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

The notion that we should have kept peacekeepers, that the United Nations should have kept hundreds of military in East Timor in case their politicians behaved badly, is muddle headed. I don’t think that was the right thing to do. I think the sooner the East Timorese take control of their own affairs, the better off that country will be.

See this speech in context