THE PRESS SATURDAY, AUGUST 31, 1985. East Timor

Press, 31 August 1985, Page 18

THE PRESS SATURDAY, AUGUST 31, 1985. East Timor

Australia’s relations with Indonesia appear to have been enhanced because of a statement recently by the Australian Prime Minister, Mr Hawke, about East Timor. In an interview with Indonesian Television on July 25, intended to be shown on the fortieth anniversary of Indonesia’s independence on August 17, Mr Hawke said that Australia recognised the “sovereign authority of Indonesia” over East Timor. He also said that East Timorese were citizens of Indonesia. East Timor, a former Portuguese colony, was forcefully incorporated into Indonesia in 1976. Indonesia’s action caused widespread protests at the time. For a while there was intense public feeling in Australia. New Zealand and Australia both protested to Indonesia and still have reservations about the way in which Indonesia then handled and continues to handle the issue. In law, however, both New Zealand and Australia have recognised that Indonesia is in effective control of East Timor and has sovereignty.

Mr Hawke was not saying much more than that. Indeed, when he was questioned on the subject in the Australian Parliament by Mr Andrew Peacock, the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Hawke referred back to one of Mr Peacock’s own speeches when he was Foreign Minister in 1979 which expressed reservations about Indonesia and East Timor, but which recognised East Timor, de jure, as part of Indonesia. The legal aspect is important. Australia has not settled its seabed boundary between East Timor and Australia and Mr Hawke said that the only country with which Australia could deal on the issue was Indonesia. New Zealand accepts the fact that if aid is to be given to East Timorese, it is done through Indonesia. It recently gave $200,000 to the United Nations Children’s Fund for assistance in East Timor. The legal aspect places other constraints on New Zealand. When a leader of the East Timor rebel movement, Fretilin, came to New Zealand earlier this year he was not recognised by the Government in that capacity, but was admitted in a World Council of Churches role.

What was surprising about Mr Hawke’s statement was that it produced very little criticism within Australia, and particularly within the Australian Labour Party. Yet Mr Hawke’s statement was very carefully worded. At the last A.L.P. conference the following resolution was adopted: “The A.L.P. expresses its continuing concern at the situation in East Timor, particularly its officially-stated objection to the fact that the former Portuguese colony was incorporated without the East Timorese people having been given an opportunity to express their own wishes through

an internationally-supervised act of selfdetermination.” Mr Hawke said nothing to challenge that policy. He said nothing about an act of self-determination, nothing about any United Nations vote on East Timor, and nothing about Indonesian attitudes to human rights within East Timor. In the Parliamentary statement he did express concern about human rights.

Australia has long had a far more intimate relationship with Indonesia than has New Zealand. After World War II Japan withdrew from the Dutch East Indies, which it had invaded in 1942, and the Dutch attempted to reestablish their authority. Australia secretly helped the growing independence movement and was the first country to recognise the new State of Indonesia. There was a serious pause in the good relations between Indonesia and Australia in the 19505, because of President Sukarno’s Policy of Confrontation. Under President Suharto, who came to power in 1965, relations improved. They deteriorated sharply over the invasion of East Timor. Indonesia reacted badly to Australian broadcasting and reporting about Indonesia, particularly broadcasts of material which was censored within Indonesia itself. From time to time a radio directing broadcasts to Fretilin people was stationed in Australia. The station was illegal and the Australian Government closed it. Indonesia is Australia’s nearest and biggest neighbour. It .looms large on Australia’s horizons, whatever the flavour of the Government in Canberra.

Mr Hawke’s Indonesian Television statement was welcomed by the Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Mochtar. For the last two years Indonesia has managed to keep the East Timor issue off the agenda at the United Nations. Dr Mochtar now faces some difficulties in keeping the issue off a declaration from a ministerial meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement. The problem must be particularly galling for Indonesia which was the host for the meetings that eventually led to the formation of the Non-Aligned Movement. New Zealand and Australia seem to have struck about the right balance over East Timor. It is useless to pretend that Indonesia does not control the area. It would be callous to forget about the plight of the people of East Timor and it would be imprudent not to go on reminding Indonesia that it should not have taken its 1976 action. However, what’s done is done. Indonesia could do much to lessen world criticism if it acted with respect for human rights and generally in as humane a way as possible in East Timor.