Indonesia is a country that experienced a period of colonialism for 5 centuries (1511-1945). Indonesia was colonized by Portuguese, Spanish, English, Japanese, and the longest was the Dutch. The colonial state chose to colonize Indonesia, one of which was because its people were incompetent, so it was easy to be instigated by foreign countries to take their natural wealth. Indonesia is a country that has abundant natural resources, especially in the world of mining such as gold, coal, tin and so on. This is what makes many countries want to dominate Indonesia.
But behind the 5 countries that want to dominate Indonesia, there are 3 countries that often help Indonesia against the invaders, one of which is Australia. The Australian state helped Indonesia to fight the Dutch because the Dutch wanted to reclaim the archipelago after World War II was over.
This struggle was documented in the film "Indonesian Calling". The sentence that is often shouted in the film is "Australia supports an independent Indonesia! Let Indonesia get its independence!".
The film is 21.06 minutes long, in the video it is described and told how Australia's struggle to help Indonesia achieve its independence from the Dutch. For years Indonesians have lived in Australia as friends and fellow city dwellers there, they learn from each other's language, culture, customs, and others. Australians love Indonesian traditional songs even though they don't understand the words, but they understand the meaning. 72 million Indonesians live on the richest island in the world. Indonesia's most prominent assets are tin mining, quinine monopoly, oil mining and rubber plantations. But the Dutch took all these advantages for 3 and a half centuries. The wealth confiscated by the Dutch when calculated is around 32 million pounds or 100 million dollars every year. Even after independence, the Dutch still wanted to make profits, so Australia was moved to help the Indonesian state by sending their ships to the Australian Ports, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. Use the ship to transport weapons, ships to lift soldiers, and others.
At the dock the ship workers told stories with Australian port workers using language that was easily understood by all ship workers from every country about the cruelty of the Dutch, about the terrible conditions carried out by the Dutch starting from low salaries, being treated unfairly, being tortured, and welfare far away. from the word prosperity. The word spread and workers from other countries on the docks came to listen. Eventually, the situation turned into an unplanned general meeting. The ship workers group consisted of Europe, India, and China. The group is part of the Australian trade union association. When the assembly was being held, someone asked Australian officials about the Atlantic Charter, his answer was "We are following the promise through the World Trade Union Congress to support freedom for all nations including Indonesia."
The support for Indonesia's struggle for freedom and self-determination was to declare Dutch ships for Indonesia to be black. Australia provided humanitarian ships containing food, medicine, weapons and ammunition. The Dutch also asked for the humanitarian ship, but the Australian dock was not granted it. Not all humanitarian ships depart for Indonesia. 1,600 armed Dutch soldiers will be dispatched to Java marching on the pier of Sterling Castle, the spokesman for the Dutch workers who support Indonesia said "Don't fight for Dutch imperialism! Australia supports an independent Indonesia!". All countries support what is done by the Australian side for Indonesian independence. The state of India also supported Indonesia's independence with the principles of the Atlantic Charter and protested the use of armed forces to suppress the Indonesian nation. When checking the humanitarian ship that was not sailing, it turned out that there was 1 ship that was separated from the Indian crew, namely the Swarten Ship. The Dutch managed to sneak by saving the Indian crew. The Australian and Indonesian docks also chased the ship using a small boat and then told the Indian crew to stop their journey immediately. "Turn the ship, Indonesia's struggle is your struggle." The Indian side also followed directions from the Australian dock. After that, the Indonesian Independence Commission expressed gratitude to the Indian side for being willing to help and cooperate in realizing an independent Indonesia. Meanwhile, Chinese sailors have raised 1,100 pounds for Indonesia.
Colonialism by the Dutch was over, Indonesia was declared independent. The Indonesian state held the reading of the Youth Pledge uttered by the nation's children around the world. After that, in the evening they held the Ksatrya and Princess Royal Dances, although they were still exiled but the culture never faded because in Australia they were still making dance instruments, clothes, and still studying Indonesian culture. 1,400 Indonesian nationals left Australia on the Esperance Bay Ship to Java. The Esperance Bay ship was one of the Australian ships that sailed after the colonialism. Indonesian citizens who sailed have given guarantees that they will not land in Dutch-controlled ports, this guarantee was witnessed by Australian officials who were also on board the Esperance Bay ship. When the ship was about to leave, many friends and family came to the port just to say goodbye. Before departure, EV Elliott (Federal Secretary of the Seafarers' Union) representing the union of Australian Labor Union said while handing over the Red and White flag "I give this flag to you. Bring it back to your new Republic as a symbol of support for Australian workers, Indonesian citizens also thanked and said, "We will not forget the great assistance given by Australian workers and may Australia and Indonesia be united forever."
