GUEST BLOG: Maire Leadbeater – School Lunches cause bitter controversy in Indonesia and West Papua.

This government has blundered badly over the school lunch issue.  Good school lunches contribute to good learning outcomes, but David Seymour and this penny pinching Government seem to be delivering mostly time-wasting frustration for hard-pressed teachers and  food wastage. 

Co-incidentally, a furore is building in Indonesia over school lunches and the issue is a major focus of protest in West Papua.

The promise of providing ‘free and nutritious’ school meals was a significant vote-snaring tactic of President Prabowo Subianto during the 2024 election campaign.  Perhaps it helped him win in a campaign that was marred by controversy over his black human rights record.  The General’s command responsibility for notorious massacres in both East Timor and West Papua is well documented.  He was discharged from the military in 1998 for his role in the kidnapping pro-democracy activists during the turmoil that led to the fall of the Suharto dictatorship. For a time, he was banned from visiting the United States on human rights grounds. 

Past President Joko Widodo was seen as some kind of puppet master during Prabowo’s campaign, despite being his former political foe.  His son Gibran Rakabuming Raka secured the position of Prabowo’s running mate and is now Vice-President.  A special court ruling was needed to permit him to stand since he was under the age of 40, the usual minimum age for a President or Vice-President.   Is nepotism the right label for this kind of political patronage?  Whatever you call it, it is a reminder of the Suharto dictatorship era, when members of the President’s family seemed to be behind every major enterprise.

 Other backward steps include expanding the role of the military in civilian life including running much of the controversial school lunch programme.  This is an unmistakeable reminder of the old Suharto dwifungsi (dual function) military doctrine. There is talk of a law change that would allow serving military officers to fill key government positions.  Also surprise surprise Prabowo plans to make drastic cuts in public spending.

In West Papua there has been a wave of demonstrations across the country against the school lunch programme –with the focus on the misdirection of resource.   “We need free education, not free lunches” and “President Prabowo thinks more about filling stomachs than filling minds.”  Some 1000 young people took part in a demonstration in Enaratoli  in the highlands.  In some quarters there are even fears that the meals could be a means of administering poison. The young demonstrators have been met with warning shots and tear gas.

 In the conflict-ridden highlands schools sit empty and some are converted into military posts. Many remote schools have been dysfunctional for years, and this is reflected in high rates of illiteracy.

On a more positive note, there are signs that a new broad Indonesia wide resistance movement is growing. Students have united around a campaign called Gelap Indonesia or Black Indonesia, signalling their resistance to Prabowo’s anti-democratic agenda.  Demonstrations have taken place across the nation focusing on the austerity programme, the misjudged school lunch programme, and the expansion of military and police powers.  A demand to honour indigenous rights is included.

Of course it is early days, but this is a space to watch. We are not detached observers; New Zealand has never stood up for West Papuans’ right to self-determination, the root cause of the long running and deadly conflict afflicting our Pacific neighbour. West Papuan solidarity groups have been discussing a renewed campaign against our military ties with Indonesia, which have a history dating back to 1973.  The defence cooperation includes officer training at our Advance Command and Staff course, shared intelligence and the posting of a NZ Defence Attache in Jakarta.

Military ties were a major feature of campaigning during the Indonesian occupation of East Timor and New Zealand ties were suspended for several years following the Indonesian military’s murderous 1999 post referendum rampage in that beleaguered country. With militarisation escalating in Indonesia and conflict intensifying in West Papua it seems timely to revitalise  that campaign.

Maire Leadbeater is one of NZs best known Human Rights activists.