Tomorrow I'm heading off to Indonesia on a short visit as part of a Parliamentary delegation (referred to briefly by Alexander Downer at the end of this newspaper article). Given the new warnings around lately about the risk of bombings in areas where Westerners hang out, this probably isn't the best timing. I did think twice about going – more because I am already well behind on things I need to do and I am already away from home too much – but I haven't been on an overseas delegation in my nearly 8 years in the Senate and unlike some of them, this one does seem like it will be interesting as well as useful (although I see the Daily Telegraph has already labelled it a “jaunt” and a “waste of taxpayers’ money”).

I spent two days in Jakarta on a visit on my own in mid-2002 looking at how they handle asylum seekers there and it was a real eye-opener to some of the wider differences and difficulties in that country. Included in this visit will be a day trip to Banda Aceh to see how the post-tsunami reconstructions are going, along with a lot of meetings and official functions. There are 8 of us on the trip, which is being led by the Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Bruce Billson. Knowing a bit about how foreign affairs departments work, I imagine some Indonesians officials are aware of some of my criticisms about West Papua, but I'm sure we'll get told their official line about this issue anyway.

As it is a government run delegation, we will be travelling on a government plane (which thankfully also means government baggage handlers, which sadly is now recognised as an important consideration). Hopefully I'll be able to give an update or two about the trip on this site while I'm over there.