Young voters who helped elect Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto are increasingly disappointed with his government. Some say they feel complicit in backing him. Critics point to a free school meals program that has left thousands of recipients ill, and to a weakened rupiah. Protests have also erupted over the government's response to forest fires on Sumatra and Kalimantan. The government says it is evaluating policies and achieving results, and Mr Prabowo says he is proud of what has been delivered in two years.
Students across Kalimantan and Sumatra have taken to the streets to demand that the government be held accountable for wildfires and the toxic haze covering the region. Indonesia often faces wildfires during the dry season, but these fires are the most intense in more than a decade. Farmers use slash-and-burn methods to clear land for agriculture, including palm oil, and Indonesia is the world's largest producer of palm oil. The fires have been made worse by these practices.
Indonesia's planned new capital, Nusantara, is being built in the Borneo rainforest, but only about 10,000 of the 1.2 million people it was designed for have moved in. Former president Joko Widodo launched the project, and its budget has been cut under President Prabowo Subianto. Analysts warn the city could become a costly white elephant, while officials insist construction is continuing. Jakarta remains the official capital until a further presidential decree is signed. Whether Nusantara becomes the political capital by 2028 remains unclear.
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A filmmaking program between Indonesian and regional Queensland universities is using horror to bring creators together. University of Southern Queensland lecturer Katherine Putnam says a shared language of fear has helped break down language barriers. The team filmed short horror movies in Indonesia before finishing in Toowoomba. The $60,000 program is funded by the university and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Regional filmmaker Amy Parry says concern is growing about state government cuts to Screen Queensland funding.
Four people have died and two others have been severely burnt while fighting a wildfire in Semeru National Park on Indonesia's main island of Java. East Java police said a 12-person crew was trapped by dense smoke and flames on Thursday. Three were found dead at an evacuation point, and one of the injured later died during treatment. Police have launched an investigation into whether negligence or criminal wrongdoing contributed. Fires across Indonesia have worsened amid a prolonged dry season, and haze has prompted Malaysia to close schools in several states.
Noosa businessman James Hay and his wife Elena are well into a 15-month motorcycle journey to Europe. They have ridden thousands of kilometres through Australia, Timor-Leste and Indonesia. Ferry delays, challenging roads and Google Maps routes have tested them along the way. Highlights include swimming with whale sharks and watching a traditional buffalo race on Sumbawa. The couple are now in Bali, preparing to take a ferry to Java.
A forest fire on Indonesia's Sumatra island has destroyed nearly 300 homes and forced hundreds of people to evacuate, an official says. Residents first tried to put out the fire in Bangka Belitung province on Saturday using portable water pumps. Winds then shifted and drove the fire into the village, which was built on former peatland. The government says conditions are the worst in a decade, and the fires could continue until November. Wildlife has also been hit, with at least 46 critically endangered orangutans rescued since August.
Lyndall Murray is selling her Evans Head home to invest in Indonesia, citing changes to property tax rules. The new rules replace the 50% capital gains tax discount with inflation indexation and abolish negative gearing for established dwellings. Ms Murray had planned to buy investment properties in Australia. She said she now has the equity to do so, but the tax changes had removed the benefits she expected. She plans to buy a villa in Lombok, where she says her money would generate more rental income, and to return to Australia later without a mortgage.
Wildfires across parts of Indonesia's Borneo island have left endangered orangutans struggling to survive, prompting rescuers to evacuate injured and stranded animals. A young female orangutan nicknamed Novita was found clinging to a nearly leafless tree in Central Kalimantan province. Her palms and the soles of her feet were burned. She was taken to a rehabilitation centre in Nyaru Menteng, where she will be assessed for release once her burns heal. Government data showed more than 202,000 hectares burned between January and July.
Marina de Vries has released her first book, a historical novel based on the story of her grandparents, father, aunt and uncle. All were held in a Japanese concentration camp in Indonesia during World War II. Her grandfather Harke de Vries was a Dutch army architect and engineer living in Aceh with his wife Kommie and their three children when the Japanese occupation began in 1942. The family spent three and a half years in camps in the Semarang region. Kommie died at age 36 before the war ended.
