A serious new Australian radio series of interviews on Indonesia

ABC Radio's Saturday Extra begins a new series of interviews on Indonesia, Australia's increasingly important neighbour which has emerged as an upper-middle-income country with a national budget that has tripled in eight years and a growth rate above 6% despite the global financial crisis.

This first episode focuses on politics and business and touches upon democratisation, decentralisation, social media, the mining boom and the high-profile struggle against corruption.

Geraldine Doogue's guests are Ed Aspinall, Professor of Politics and Head of the Department of Political and Social Change at ANU College of Asia and the Pacific and coordinating editor of Inside Indonesia (which turns 30 this year), and Dr Anies Baswedan, President of Paramadina University in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Listen now or download audio.