Dave Tollner (Solomon, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Would the minister update the House on recent developments in East Timor? What is the government doing to help the country following its recent problems?

Alexander Downer (Mayo, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for Solomon for his question and his interest. As he comes from Darwin, he has a very great interest in the welfare of Australians serving in East Timor. I think the House would be aware that the Australian Defence Force and the Australian Federal Police, with the assistance of the Malaysians, the New Zealanders and the Portuguese, have been extraordinarily successful in bringing stability back to East Timor. We are very proud of the job that they have done.

I have always made the point that the East Timorese ultimately have to solve their political problems, not the Australian Defence Force, the Australian Federal Police or the Australian government. Where there was a breakdown of security in East Timor caused by political arguments and differences, it had to be resolved by the East Timorese. The point I would make is that they have made good progress in addressing their concerns. A new government was sworn in by President Xanana Gusmao on 14 July. At the time, the Prime Minister, the defence minister and I welcomed the appointment of Jose Ramos Horta. Of course, we continue to wish him well in his new and very difficult role. In Kuala Lumpur the week before last, I was also pleased to spend some time with the new foreign minister, Jose Luis Guterres, who is well known to a number of members of this House from the time when he was the permanent representative of East Timor at the United Nations in New York.

The next stage in all of this is going to be the United Nations Security Council’s consideration of a further resolution to extend the UN mission beyond 21 August. We expect there to be open discussions in the Security Council on 15 August—that is, next week. I think it is more or less agreed that the successor mission to the existing UN mission will strengthen the capacity of the local police. There will be a significant international police presence. It could be very significant, with over 1,000 international police coming under the auspices of the United Nations. The United Nations mission is likely to be charged with the task of encouraging political reconciliation and assisting with the improvement of overall governance in East Timor.

The one issue that is still being worked through by the permanent members and with countries such as Australia and Portugal is the role of the military. There clearly will need to be some military presence in East Timor for some time beyond 21 August—some sort of rapid reaction force. There will need to be military liaison officers and so on. But the question is going to be whether it will be a blue-helmeted or, as they say, a ‘green-helmeted’ operation, which comes under the UN, or whether it will come under a national command with the approval of the UN. That is still to be worked out and is still being discussed in New York. But I think there is a real mood in New York to ensure that there is an effective successor mission to the existing UN mission so that the UN can play a more active role in trying to help the East Timorese overcome their differences and to improve the quality of governance.

We are committed to East Timor for the long haul. We will continue to do our best to help them but, in saying that, never detract from the simple point that as an independent country they are responsible for their own decisions. They are responsible for their own destiny. We can help them but we cannot take on that burden of responsibility. That is their job.