Amanda Hodge

Amanda HodgeSouth East Asia Correspondent

Amanda Hodge is The Australian’s South East Asia correspondent, based in Jakarta. She has lived and worked in Asia since 2009, covering social and political upheaval from Afghanistan to East Timor. She has won a Walkley Award, Lowy Institute media award and UN Peace award.

@hodgeamanda

Latest

President’s plans foiledWorld

Demonstrators throw stones at the police outside the Parliament in Bandung, West Java on August 22, 2024, during a protest against a move to reverse the Constitutional Court's decision altering eligibility rules for candidates in a key election later this year. (Photo by TIMUR MATAHARI / AFP)

Indonesian people power turns on Jokowi

The political chicanery of the past few days has been enough to test even the most equanimous among Indonesians with a passing interest in how their country is governed.

JakartaWorld

Policemen form a barricade with their shields as parliament members attempt to meet with people who gathered near the Parliament building in Jakarta on August 22, 2024 to protest a move to reverse the Constitutional Court's decision altering eligibility rules for candidates in a key election later this year. (Photo by BAY ISMOYO / AFP)

Indonesia crisis defused after poll ‘stitch-up’

Indonesia has pulled back from the brink of a political crisis after MPs deferred a vote on electoral law revisions that critics said would have cemented a ‘political cartel’.

commentaryWorld

Institutional pillars of a hard-won democracy eroding

Watching the scrabble by Indonesia’s political elite to shore up power feels increasingly like having a front-row seat to the last days of the Roman Empire.

Blockbuster rulingWorld

Indonesian President Joko Widodo talks to President-elect Prabowo Subianto (L) following a flag-raising ceremony marking Indonesia's 79th Independence Day at the presidential palace in the future capital Nusantara, in Sepaku, Penajam Paser Utara, East Kalimantan, on August 17, 2024. (Photo by BAY ISMOYO / AFP)

Constitutional crisis looms over ruling that clips Jokowi’s wings

Indonesia’s Constitutional Court has delivered a blockbuster ruling to hinder a move that would have benefitted incoming president Prabowo Subianto.

commentaryDefence

CANBERRA, Australia - NewsWire Photos - August 20, 2024: President-elect Prabowo Subianto, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, Richard Marles hold a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Upgraded Jakarta defence pact is a wise investment

Whether by design or good luck, the upgraded defence pact has turned out to be an exercise in A-grade diplomacy that gives Australia a head start with Indonesia’s next administration.

Scam scourgeWorld

Kings Romans casino, also known as the Kapok Star. The Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone or Kings Romans is a Chinese gangster-owned enclave of organised crime inside Northern Laos. The centrepiece is Kings Romans casino which is said to be one of the Golden Triangle’s central laundries for billions of dollars in criminal proceeds, while the enclave itself still hosts multiple cyber scam centres. Picture: Amanda Hodge

Laos tackles cyber scams

The edict is believed to have come at the behest of Beijing which has raised concerns across Southeast Asia over the targeting of Chinese citizens by online scam operators.

commentaryPolitics

Indonesia's Defence Minister and President-elect Prabowo Subianto arrives to attend the annual session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) at the parliament building in Jakarta on August 16, 2024. (Photo by Yasuyoshi CHIBA / AFP)

Brace for Indonesia to be a more global force

Is Australia ready for a more assertive Indonesia? The visit of President-elect Prabowo Subianto is good news.

‘Emotional, proud and sad’World

18-08-2023 - Indonesian Australian woman Jessica Wongso (R) at the East Jakarta parole office just hours after her surprise release from jail on Sunday morning after serving just over eight years of her 20 year sentence for the poisoning murder of her friend Mirna Salihin that became known as the Iced Coffee murder. At left of frame is Wongso's lawyer Otto Hasibuan. Picture: Amanda Hodge / The Australian

Indonesia’s ‘Iced Coffee’ murderer walks free

The Indonesian-Australian woman convicted of spiking her friend’s iced coffee with cyanide after a circus trial at the centre of a Netflix documentary will proceed with a review to clear her name.

Investors staying awayWorld

This handout picture taken and released on August 12, 2024 by the Indonesian Presidential Palace shows Indonesia's President Joko Widodo (L) and Indonesia's Defence Minister and President-elect Prabowo Subianto inspecting the progress of construction work at the future capital city of Nusantara in Sepaku district in Penajam North Paser Regency, East Kalimantan, before holding the first cabinet meeting in the country's new capital. (Photo by Handout / PRESIDENTIAL PALACE / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / INDONESIAN PRESIDENTIAL PALACE" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Rocky road to Jokowi’s capital city debut

A new Indonesian capital city in the remote centre of Indonesian Borneo was always going to be a tough sell, even before the pandemic blew the timeline and budget expectations out of the water.

BangkokWorld

TOPSHOT - Thailand's former prime minister Srettha Thavisin reacts as he addresses the media after Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled to removed him as prime minister, at Government House in Bangkok on August 14, 2024. Thailand's Constitutional Court removed prime minister Srettha Thavisin from office on August 14, 2024 as it ruled against him in an ethics case that throws the kingdom into fresh political turmoil. (Photo by Chanakarn Laosarakham / AFP)

Thailand leader, cabinet forced out

Thailand’s Constitutional Court has struck again, removing PM Srettha Thavisin from office a week after it dissolved the 2023 election-winning Move Forward Party and banned its leaders.

Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/author/amanda-hodge/page/2