Rakyat Merdeka dingo cartoon controversy

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The Rakyat Merdeka Dingo cartoon controversy began after a front page editorial cartoon depicting the Australian Prime Minister John Howard and Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer as dingoes were published in the Indonesian newspaper Rakyat Merdeka on 27 March 2006 to protest the acceptance by Australia of refugees from the Indonesian province of West Papua.

A retaliatory cartoon apparently depicting Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as a dog copulating with a Papuan native was published in the Weekend Australian newspaper on 01 April, 2006.

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[edit] Background

The cartoon was published in response to the granting by the Australian government of three-year temporary protection visas to 42 of 43 Papuan proponents of an independent West Papua who arrived in its territory by sea, despite a personal request from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for the asylum seekers to be returned. This incident led to the withdrawal of Indonesia's Ambassador to Australia. John Howard subsequently reassured Indonesia that Australia had not changed its support for Indonesian sovereignty over Papua, saying that Canberra's processes for dealing with asylum seekers were independent of foreign policy considerations [1].

The Australian government later warned Australians to avoid its embassy in Jakarta because of demonstrations outside on Monday, 27 March, during which demonstrators painted obscenities on the embassy walls and carried banners of an eagle swooping to grasp the bloodstained neck of a kangaroo, shouting "Die kangaroo" [2]. Protests continued on 29 March.

[edit] Cartoons described

The original cartoon, entitled "The Adventure of Two Dingo" [sic], depicts Downer and Howard as dingoes, with Howard's front paws on Downer's back. Howard is saying: "I want Papua!! Alex! Try to make it happen!"

The "tit-for-tat" Weekend Australian cartoon, by well known artist and cartoonist Bill Leak, depicts President Yudhoyono as a dominant dog, tail wagging as he mounts a Papuan with bone in nose, saying: "Don't take this the wrong way..." The caption reads: "No Offence Intended".

[edit] Reaction

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John Howard:

“ In relation to the cartoons, well I've been in this game a long time, if I got offended about cartoons golly, heavens above, give us a break. ”

Alexander Downer:

“ I would have thought those cartoons in our society fell way below standards of public taste. I think a lot of Australians would regard those kinds of publications as very offensive, but they're free to be offensive in a magazine in Indonesia if they wish to be. You can publish cartoons which are tasteless and grotesque, but you are free to do so. But they're free to be offensive in a magazine in Indonesia if they wish to be. This cartoon is certainly a very base piece of work. ”

Bill Leak:

“ They dished out one to us and this is a little tit for tat. It pokes fun at the Indonesians. We are entitled to poke fun at anybody, aren't we? ”

[edit] References

  1. ^ Lurid cartoon adds to Australia-Indonesia strains, Reuters, 30 March 2006
  2. ^ Satirists put the bite on Howard, Sydney Morning Herald, 29 March 2006

[edit] External links