Rakyat Merdeka dingo cartoon controversy

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 1 April, 2006.

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.

Events

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". Howard told media that he was not offended by the cartoons, but Downer said that it "fell way below standards of public taste".^[3]

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
3. ^ "Dingo cartoon fails to faze Howard". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2006-03-30. http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200603/s1604772.htm. Retrieved 2011-06-22. 

External links

• Embassy on alert for cartoon backlash, NineMSN, 1 April 2006
• Tasteless, offensive and of no merit at all, Sydney Morning Herald, 2 April, 2006
• Australian cartoon irks Indonesia, BBC, 1 April 2006