Indonesian Press Protest Exclusion in PM Tony Abbot’s Press Conference; Indian Author Pushes for NVM Solution to Address Australia’s Asylum Seeker Problem (VIDEOS)

Indonesian journalists are angry at Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott for excluding them in a press conference he held on Tuesday morning. The head of Indonesia's journalists' union claimed that Mr Abbott even committed a criminal offence for his act.

"What's the use of him coming all the way to Indonesia if he only gives a press conference to Australian journalists?" the Indonesian paper Rakyat Merdeka asked as it dedicated a page of its Wednesday edition to the alleged snub.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported the exclusion of local journalists was in response to Mr Abbott's instruction to limit the media to those from Australia.

"The press law in Indonesia says it is a crime to limit journalists to get access to information. The penalty for that is two years' imprisonment ... We cannot accept whatever reason Australia gave for limiting access to information for Indonesian journalists," said Umar Idris, head of the Alliance for Independent Journalists Jakarta chapter.

Here is the video of the press conference.

Other than the alleged snub, which Mr Abbott's office did not respond to, the visit of Mr Abbott, mainly to discuss the asylum seekers problem, got front page coverage. However, one Islam-based newspaper, Republika, pointed out that Mr Abbott was himself an immigrant because he was born in London, England in 1957 and moved to Australia with his family in 1960; yet, he limits Australia to immigrants and asylum seekers.

Also while it is closing the door on asylum seekers arriving via boats, Australia, along with 16 other nations, have announced that they will accept refugees from Syria.

Besides the asylum issue, Mr Abbott, now back in Australia, also tackled cattle export.

Meanwhile, rather than pressure Indonesia to help stop the asylum seekers, an Indian author is urging Australia to instead pursue the Non-Veto Movement (NVM).

Hem Raj Jain, based in Karnataka, India, and author of Betrayal of Americanism, pointed out that Mr Abbott does not realise that the humanitarian crisis in different parts of the world, including the rising number of asylum seekers and refugees, cannot be solved by pressuring Indonesia. He said Australia should instead work for the launch of the NVM.

He said the five permanent members of the UN with veto powers are the cause of the global humanitarian problems that displaced millions of people from their homes. Mr Jain specifically pointed to the 5 permanent members not agreeing to any UN resolution as the reason for no solution yet to the Syrian crisis.

He proposed that Australia invite all non-veto countries and humanitarian NGOs to take part in a global meeting to tackle how a NVM could be launched. He suggested that the NVM be patterned after the Non-Aligned Movement launched during the Cold War.

"It does not require a genius of political science to understand that how great a response this NBM will get from all the countries and how much it will be useful in solving humanitarian global problems (including the problems of asylum seekers in Australia) which are inflicting the mankind in present world," Mr Jain concluded.