'Irresponsible'' and ''arrogant'' comments by Australian Prime Minister John Howard that Canberra was ready to take pre-emptive anti-terrorist strikes in Southeast Asia to protect Australia could have serious repercussions on the region's political and defence situation, analysts say.

''Howard's remarks pushed back Australia away from Southeast Asia in political terms and accented its isolated position as an island continent situated in the Pacific with a dominant Western culture that has little in common with most of Southeast Asia...,'' wrote political commentator Amando Doronila in his column in the Philippine Daily Inquirer last Friday.

Following the Oct 12 Bali bombing which killed about 90 Australian tourists, both Malaysia and the Philippines agreed to upgrade defence and intelligence co-operation agreements with Australia, in an effort to stem terrorist activities in the region.

But Howard's Dec 1 comments on pre-emptive strikes have irked leaders in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines and put defence arrangements in jeopardy.

Interviewed live on the national current affairs programme, Howard was asked if he would act against terrorists based in another country planning to attack Australia.

''Oh yes, I think any Australian Prime Minister would. I mean, it stands to reason that if you believed that somebody was going to launch an attack against your country ... and you had a capacity to stop it and there was no alternative other than to use that capacity then of course you would have to use it,'' he said.

He went a step further by suggesting that the United Nations charter be reviewed to allow a country to launch a pre-emptive strike against ''terrorists'' in other countries.

Agreements in jeopardy

Kuala Lumpur is now threatening to pull out of the defence co-operation agreement it signed with Canberra last Aug 2, while the Philippines says it will review a proposed counter-terrorism pact with Australia to make sure there is nothing in it which will give the Howard government a pretext to launch pre-emptive terrorist attacks on Philippine soil.

Officials from Manila and Canberra are finalising the terms of an agreement drawn up by the latter which includes a provision for ''joint operations and training activities'', exchanges of intelligence information and cooperation in ''preventing and investigating acts of terrorism''.

Philippine National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said in an Australian television interview last weekend that his government will review the provision ''just to make sure that there will be nothing there that can be interpreted as condoning pre-emptive strikes on the part of Australia''.

The rapid fire which attracted Howard's comments reflects the love-hate relationship that exists between Australia and its immediate neighbours in the Southeast Asian region. Howard's latest outburst is seen by the region as a reflection of Australia's imperialistic attitude.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer , in a Dec 5 editorial said: ''The Bush doctrine justifying pre-emptive strikes on suspected (terrorist) havens has found a powerful echo and an overzealous disciple in the Antipodes.''

It warned that Bush's doctrine which initially targeted Afghanistan and Iraq, has now been rewritten in Canberra with the Philippines, Indonesia and the rest of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in sight.

Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has predictably been very critical of Howard's comments, and his deputy Abdullah Badawi has also branded the Australian leader as ''arrogant'' for not apologising for his remarks.

Indonesian Vice-President Hamza Haz said Howard's statements ''should not have been made as they cause anxiety to other countries....Should there be terrorist activities he (Howard) could have said it directly to the countries concerned''.

Indonesian defence chief Gen Endriartono Sutarto said last week he would not just stand by and watch while a foreign nation attacked Indonesia under the pretext of terrorism.

Economic benefits

Over the last two decades there have been growing people-to-people, as well as trade and defence relationships between Australia and the region.

Today, there is a heavy flow of Asian students and tourists to Australia, not to mention the increasing numbers of Asian migrants settling down there. At the same time, thousands of Australians work in east and Southeast Asia, do business and spend their holidays in the region.

Half of Australia's exports goes to Asia, and almost half its imports comes from Asia as well. The Australian economy is believed to have benefitted enormously from the flow of talent, students and tourists from Asia.

An Australian report released last month indicated that fee-paying Asian students who have come in the thousands to study in Australian universities in the 1990s have helped to cushion the impact of government funding cuts to tertiary institutions across the country.

Last Friday, Malaysia's Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Akbar said that the government will re-examine its educational, economic and trade relations with Australia. There are currently over 20,000 Malaysian students studying in tertiary institutions in Australia.

Syed Hamid also said the government will re-examine its Five-Power Defence Arrangement, which brings together defence forces of Malaysia, Australia, Singapore, the US and Britain for periodical exercises in the region.

''We have the Five Power Defence Arrangement with Australia and there are people-to-people relations on education, economy and trade relations. We will look at these areas and take the necessary steps and see how things develop,'' he told reporters.

'Surrogate of the West'

Last month, Australia was disappointed that its application to join as a dialogue partner during the annual Asean leaders conference was rejected yet again.

This time, it was opposed not only by Mahathir, but by Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

This is a clear indication that the region's leaders see Australia not only as culturally different but lacking in solidarity with the region, which has invited South Korea, Japan, China and India as dialogue partners.

Reflecting on the spat between Canberra and the region, Filipino political analyst Rizal Buendia told Singapore Straits Times last week that Australia is perceived in the region as the surrogate of Western power and interest in the region.

''Australia is culturally different and Southeast Asian countries should not expect it to comprehend the deeper meaning of regional solidarity and unity as understood by the region,'' he said. IPS