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Anti-Australian sentiment (also known asAustralophobia orAnti-Australianism) refers to animosity, criticism, or prejudice towardsAustralia, itsculture, orAustralians in general.Anti-Australian sentiment can arise from various factors including differences inreligion, events outlined in theHistory of Australia, its domestic or foreign policies or its involvement invarious conflicts such asWorld War 1 orWorld War 2.
Theantonym for an Australophobe is anAustralophile, which refers to the appreciation, love, or admiration for Australia.
One of the earliest references to the specific phrase "Anti-Australian sentiment" occurred in 1983 in relation to anti-independence groups inNew Caledonia.[1]
The term "anti-Australian" also predates it by decades in that by 1949, people in parts ofAfrica andAsia were said to have "anti-Australian feeling" over how Australia applied itsWhite Australia policy.[2]
Anti-Australian sentiment grew withinEast Timor, during the period of theTimor Gap Treaty which was signed during theIndonesian occupation of East Timor. The sentiment was further intensified by the political and economic issues betweenEast Timor andAustralia, particularly over oil and gas resources within theTimor Sea, which sparked major protests.[3]
In 1948, there were anti-Australian sentiments in then-colonial Singapore by their citizens due to the treatment of one of their countrywomen.[4]
Indonesia has been alleged to have a rise in "anti-Australian sentiment" because of suggestions of Australia interfering in its internal affairs.[5] A 2003 study on Indonesian aspirants for a diplomatic position reported that 95% of them had anti-Australian sentiment.[6] Thepost-Suharto era period also saw anti-Australian sentiment in Indonesia overEast Timor.[7] In Indonesia, it is related to a generalisedanti-Western sentiment.
The Australian intervention inEast Timor still made the Indonesian government upset and led to it taking revenge on Australia by undermining the Australian interest in the country.[8]
A 2012 public opinion poll conducted by theLowy Institute, an Australian foreign relations think tank, found that Indonesians rated their views towards Indonesia as 62 degrees, on a scale between 0 and 100 degrees ranging from "very unfavourable" to "very warm".[9] This polling also found that just under a third of Indonesians saw Australia as a potential threat to their country.[10]
The2002 Bali bombings, which killed 202 people, including 88Australians[11][12] and injured at least a further 75 Australians,[13] were in direct retaliation forAustralia's role in theliberation ofTimor-Leste and United States' support of thewar on terror.[14]
On 9 September 2004, theAustralian Embassy in Jakarta was bombed, killing 10 people and injuring 200 others.[15] The perpetratorsJemaah Islamiyah,[16] an organisation which has also claimed responsibility for multiple other attacks against Australians including the2002 Bali bombings, carried out the attack because of their hatred towards Australians living in Indonesia and the Australian government'sdeployment of troops in theIraq War. An Islamist web site, www.islamic-minbar.com, posted a statement by Jemaah Islamiyah saying:
We decided to settle accounts with Australia, one of the worst enemies of God and Islam, ... and a Mujahadeen brother succeeded in carrying out a martyr operation with a car bomb against the Australian embassy...
It is the first of a series of attacks. ... We advise Australians in Indonesia to leave this country or else we will transform it into a cemetery for them.
We advise the Australian government to withdraw its troops from Iraq. If our demand is not satisfied, we will deal them many painful blows. The lines of booby-trapped cars will have no end.
Our jihad (holy war) will continue until the liberation of the land of Muslims.
Jemaah Islamiah in eastern Asia – department of information – Indonesia.
— Jemaah Islamiyah,The Sydney Morning Herald[17]
In October 2013, Indonesians protested theAustralian Signals Directorate's alleged 2009 attempt to monitor the phone calls of senior Indonesian officials, including PresidentSusilo Bambang Yudhiyono and his wifeAni Yudhoyono,[18] this included burnings of theflag of Australia.[19] Protests intensified as Australian Prime MinisterTony Abbott refused to apologise,[20] leading to further anti-Australia rhetoric. Indonesia froze ties with Australia as a result[21] and recalled the Indonesian ambassadorNadjib Riphat Kesoema to Jakarta between November 2013 and May 2014.
After theChristchurch mosque shootings in 2019 (which were carried out by an Australian),Turkish PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdoğan warned that ifAustralians andNew Zealanders with anti-Muslim and anti-Turkish views try to enter Turkey, they will be "sent back home in coffins like their grandfathers", referring to theAustralian Landings on Gallipoli against Turkish Forces inWorld War I. ManyAustralians andNew Zealanders were highly offended by these comments and accused Erdoğan of anti-Australianism. AustralianPrime MinisterScott Morrison and New ZealandPrime MinisterJacinda Ardern described these comments as "appalling" and "highly insensitive".[22][23]
