A KIAMA man has returned from an overseas forum ready to help be a catalyst for change in the relationship between Australia and Indonesia.
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Michael Collins, 31, recently attended the Conference for Australian and Indonesian Youth (CAUSINDY).
This is a bilateral event designed to give 30 young leaders from Australia and Indonesia the opportunity to work together in building a stronger relationship between Australia and Indonesia. The event took place from September 14-17 in Jakarta, Indonesia.
CAUSINDY is an initiative of the Australia-Indonesia Youth Association, which aims to improve the bilateral relationship through youth dialogue.
Its three objectives are to create a platform for dialogue; shape new ideas about the Australia-Indonesia relationship; and act as a catalyst for change.
Mr Collins, who formerly worked for defunct federal government agency AusAID, returned from a posting in Kenya last Christmas.
He relocated to Kiama for family reasons and has since started a business.
Mr Collins heard about the conference through various networks, and was selected to participate.
"Since I'm 31, they have a loose definition of youth," he said.
"They're looking for early career professionals.
"It was a really fantastic conference - 15 youngish people from Australia and 15 from Indonesia getting together to talk about how to move the bilateral relationship going forward.
"It far exceeded my expectations.
"The calibre of delegates were really impressive.
"The diversity of people who attended surprised me; people from NGOs and school teachers, but also businesspeople and government officials."
Mr Collins said the group tried to devise concrete proposals to take the initiative forward.
He said this was the second time the conference had taken place.
"I'd like to act on a lot of things we discussed," he said.
"There's a lot of potential to improve the nature of the bilateral relationship between them.
"It was up to young people - businesspeople, educators, NGO workers - to take the Australian-Indonesian relationship forward.
"The respective governments aren't doing enough of that; governments think short-term, and are governed by electoral cycles.
"Hopefully those young people are thinking long-term. It brings people together to be a catalyst for change."
