Australia, Indonesia and East Timor

1
Australia, Indonesia and East Timor

• No relationship offers greater potential, on the
  social, the cultural or economic fronts, than
  this one with Indonesia. If we fail to get this
  relationship right, and nurture and develop it,
  the whole web of foreign relations is
  incomplete.
  Paul Keating, 1994
• Sentimental notions of self-determination for
  the East Timorese threatens our national
  security.
  
• Richard Woolcott
•  Thus the safety, aspirations and freedom of the
  Timorese were to be sacrificed so that Australia
  could remain secure.
  
• Anthony Burke, 2001
•  There are far too many Timorese who can enjoy
  no fruits from Australias Timor initiative
  because its weaknesses contributed to their
  deaths.
  Bill
  Maley, 2000

2
L13 Australia, Indonesia and East Timor

• The 30 September 1965 Coup and the Overthrow of
  Sukarno
  
• The destruction of the PKI and the worst
  massacre in the 20th Century
  
• The involvement of the West
• The rise of General Soeharto

3
The 1975 Indonesian Invasion of East Timor

• Whitlam Invade, but do it nicely
• Civil War and Fretilin declaration of
  independence
  
• 7 December 1975 Invasion
• 1978-9 Australia recognises Indonesian
  sovereignty over East Timor

4
1980s 1990s The height of Australian-Indonesia
n relations

• Military Co-operation
• The Agreement on Maintaining Security AMS
  (1995)
  
• Economic Co-operation
• The Timor Gap Treaty (1989)
• The Dili Massacre (1991)

From the video footage of the Dili Massacre, 1991
5
Towards an Independent East Timor

• 11 June 1999
• UNAMET (UN Assistance Mission in East Timor)
• 30 August 1999
• Ballot in East Timor
• Post-ballot Violence
• 20 September 1999
• INTERFET (The International Force in East Timor)
• 25 October 1999
• UNTAET (UN Transitional Authority in East Timor)
• 20 May 2002
• The Democratic Republic of East Timor achieves
  Independence

6
From a human rights disaster to a foreign policy
success?

• An Australian Foreign Policy success
• Decisive, Multilateral, popular, professional
  ultimately successful
  
• A Australian Foreign Policy failure
• Failure to stop the violence, lack of regional
  leadership
  

The decapitated body of a Timorese man is dragged
through the streets of Dili, September 1999