Kim Beazley (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer and Acting Prime Minister. Can the Acting Prime Minister inform the parliament of the outcomes of any discussions he has had with the East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao or Prime Minister Alkatiri about the offer of Australian assistance to East Timor, including the provision of Australian military personnel and police?

Peter Costello (Higgins, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Contact between Australia and East Timor has been between the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the foreign minister of East Timor, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs will no doubt update the House and the nation on that later on. What I can advise is that the situation in East Timor remains dangerous, that there was continued fighting overnight and that the situation could change quickly and without notice. The travel advisory has been updated and, as a consequence, we are now warning Australians that if they are already in East Timor they should consider departing. I can also indicate that those Commonwealth government people who are non-essential are doing that, and arrangements are being put in place for Australians to protect their safety.

Can I indicate as well that Australia stands ready, if requested by the constitutional authorities in East Timor, to provide security to assist in stabilising the situation. I make it clear that this would be done in relation to a request—and it would have to be a constitutional request. Australia has an interest in having a stable region. We would respond to a request not only because it is in the interests of the East Timorese people but also because it is in the interests of Australia that the area be stabilised. Australia has already contributed both policing and troops to East Timor, and we stand ready to assist our neighbours if they should request assistance again. Relevant elements of the Australian Defence Force have been placed on a footing where they would be able to respond on very short notice indeed. Our objective, of course, would be not only to secure the situation in East Timor but, in addition to that, to defend the personal safety of Australians. This matter has been extensively discussed with the heads of security and Australian defence forces. The National Security Committee had a long discussion in relation to it yesterday, and it will continue to monitor developments and deal with them as they arise.

Danna Vale (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Would the minister update the House on his dealings with the East Timorese government on recent developments in East Timor?

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

I thank the honourable member for Hughes for her question. Let me just say, as the Acting Prime Minister and Treasurer has just said, that the current security situation in East Timor is one we would describe as dangerous. I have received reports from our embassy in Dili this morning of further outbreaks of fighting between government forces and an opposition group near a place called Tasi Tolu, which is on the outskirts of Dili and very close to the headquarters of the East Timorese military forces. As the Acting Prime Minister has said, we have reissued our travel advice as well.

Of course, I have been in constant contact with my counterpart Jose Ramos Horta over the last few weeks in relation to this matter. I spoke to him just before question time and I also spoke to him last night. The point I have always made in my conversations with him is that we urge all parties to show restraint and respect for the rule of law and the constitution of East Timor in resolving the current crisis. We have had some discussions in the last 24 hours about the question of whether the international community, including Australia, would provide any kind of assistance, be it police assistance or military assistance, to East Timor, and there will be some further discussions during the course of this afternoon, including with our ambassador, with President Xanana Gusmao.

I have made the point, and the government have made the point, that we are ready to assist East Timor but that that would require a formal request from the government of East Timor—and by a formal request I mean a letter signed by the President, the Prime Minister and, preferably, the Speaker of the parliament, but, most importantly, by both the President and the Prime Minister. In the event of a request of that formal nature being received, I have told Mr Ramos Horta that Australia could consider several options for assistance. We do have troops pre-positioned, as the Acting Prime Minister has said, and they are ready to be deployed quickly, either to assist in evacuation or, possibly, to help to stabilise the situation in Dili. We also have some police whom we can deploy quite quickly if required. We could indeed, as I have told the foreign minister, send a combination of the two.

We would await further contact from the East Timorese government during the course of this afternoon. We have not at this stage received a formal request, but we have had some discussions about this issue and about the terms under which assistance could be provided. We have also had some discussions about what other countries could do to assist, because it is likely that if East Timor does send out a formal request to Australia it will send formal requests to a small number of other countries as well. It is also important that the United Nations be notified and kept informed of all this. There is a special representative for the Secretary-General, Mr Hasegawa, who is based in Dili, who is being kept informed by officials, by the East Timorese and by New York. It is important that the secretariat of the UN is kept informed, along with the permanent members of the Security Council. I made the point to Jose Ramos Horta that, in particular, the five permanent members of the Security Council need to be kept in touch in relation to the evolution of East Timorese thinking.