Australia’s Relations with East Timor (Timor-Leste)

1. Australia’s Relations with East Timor (Timor-Leste) Nic Thom & Brittany Wood

2. East Timor Population: 1,100,000 (2009) Area: 14, 874 sq km GDP per capita: $USD717, ranked 173rd, behind Afghanistan Ranked 162nd in the UN Development Program’s Human Development Index, Afghanistan is 181st One of the lowest literacy rates in the world; only 50.1% of those over 15. Trade with Australia: $AUD43 million in exports to ET, $5AUDmillion in imports from ET for the year 2009. Global trade: $USD295 million in imports, $USD8.4million in exports for the year 2009. Joined UN 27 September 2002. Involved with ASEAN, IBRD, IMF, UN, Asian Development Bank, Non-Aligned Movement Flag of East Timor Head of State President Jose Ramos-Horta Prime Minister XananaGusmao

3. The History of the Relationship with East Timor • Dates back to World War II when East Timorese natives greatly assisted Australian troops fighting the Japanese in East Timor. • On 16 October 1975, five journalists were killed attempting to film the Indonesian assault on the border town of Balibo. The five innocent journalists became known as the Balibo Five. Although the issue did attract some media attention in Australia, the Whitlam government effectively covered up the deaths. It refused to confirm the deaths or identities of the victims, even though DSD intercepted an Indonesian radio message confirming the deaths minutes after the incident occurred. For nearly 30 years, the Australian government covered up the involvement of Indonesian special forces in the deaths. • On 28 November 1975, East Timor declared independence from Portugal. This followed a coup in Portugal and the decolonisation of East Timor. Nine days later, Indonesia invaded. Whilst the UN strongly objected to Indonesia’s actions, Australia and the United States ‘gave the green light’ to Indonesia days before the invasion. • Many saw Australia’s inaction (and encouragement) as self-interest in gaining profits from the lucrative oil and gas fields in the Timor Sea. By many It was also seen as a betrayal after its assistance in WWII which contributed significantly to the defence of Australia. • Following East Timor’s vote for independence, Australia redeemed itself being the first state to offer assistance in securing the small country. However, it is believed that Australia may have had some form of previous knowledge concerning Indonesia’s devastating ‘scorched earth policy.’ • Apart from consistently offering military assistance (since 99 at least) Australia also has a strong economic relationship to East Timor due to the extensive oil and gas fields which lie between the two nations.

4. Recent Events in East Timor • August 1999- Independence referendum • 20 May 2002- Formal independence from Indonesia • March-July 2006- Civil unrest sparked by tensions within the military • February 11 2008- Attempted assassination of President Horta and Prime Minister Gusmao • July 2010- Announcement by Gillard government of possibility of regional processing centre in East Timor. President Horta is surprised as he believed it was a possibility, not a piece of policy. Strong opposition from within East Timorese parliament.

5. Independence • In 1998, Indonesia announced it would allow East Timor to hold a vote to choose between autonomy and independence. • Between this announcement and the vote, violence and lawlessness ensued in East Timor, with the assistance of Indonesian-sponsored militia. • The vote took place on 30 May 1999 under the guidance of UNAMET and 78.5% of the people voted for independence. • Upon the announcement of the result (Sep 4), violence broke out again. East Timor descended into chaos as Indonesian-backed militia unleashed a final wave of violence (scorched earth policy) which destroyed much of East Timor’s infrastructure. • On September 20, INTERFET, led by Australia, landed in Dili. The force which was made up of approximately 11,000 troops from 22 countries ended the violence. • INTERFET handed control to UNTAET on 28 February, 2000. • Formal independence was gained on 20 May 2002 with XananaGusmao (a former rebel imprisoned between 1993-1999) becoming the nation’s first president.

6. 2006 Crisis • In February 2006, several hundred soldiers deserted, claiming they were being discriminated against. They were sacked in March. • Between 24-28 April, the soldiers and civilians took to the streets of Dili and clashed with the army, resulting in 5 deaths and a mass exodus from Dili. • On May 4, Major Alfredo Reinado defected along with 20 other soldiers, taking weapons and ammunitions with them. • The small remaining UNOTIL force were unable to exercise any kind of control and on May 12 PM Howard stated Australian forces were ready to restore control. • On 25 May, international forces, backed by 1000 Australian troops, landed in Dili. • Conflict between eastern and western groups, encouraged by the rebels, caused gangs to roam the streets of Dili. The international forces slowly managed to restore peace in Dili. However, Australian troops remain in East Timor to this day. • Most of the rebels surrendered and several of their leaders were imprisoned, including Reinado. • On 26 June, PM Mari Alkatiri accepted his nation’s cries for him to resign. • On 8 July, Jose Ramos-Horta, former Foreign Minister was appointed Prime Minister by President Gusmao. • In August 2006, Reinado managed to escape his Dili prison as international forces had moved out. • Violence continued throughout 2006-2007. • At least 37 people were killed in the crisis and more than 150,000 were forced to flee their homes. • The UN established UNMIT, a peacekeeping operation, which remains in East Timor today.

7. 2008-2010 • February 11 2008- Alfredo Reinado led an attempted coup. • The homes of President Jose Ramos-Horta and Prime Minister XananaGusmao were attacked and Horta was seriously injured, requiring evacuation and treatment in Darwin. • Alfredo Reinado was killed in the attempted coup. Australia immediately dispatched reinforcements to it’s ongoing commitment Operation Astute. • The situation in East Timor is relatively calm now, however UNMIT still has approximately 1400 police across the small nation who work with local authorities. The ADF maintains a force of less than 1000 soldiers who support the local police and the UN.

8. Treaties and Agreements • Australia and East Timor have signed three treaties concerning the ownership and development of large oil and gas reserves in the Timor Sea. These are: • Timor Sea treaty: signed by both Australia and East Timor for joint petroleum exploration in the Timor Sea. It was to run for 30 years however after the signing of the CMATS in 2007, the Timor Sea Treaty was extended until 2057. The Timor Sea treaty entered into force on April 2, 2003. • The Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea treaty provides for equal distribution of revenue from the Greater Sunrise oil and gas fields between both countries. It also allows both countries to discuss maritime boundaries. The CMATS treaty ends at the same time as the Timor Sea treaty. Entered into force on February 23, 2007. • Sunrise International Unitisation Agreement: enables both countries to exploit the Sunrise and Troubador petroleum and gas fields in the Timor Sea. Entered into force on February 23, 2007.

9. What Australia gets out of the relationship: • Regional security • To ensure regional security and stability we must ensure our neighbours are strong and do not become ‘failed states.’ By assisting East Timor, especially in terms of military assistance, we are protecting ourselves and our own national interest. • The appearance of helping, whilst not really helping. • Oil and gas revenues from the Timor sea - Whilst we gain revenue from reserves in the Timor sea, by sharing them with East Timor we are again ensuring regional stability as East Timor is expected to make several billion dollars in royalties from these gas and oil fields. • Asylum seeker detention centre - It is possible that under a Labor Gillard government a ‘regional processing centre’ would be established in East Timor. This would be a place all boat arrivals to Australia would be sent to.