0 Scott Nathan Knight 2008 Considerations for the Plant Biosecurity Policy Interface: A case study of Indonesian policy authority and community exchange Learning Communities: International Journal of Learning in Social Contexts Kritis, Indonesia and Learning Communities, Australia 2 185-208 06/2008 Knight <p>According to Sriro (2006), Indonesia&rsquo;s public policy authority in law, resides with the<br /> position of President assisted directly by Coordinating Ministries which are themselves<br /> assisted by State Ministries in the planning and formulation of policy across portfolios. It<br /> is the State Ministries that act as the bureaucratic conduit through which government<br /> departments and non-government agencies operationalise national public policy,<br /> including that of plant biosecurity. Whilst the various governance levels of national,<br /> regional, provincial, municipal and regency legislative bodies have a role in the policy<br /> process this is primarily as law makers of regulations or interpreters of existing national<br /> policy for application within their respective jurisdictions.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><br /> Notwithstanding this governance and policy construct, Indonesia as a fledgling<br /> democracy of ten years has demonstrated sensitivities which require community<br /> exchange with Executive government to mutually respond to localized public policy need<br /> and/or priority. This is demonstrable in special autonomy status being granted to Papua in<br /> 2004 and Aceh in 2006 and a partial regulatory amendment to Jakarta&rsquo;s existing<br /> autonomy status to account for new development in the region.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><br /> But how do community information exchanges occur, and how do community views<br /> become recognised in the Indonesian pubic policy process? The overarching question<br /> for this paper is: What constitutes an effective policy? The assumption underlying this<br /> question is that for policy to be effective, community must have an input into policy<br /> development, implementation and evaluation. This assumption has been developed<br /> through preliminary research conducted in a Balinese community during 2007. It is the<br /> latter research that is reported on in this paper.</p> http://www.cdu.edu.au/centres/spil/journal/JournalJune2008.pdf