Philip Ruddock (Berowra, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

(11: I move the motion relating to East Timorese support of Australian troops:

That this House:

(1) notes that in East Timor between December 1941 and January 1943, 700 Australian troops engaged

some 20,000 Japanese troops through guerrilla warfare, and:

(a) this severely hampered the Japanese war effort by preventing its troops from being deployed

elsewhere; and

(b) in this endeavour, Australian troops were assisted by the East Timorese people;

(2) recognises that while Australian troops were in East Timor between December 1941 and

January 1943, and after they had left, some 40,000 East Timorese are estimated to have died as a

result of protecting Australian soldiers; and

(3) commends and thanks the people of Timor-Leste for the sacrifices they made in supporting Australia in World War II.

I simply say in relation to this resolution, that its terms are self-explanatory. They note that in East Timor between December 1941 and January 1943, 700 Australian troops engaged some 20,000 Japanese troops through guerilla warfare and that this really hampered the Japanese war effort by preventing its troops from being deployed elsewhere. In this endeavour Australian troops were assisted by the East Timorese people and it recognises that Australian troops were in East Timor between December 1941 and January 1943 and that after they left some 40,000 East Timorese were estimated to have died as a result of protecting Australian soldiers, and it commends and thanks the people of East Timor, or Timor-Leste, for the sacrifices they made in supporting Australians during World War II. I move this motion so that we do properly recognise those efforts by these Timorese people.

From late 1941 as the War in the Pacific began until 1942, Australian independent companies, the 2/2nd, the 2/40th, and Z commando units were sent to East Timor, then a neutral Portuguese colony. In the months following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, most of the geostrategically critical regions of the Pacific and a number of states fell to the Japanese. Amongst them were Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies and Burma. As the Japanese forces moved towards Dili, Australian troops found themselves in extraordinarily difficult territory surrounded by an enemy.

The 700 men who formed the Australian force withdrew into East Timorese mountainside forests joined by local men and boys who offered very considerable assistance to them. During the following months these young people, known as the Credos, and other local people guided the Australian forces through the hills, passed on information about Japanese movements, and helped carry their gear. The assistance and bravery of them, and the Timorese people generally, ensured the survival of our troops.

From July 1942 Japanese forces implemented a series of campaigns designed to break the bond between the East Timorese and the Australian contingents. Unfortunately, as Japanese commanders recognised the vital role of local assistance in the continued resilience of the Australians, the Japanese strategy necessarily—from their point of view—targeted the East Timorese.

Community emissaries were brought in from Dutch West Timor to encourage dissent amongst local people. They advocated the abandonment of support for the Australians and the Portuguese colonial administration, which had nominally continued albeit reduced and circumscribed in form. To the extent that this was successful, and by late 1942, the Portuguese administration had evaporated yet, critically, the support for the Australians had not. With the benefit of this assistance the Australian forces were able to engage the Japanese in intensive guerilla warfare, using critical intelligence and information provided by the East Timorese. Their efforts significantly hindered the advance of some 20,000 Japanese troops through the area, absorbing critical resources and manpower and thereby preventing the troops from being deployed elsewhere in the Pacific, including the developing theatre in Papua New Guinea.

Several extremely brave East Timorese people also gathered and related critical intelligence back to Australia at considerable risk to themselves—their lives and those of their families. Patricio De Luz, a local morse code operator took charge of the Dili wireless station, passing highly sensitive Japanese strategic plans to Australian aerial intelligence services operating under the guise of Qantas civilian operations. Some of the information gathered and passed back to Australian operations was of vital importance and Da Luz conveyed information intended for senior Japanese commanders. This included intelligence that the Japanese aerial forces were moving towards Darwin in 1942. It is very important that we recognise in this place and as a broader Australian community the enormous impact of the East Timorese sacrifice because it was surely that.

It is very important that we recognise in this place, and as a broader Australian community, the enormous impact of the East Timorese sacrifice, because it was surely that. Few of the criados survived the period following their connection with the Australian forces. One described to ABC's Compass program in 2010 the day the Australian troops farewelled their East Timorese comrades on a beach and the swift descent of Japanese forces. He recalled:

From the beach I set off towards the mountains. From there I heard the gunshots. The criados, they were all shot. They were all killed.

Both during the period when Australian forces operated in East Timor and after the troops were withdrawn in early 1943, the East Timorese people were subject to severe retribution by the Japanese forces. Between 1941 and 1943, 40,000 East Timorese are believed to have died as a result of their efforts in protecting our Australian troops. We cannot adequately quantify this loyalty, nor forget the debt Australia owes to the Timorese people.

Political events in 1999 reinvigorated the close connections between Australia and the East Timorese people, but we need to remember how far and deep these ties bind us. Although the relationships forged between the local guides in Papua New Guinea, affectionately known as the fuzzy wuzzy angels, and Australian troops form part of our collective memory of the war in the Pacific, very few are aware of the equal heroism and loyalty shown by the East Timorese to Australian troops. That is the reason I propose this resolution and hope that it will receive the support of this chamber: still fewer people in the broader Australian community understand the significance of these friendships and assistance within the wider Pacific theatre.

As we approach the centenary of the Anzac landings, I hope that our appreciation of the nature of sacrifices made during times of conflict will be understood not only in relation to the Anzac landings but, more broadly, to the way in which Australians have served and the way in which they have been supported. As a nation we must collectively reflect not only upon the sacrifices made by Australians but those made by others, often non-combatants, who have given much in order to protect and assist Australians. So, in this place today, I move that we recognise the sacrifices and loyalty of the East Timorese people and give thanks for the friendship extended to Australian troops stationed in East Timor during the Second World War.

May I thank particularly the group of Australians who have adopted East Timor and who support them through these efforts. They came before the former foreign affairs, defence and trade committee to brief us on the efforts of Australians in East Timor at that time and that briefing had a significant impact on me. I had only recently been in East Timor; I had seen something of the countryside and gained a broader appreciation of the circumstances in which the East Timorese live. It made me very much more appreciative of their efforts, which these Australians wanted to bring before the foreign affairs, defence and trade committee. It was in that context that I drafted and proposed this resolution, and promised that one day this chamber would be able to acknowledge that effort. It is a great privilege to be able to propose the motion and to bring it back here in the first private member's debate we have had in the new parliament. I am sure these Australians who are very supportive of the East Timorese will be pleased that the parliament has had this opportunity not only to debate it but also, hopefully, when the resolution is passed, to recognise it.

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