TALKING INDONESIA PODCASTSee all


Indonesia’s economic centralisation under Prabowo

,
The question for Indonesia today is whether Prabowo’s unbridled centralisation will deliver the sustained economic growth that it promises, or merely build new institutions that distort the coordinating work of markets. Economic centralisation certainly offers more command over the nation’s wealth and a stronger hand in bargaining with the world, but any policy is only as good as the hands that work it.

From founder to prisoner: is Nadiem's verdict the end of regulatory trust?

, , ,
No one should be surprised if, slowly but surely, Indonesia keeps sliding off the shortlists of major allocators - not because its market has shrunk, but because its institutions have stopped underwriting it. 

Talking Indonesia: environmental activism, the law and SLAPP

, ,
Indonesia is home to some of the largest stretches of tropical rainforest left on Earth — and to a growing community of people willing to put themselves on the line to defend it. But across the archipelago, environmental activists are increasingly finding that the sharpest threat they face isn't out in the field. It's in the courtroom.

What the New Order's failed clove monopoly tells us about Prabowo's single-door export policy

,
On 20 May 2026, addressing a House of Representatives (DPR) plenary in Jakarta, President Prabowo Subianto announced that exports of strategic natural resource commodities -  palm oil, coal, and ferroalloys - would now be handled through a single door: the state-owned enterprise PT Danantara Sumberdaya Indonesia (DSI).  

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

, , , ,
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.

Is Jakarta turning into Gotham? How viral crime panics become pretext for expanding military visibility

, ,
Moments of crime anxiety in Indonesia routinely trigger authoritarian nostalgia for Petrus‑style ‘shock therapy’. This is a reference to the early‑1980s ‘mysterious shootings’ campaign in which security forces carried out extrajudicial killings of thousands of alleged criminals as a projection of state authority.

Talking Indonesia: Indonesian ghosts and ghost stories

,
In this special episode of Talking Indonesia, co-hosts Tito Ambyo and Jamie Edmonds sit down together not as interviewer and guest, but as co-editors who have spent months immersed in a collection of essays on ghosts and haunting in Indonesia. The result is something that is a bit different from the usual podcast interview: two scholars thinking aloud about what the ghostly has done to them.

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

, , ,
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.

'Pig Feast': a test case for alternative media, Papua, and Indonesian democracy

, ,
After being screened offline at nearly 2,000 locations across Indonesia and abroad, the documentary Pig Feast: Colonialism in Our Time (Pesta Babi: Kolonialisme di Zaman Kita) was officially released online on May 22. Within just 14 days of release, Pig Feast had already been viewed more than 13 million times on the YouTube channel JubiTV.

Indonesia’s economic centralisation under Prabowo

,
The question for Indonesia today is whether Prabowo’s unbridled centralisation will deliver the sustained economic growth that it promises, or merely build new institutions that distort the coordinating work of markets. Economic centralisation certainly offers more command over the nation’s wealth and a stronger hand in bargaining with the world, but any policy is only as good as the hands that work it.

From founder to prisoner: is Nadiem's verdict the end of regulatory trust?

, , ,
No one should be surprised if, slowly but surely, Indonesia keeps sliding off the shortlists of major allocators - not because its market has shrunk, but because its institutions have stopped underwriting it. 

Talking Indonesia: environmental activism, the law and SLAPP

, ,
Indonesia is home to some of the largest stretches of tropical rainforest left on Earth — and to a growing community of people willing to put themselves on the line to defend it. But across the archipelago, environmental activists are increasingly finding that the sharpest threat they face isn't out in the field. It's in the courtroom.

What the New Order's failed clove monopoly tells us about Prabowo's single-door export policy

,
On 20 May 2026, addressing a House of Representatives (DPR) plenary in Jakarta, President Prabowo Subianto announced that exports of strategic natural resource commodities -  palm oil, coal, and ferroalloys - would now be handled through a single door: the state-owned enterprise PT Danantara Sumberdaya Indonesia (DSI).  

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

, , , ,
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.

Is Jakarta turning into Gotham? How viral crime panics become pretext for expanding military visibility

, ,
Moments of crime anxiety in Indonesia routinely trigger authoritarian nostalgia for Petrus‑style ‘shock therapy’. This is a reference to the early‑1980s ‘mysterious shootings’ campaign in which security forces carried out extrajudicial killings of thousands of alleged criminals as a projection of state authority.

Talking Indonesia: Indonesian ghosts and ghost stories

,
In this special episode of Talking Indonesia, co-hosts Tito Ambyo and Jamie Edmonds sit down together not as interviewer and guest, but as co-editors who have spent months immersed in a collection of essays on ghosts and haunting in Indonesia. The result is something that is a bit different from the usual podcast interview: two scholars thinking aloud about what the ghostly has done to them.

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

, , ,
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.

'Pig Feast': a test case for alternative media, Papua, and Indonesian democracy

, ,
After being screened offline at nearly 2,000 locations across Indonesia and abroad, the documentary Pig Feast: Colonialism in Our Time (Pesta Babi: Kolonialisme di Zaman Kita) was officially released online on May 22. Within just 14 days of release, Pig Feast had already been viewed more than 13 million times on the YouTube channel JubiTV.
NEWS & EVENTS

TALKING INDONESIA PODCASTSee all


EDITOR’S PICKSSee all

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

26 May 2026/by Djayadi Hanan, https://indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au/author/djayadi/, Yoes C Kenawas, https://indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au/author/yoes/

Indonesia’s social media ban for under-16s deprives many children of their only public space

19 May 2026/by Pradipa P. Rasidi, https://indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au/author/adip/

The new KUHAP: more kinds of evidence, fewer limits (Part 1 of 2)

12 May 2026/by Simon Butt, https://indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au/author/simon-butt/

Loyalty over expertise: The patronage problem at the heart of Prabowo’s foreign policy

21 April 2026/by Ahmad Syarif Syechbubakr, https://indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au/author/syarif/

Indonesia at Melbourne is supported by:

Melbourne Law School Asia Institute Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society Indonesia Forum Faculty of Arts Indonesia Democracy Hallmark Research Initiative

Indonesia at Melbourne

Room 726, Level 7, 185 Pelham St,
The University of Melbourne
Parkville 3010 VIC Australia

Phone: +61 3 83448581

Email:  indo-at-melb@unimelb.edu.au

Date created: 1 July 2015

Editor: Ary Hermawan

Editorial board: 
Professor Tim Lindsey
Dr Tim Mann
Aron Corbett

We acknowledge and pay respect to the Traditional Owners of the lands upon which our campuses are situated.

Phone:13 MELB (13 6352) | International: +(61 3) 9035 5511
The University of Melbourne ABN:84 002 705 224
CRICOS Provider Code:00116K (visa information)

Disclaimer & copyright
Accessibility
Privacy