He had no choice.
If you piss off the Indonesians, the cartoonists at the Jakarta Post will go hard and shred you mercilessly, even if you are the prime minister of Australia.
As John Howard and Alexander Downer discovered, in April 2006 :
You probably didn't need to see that again. No doubt, it's already burned into your mind, forever.
UPDATE : I spoke to soon. The Indonesian president is reportedly heading to Australia next month for "crisis talks" with Kevin Rudd. Jakarta Post cartoonists sit ready and waiting....
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