Featured Article - Indonesia at Melbourne

NU’s gambit with coal: What’s really at stake?

The controversial policy of the outgoing Joko “Jokowi” Widodo government to grant coal mining concessions to Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) — Indonesia’s largest Islamic organization — is posing a serious threat to the country’s efforts in the fight against global warming.

Indonesia's gig workers are living precariously. Can we fix the platform economy?

Economy, Society

The Indonesian gig economy has the potential to be a win-win for both workers and companies, but only if it's built on a foundation of fairness and dignity. Law reform, gig cooperatives and gig unions offer a path towards achieving this balance.

Jakarta’s future is hidden in its kampungs

Society, Urban planning

It took the Dutch until the twentieth century to dig a banjir (flood) canal and it is only recently that another canal was dug to allow rivers to circumvent the city on the other side. Despite this, modern Jakarta still floods. So what is the long-term solution? Whatever approach is taken, part of the solution lies with locals in the kampungs. Small changes by individuals can make a big difference.

The end of KPK prosecutions? The Gazabla Saleh case

Corruption, Law

In late May 2024, Indonesia’s Anti-corruption Commission (KPK) began prosecuting former Supreme Court Judge Gazalba Saleh in the Central Jakarta District Court. On the surface, there appeared to be nothing unusual about this case. However, the decision the three judges handed down in Saleh’s case was anything but usual. They unanimously accepted his eksepsi, holding that KPK prosecutors had no authority.

Proposed laws could revive Indonesia’s media oligarchy

Media, Politics, Uncategorized

The Indonesian public has been taken aback by two proposed changes to Indonesia’s media landscape. If these regulations are enacted, it will go a long way towards restoring the power of Indonesia’s traditional media oligarchs, whose influence has notably waned in the digital era.

Legislature’s parting gifts to Prabowo imperil democracy

Law, Politics

Two bills currently before the Indonesian parliament raise real concerns about the future of democracy and the rule of law in Indonesia, even before Prabowo takes office in October. If enacted, these laws remove the last real checks on the power of the presidency.

Majapahit: the most powerful empire in Asia that most people have never heard of

History, Society

There are signs that modern Indonesian is replicating some of the triumphs of the past. After a blood-soaked first encounter, the Majapahit empire found a way to come to an accommodation with the mighty emperors who ruled China.

Indonesia, Israel and the OECD: What is really going on?

Foreign Policy, Politics

The recent revelation that Indonesia is considering normalising ties with Israel as part of its bid to join the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has surprised the international community and the Indonesian public. The Indonesian government’s actual stance remains ambiguous. However, any move to normalise relations with Israel could have major repercussions for Indonesian foreign policy and the domestic political landscape.

Is Mohammad Hatta’s cooperative economic vision still relevant today?

Economy, Environment, History

Muhammad Hatta was a forward-thinking intellectual whose ideas regarding collaborative economics prefigured today's degrowth movement. His economic ideas present a viable and fair alternative to the capitalist paradigms driving social inequality and environmental degradation.

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