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

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Regional tensionsWorld

TOPSHOT - This frame grab from handout video footage taken and released on August 31, 2024 by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) shows a Chinese coast Guard ship (L) colliding with Philippine Coast Guard ship BRP Teresa Magbanua near the Sabina Shoal in disputed waters of the South China Sea. China and the Philippines accused each other on August 31 of deliberately ramming their coast guard ships near a flashpoint shoal in the South China Sea, the latest in a spate of similar incidents in recent weeks. (Photo by Handout / Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPINE COAST GUARD (PCG)" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Time for ASEAN to muscle up at sea

Repeated Chinese coastguard incursions in Indonesian maritime waters after years of quiet diplomacy holds lessons for Australia and its ‘stabilisation’ policy.

Amanda Hodge

’Unconscionable shenanigans’World

Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak (C) arrives at the Kuala Lumpur Court Complex in Kuala Lumpur on October 30, 2024. Najib was sentenced in 2022 to 12 years in jail for offences linked to the misuse of public money in the multi-billion-dollar 1MDB financial scandal. (Photo by Mohd RASFAN / AFP)

Court crushes any Najib reprieve

The bombshell judgment comes just days after jailed former PM Najib Razak issued a public apology over Malaysia’s biggest corruption scandal.

Amanda Hodge

‘Kill this person’World

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - OCTOBER 28: Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte appears before lawmakers at the Senate on October 28, 2024 in Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines. Former President Rodrigo Duterte appeared before lawmakers to answer questions about his administrationÃ¢â¬â¢s war on drugs, marking his first appearance in any investigation on the matter. In 2016, Duterte launched a "war" on drugs, which human rights groups estimate has resulted in over 30,000 deaths and prompted an investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged crimes against humanity. (Photo by Ezra Acayan/Getty Images) *** BESTPIX ***

Could Duterte’s death squad admission finally deliver justice?

Critics say the shocking admission is little more than electoral grandstanding, to build support for his daughter Sara and his own bid for re-election as mayor of Davao.

Amanda Hodge

InquirerInquirer

AFP presents a retrospective photo package of 60 pictures marking the 4-year presidency of President Trump. US President Donald Trump (R) gestures as he meets with North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (L) at the start of their historic US-North Korea summit, at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore on June 12, 2018. - Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un have become on June 12 the first sitting US and North Korean leaders to meet, shake hands and negotiate to end a decades-old nuclear stand-off. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP)

‘Trump-proofed’ Asia prepares for sequel

With little of the palpable alarm among the rest of the world over what a second Trump presidency could mean, is Southeast Asia’s fear of a values-based, liberal progressive Democratic administration greater than that of his return?

Amanda Hodge

global politicsNation

Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto presides over the swearing-in ceremony of his cabinet ministers at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on October 21, 2024. Newly inaugurated Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto on October 21 swore in his new cabinet, which includes key members of his predecessor's team and suggests he will continue his main policies, analysts said. (Photo by BAY ISMOYO / AFP)

Non-aligned Indonesia to hold its first naval drills with Russia

Moscow’s push to build military ties with Jakarta is a timely reminder Indonesia is not a Western-aligned power

Amanda Hodge

persecution claimsWorld

(FILES) Lee Hsien Yang, the brother of Singapore's then prime minister Lee Hsien Loong and son of the city state's founding father Lee Kuan Yew sits for a coffee after being presented membership to the opposition Progress Singapore Party during an event at the Tiong Bahru Market in Singapore on June 24, 2020. A bungalow where Singapore's early leaders spent long hours to lay the country's foundations is under the spotlight as a bitter feud rages between former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew's children. (Photo by ROSLAN RAHMAN / AFP)

Singapore founder’s son given asylum

Lee Hsien Yang, 67, says he has been granted UN refugee status and political asylum by the British government because of alleged persecution by the city state government.

Amanda Hodge

World

Indonesian navy and coastguard vessels - KN TJ Datu and KRI Sutedi, eject a Chinese Coastguard vessel from Indonesia’s north Natuna waters on day one of Prabowo Subianto’s new presidency after the vessel was found to be harassing a seismic data survey being carried out by State energy company Pertamina. Picture: Supplied

China tests Prabowo’s mettle with early salvo

Beijing has wasted no time testing the resolve of Indonesia president Prabowo Subianto, forcing the government to dispatch vessels to eject a Chinese coastguard ship from its maritime waters in the South China Sea on its first day in office.

Amanda Hodge and Dian Septiari

Prabowo picksWorld

Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto (front centre L) and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka (front centre R) pose with newly sworn-in cabinet ministers in front of the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on October 21, 2024. (Photo by BAY ISMOYO / AFP)

‘Fat’ chance: whale-size cabinet male, stale

Prabowo Subianto’s “fat” cabinet aims to eliminate all parliamentary opposition and reward all those who backed his third-time lucky presidential race.

Amanda Hodge and Dian Septiari

President sworn inWorld

Indonesia's new President Prabowo Subianto (L) and his predecessor Joko Widodo (R) sit during the presidential inauguration at the Parliament building in Jakarta on October 20, 2024. Former general Prabowo Subianto was sworn in October 20 as president of Indonesia, seeking a more prominent position on the global stage for the world's fourth most populous nation. (Photo by BAY ISMOYO / AFP)

Prabowo declares war on graft

Indonesia’s new president warns of the need ‘in times of tension, in possibility of war’ to achieve food and energy self-sufficiency.

Amanda Hodge

politicsCommentary

A crowd of well-wishers gather outside the Presidential Palace as they wait for the inauguration of Indonesia's president-elect Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta on October 20, 2024. Prabowo Subianto will be sworn in October 20 as president of the world's third-largest democracy, Indonesia, with the wealthy ex-general accused of rights abuses taking over eight months after a landslide election win. (Photo by JUNI KRISWANTO / AFP)

Comeback kid a study in political resilience

Australian envoys understood well that Indonesia’s outgoing president Joko Widodo measured diplomatic ties in hard currency – did the bilateral relationship deliver trade and investment growth? Under Prabowo Subianto, it will be a more complicated and unpredictable equation.

Amanda Hodge

Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/author/amanda-hodge/page/5