Indonesia alone has over 230 million Muslims – the largest Muslim population in the world and its closest islands sit just 130 kilometres from Australia’s northern coastline, across the Arafura Sea and the Torres Strait. No other western‑aligned nation sits this close to such a large Muslim‑majority neighbour.
These societies are overwhelmingly peaceful, moderate, and cooperative. Indonesia’s Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah promote pluralism and interfaith coexistence. Malaysia and Brunei embed Islamic values within stable constitutional frameworks. Bangladesh and the Maldives maintain strong traditions of religious moderation. Across the region, governments invest heavily in deradicalisation, community cohesion, and social harmony.
In this environment, cultural respect is not symbolic. It is a strategic requirement.
Domestic incidents in Australia, such as police confronting Muslims while praying, are therefore not interpreted as isolated events. They are read through religious solidarity, historical memory of colonial policing, expectations of respect toward Islamic practice, and public sentiment that governments cannot ignore.
For neighbours only a short sea crossing away, these signals matter.
Islam has been present in Australia for centuries. Makassan fishermen from Sulawesi traded with Indigenous communities in northern Australia from at least the 1700s. Afghan cameleers were essential to the development of inland Australia in the 19th century. Muslim communities have been part of the national fabric long before Federation.
Islamophobia and strategic blindness: Australia in the Asian century. By George Adams, P&I