OPPOSITION Leader Tony Abbott's plan to buy boats from Indonesian fishermen to prevent the vessels being used by people smugglers has been criticised in Jakarta with the scheme described as an insult to Indonesia.
The boat buyback is part of a new $420 million regional deterrence policy announced last week by Mr Abbott as the asylum-seeker issue continues to be a key battleground in the election campaign.
It sets aside millions of dollars to buy boats from poor Indonesian fishermen who can be easy prey for people-smuggling syndicates that can offer much more money for the rickety vessels than can be made by fishing.
But Hikmahanto Juwana, an international affairs expert from the University of Indonesia, has described the plan as "humiliating", and says it shows the coalition has a poor understanding of Indonesia.
Mr Juwana warned the plan would risk a deterioration in relations between Australia and its northern neighbour, adding that it suggested Mr Abbott viewed Indonesian fishermen as "mercenaries who did dirty jobs".
"I think the (Indonesian) government should voice protests to the coalition's very insensitive plan which clearly shows their poor knowledge about the situation in Indonesia," Mr Juwana told The Jakarta Post newspaper.
"The coalition wants to make Indonesia look inferior because they just want to provide money and ask Indonesians to get the job done for the sake of their interests."
He said buying the boats would just cause the fishermen, many of who are already very poor, to lose their livelihoods and warned it would lead to resentment and even risk conflict between the local population and foreigners.
"The program could trigger vigilantism and (attacks) on foreigners ...," Mr Juwana said.
Mr Abbott did not say how much would be paid for each boat.
"It's much better and much more sensible to spend a few thousand dollars in Indonesia, than to spend $12 million processing the people who ultimately arrive here," he told reporters.
The broader plan announced by Mr Abbott in Darwin on Friday includes funding of $67 million to increase the presence of Australian Federal Police in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Malaysia.
Close to another $100 million would be spent to boost the aerial surveillance and search and rescue capacity of Indonesian authorities and $198 million to boost interception and transfer operations.
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