesians who love their country.

Posted in: Politics