Many Australian leaders have tired and failed to get some kind of ties going between Australia and their norther neighbor Indonesia. However, this is a job that many experts are saying only the Indonesian president can do.

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the President of Indonesia, has offered his sympathy over the killing of Australian reporters in Balibo back in 1975. This little event has been the cause of much problems between the two countries. Although it’s not the end of this dark shutout between the two countries, it does appear that this could be a push towards a better relationship.

In a speech that Yudhoyono gave just this week, he challenged Australians to take a hard look at modern Indonesia. He says that the country goes far beyond beaches and palm trees, people smugglers and occasional terrorist threats.

Many Australians know and love Bali, but there is a lot more to Indonesian than just that. The country is now an established democracy and not the prickly authoritarian regime Australian found so difficult to engage with in the past year.

Despite all of this, way too often Australians and Indonesians put each other in bad light. Ugly stereotypes like white Australia or extremist Indonesia are always talked about. In order for a new relationship to work, people have to look past these stereotypes.

The president goes on to say that the best way to understand a country is to travel and explore that country, talk with the locals and study their language and culture. He went on to speak about Australia as the country of choice for Indonesian students.