Gavin Marshall (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The incorporated speech read as follows—

I bring to the chambers attention the plight of Timor-Leste, the world’s newest nation. The Timorese are a remarkable people, having come so far through such adversity. The formation of Timor-Leste is a testament to the strength of the people, and we must remember that there will be continuing challenges for these people and their nation.

I have been astounded to read some of the commentary arising out of the conflict that occurred in Timor-Leste. We have seen media commentators arguing that we should consider ‘harsh truths’ - putting the views that Timor brought the Indonesian invasion on itself and that the 1999 violence was not caused by Indonesia. I have even heard it said that Timor was not ready for independence.

These disgraceful revisionists ignore the well documented death and destruction wreaked by Indonesian forces. They ignore the abject failure of Portugal to provide infrastructure and opportunity as a colonial power and they steadfastly refuse to acknowledge that Australian Government and media stood idly by whilst all this was going on. They conveniently gloss over facts such as whilst Timor-Leste was occupied by the Indonesians, Australian authorities had the temerity to use our Navy to stop medical supplies getting to Timor. Our Government even attempted to prosecute people trying to get Medicines to Timor on charges of drug smuggling!

Most glaringly they ignore that for the first time in centuries the Timorese people truly have the ability to take charge of their own affairs.

Yet like many countries the road to stable government and prosperity is one which will be marked by a steep learning curve, and this is where we should be helping to ensure Timorese can overcome the challenges, creating the opportunity that has so far been denied to them. We have to work with the Timorese on fundamentals such as education, healthcare and economic opportunity as the people of Timor-Leste are trying to reverse centuries of neglect rapidly. Their society is undergoing massive change, as many people try to deal with their past and the challenges that face them presently. There is a collective trauma, as evidenced by the findings of the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation, and made raw by the recent violence, these psychological scars will take generations to heal.

So we know that we must move forward and support Timorese in the long term, not as we did after 1999, when the Australian Government trumpeted INTERFET as a success, and then wound back its commitment to help build civil society and the economy in Timor-Leste over time. The Australian Government even pushed for the UN presence to be scaled back and withdrawn. This was not a sensible long term support of the Timorese people, and I am pleased to note that Australian communities took up the challenge by establishing Friendship relationships with communities in Timor-Leste, financing such fundamentals as local buildings, community education and skills exchange - working with Timorese with a long term view of stronger communities in Timor.

One of the largest contributions the Australian Government made however was the commitment to train the Defence Force of Timor-Leste, and had we done this well we may have avoided the conflict that arose in May of this year. 

Unfortunately as we look back it seems that we did little training of the Defence Force of Timor-Leste. Rather than turn them into a coherent, disciplined defence force this move became an immense Australian policy failure as the poorly trained and resourced Timorese soldiers became protagonists in the violence we have recently seen.

Australia did not train the Timor-Leste Defence Force; rather it sent hundreds of training advisers from 1999 onwards and did little but impart rudimentary skills. Deliberately ambiguous, conflicting orders from our military and civilian authorities, and serious differences between the departments of Defence and Foreign Affairs, underscored by a characteristic fawning toward Indonesia ensured the Australians charged with the task would never be able to achieve what they set out to do.

The Australian Government spent more than six million dollars on a training school at Metinaro, and rather than instilling a culture of unity, honour and cohesion it missed this opportunity, and both Timorese and Australians would later pay for this. This failure was encapsulated in the comment by Major Steve McCrohon, one of those charged with training the Timorese, as quoted in the Bulletin:

“There was never any discipline as such and all of this present trouble can be brought back to what happened when we were there. It was a complete dog’s breakfast and I believe it was one of the great lost opportunities for Australia to really make a difference”

Speaking to Australians recently evacuated from Timor-Leste they were scathing regarding the Federal Government’s continuing narrow focus on the short term and the lack of commitment to enabling peaceful and prosperous nations in our region in the long term.

This Government must realize that it cannot continue intervening when things go horribly wrong – it must avoid these conflicts by actively making substantial long term commitments, ensuring stable and prosperous countries in our region. That Timor-Leste’s ongoing growth and development could be significantly undone by such events underscored the fragility of this new nation and emphasizes the need for Australia to make a substantial long term commitment to the development of Timor Leste, with an aim to developing the great potential that exists.

I am ashamed at how successive Australian Governments viewed the plight of the Timorese people and ignored their suffering, ultimately doing little to assist their plight. This has now changed and we have a historic opportunity to make the future of Timor-Leste one marked by co-operation, strength and friendship. We can work with Timorese to ensure that they prosper and have the standard of life that we take for granted. What we should not do is see our relationship with Timor as one where Australian interests take over-riding priority.

We witnessed a terrible failure of civic leaders and institutions in Timor-Leste which meant that unspeakable acts have been committed on ordinary people through no fault of their own.

The violence largely arose out of ignorance and arrogance. Ignorance in that a largely meaningless arbitrary and historical divide separated neighbourhoods, pitting Timorese against Timorese in deadly violence, and arrogance shown by a Government that assumed everything was controllable and believed it had the trust of a largely sceptical populace, whose fears and distrust as it turns out, were well founded.

The current reality is complex and ugly and I hope this does not continue to claim the lives of Timorese, already having touched many. We need the Australian Government to broaden their focus from this narrow view of short term intervention to one of working together with the peoples of our region over our lifetime ensuring that they too have the opportunities and choices that our lives permit us.