Joel Fitzgibbon (Hunter, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—The Minister for Foreign Affairs and I recently had the opportunity to discuss security sector issues in East Timor with the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Dr Atul Khare. We discussed the importance of security and stability to international development efforts in East Timor. We agreed that the ongoing strong role of the UN police will be vital to ensure that the East Timorese police have sufficient support to carry out their duties and increasingly assume the mantle of law and order in their own country. Dr Khare and I also shared the view that any future drawdown of the UN mission in East Timor needs to be based on the achievement of performance benchmarks by the East Timorese police. When these benchmarks are met, any drawdown would then be managed modestly, cautiously and in consultation with Australia.

East Timor is an enduring security interest for Australia. As one of our nearest neighbours, we have a strategic and humanitarian interest in assisting East Timor to develop and grow as a secure, stable and democratic nation. Like so many new nations, East Timor has faced struggles and challenges as it has emerged in the world. As a country with evolving state structures and political conventions and facing many challenges relating to poverty, unemployment and a lack of infrastructure, East Timor has grappled with instability and violence for much of its brief independent life.

Dealing with such instability and creating the conditions for growth, security and development are long-term tasks. The Australian government is committed to a whole-of-government approach to East Timor’s development. Defence is committed to working with other Australian government agencies and the international community to provide the conditions and institutions necessary to create the stability and security that development activities need in order to take hold.

My view of East Timor is one of optimism. This optimism is not merely borne from hope but rather it is the optimism borne from the knowledge that the Australian Defence Force is working hard and working smart to build a stable East Timor through effective operations and targeted assistance. Defence has been approaching this in two ways. Firstly in response to specific security incidents in April 2006 Australia has deployed and leads the International Stabilisation Force known as the ISF. The ISF is a joint force of around 750 Australians and 170 New Zealanders who are there to provide meaningful backup to the United Nations and East Timorese police. This force has been remarkably successful in calming the situation and giving the police the support they need to enforce and promote the rule of law.

The attacks on President Horta and Prime Minister Gusmao by disaffected former East Timorese soldiers earlier this year were a setback for the country but a setback I now believe we have overcome. Australia’s rapid response to these attacks and the prevention of follow-up violence is a testament to the professionalism of the ADF and their knowledge and expertise in East Timor. Since these attacks, outbreaks of violence have been avoided and significant progress has been made by the East Timorese government in addressing and resolving the issues of the disaffected former soldiers. The Australian Defence Force’s contribution to the International Stabilisation Force will continue to work with the East Timorese authorities and the United Nations to provide the assurance they need to do their work.

The second way that Defence is assisting to create stability is by building the East Timorese security institutions, in particular the East Timorese Defence Force, known as the F-FDTL. Through the Defence Cooperation Program, Australia is working hard to build the core skills necessary for a modern and effective defence force. Under the Defence Cooperation Program, Australia has embedded advisers in key areas to assist in the capability development of the F-FDTL and the ministry of defence. There are currently 18 Australian Defence advisers, both military and civilian, in East Timor. These advisers include specialists in communications, medical, logistics, engineering, finance and strategic policy. We will also be deploying an additional 14 advisers to further build the capacity of the F-FDTL.

The Defence Cooperation Program is also funding projects including a specialist training wing to develop soldiers with engineering, communications and medical skills as well as improving the communications fit-out of F-FDTL bases. In addition East Timorese soldiers receive English language training and general education courses so that they can undertake complex military instruction in Australia at places like the Royal Military College at Duntroon.

Recently the Australian government has approved an enhanced package of defence cooperation for East Timor that will build local capacity to undertake nation-building engineering tasks, improve maritime security capabilities and develop a peace-keeping role. We are also undertaking the building of armouries to ensure that the East Timorese weapons are held securely and reduce the risk of weapons falling into the wrong hands as has occurred in the past.

Building the capability of the defence force is only part of improving the security sector in East Timor. Defence maintains extensive links with the United Nations and the Australian Federal Police to ensure that programs such as the Police Development Program and the other security sector reform initiatives marry up with the work we are doing on the military front.

All of this effort can only happen in an environment of cooperation. Australia works closely with New Zealand, the United Nations and the government of East Timor to ensure that the assistance we are providing is targeted, welcomed and appropriate to the broader development goals for the country. In turn my department works hard to make sure that the defence component of Australia’s assistance complements the efforts of the Australian Federal Police, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, AusAID and other Australian government agencies. This effective application of civil-military cooperation underscores the important work that will be undertaken by the Asia Pacific Centre for Civil-Military Cooperation that is being established in Queanbeyan under the guidance of my parliamentary secretary, the member for Eden-Monaro.

As I discussed with my East Timorese colleague Dr Julio Tomas Pinto at the Shangri-La dialogue in Singapore late last month, Australia stands ready to assist East Timor to develop in any way we can. Helping to build a solid, well-trained and apolitical defence force for East Timor is one way that my department can create the conditions necessary for stability to take hold and for democracy and prosperity to flourish.

Let me close by taking the opportunity to pay tribute to three men who have played an important role in our success in East Timor and operations elsewhere. On 3 July Vice Admiral Russ Shalders, Lieutenant General Peter Leahy and Air Marshal Geoff Shepherd will retire as chiefs of their respective services. On behalf of the government, the parliament and the Australian people I pay tribute to these three service chiefs for their professionalism, their dedication and their very strong leadership. I thank them for their service and I wish them all the very best for the future. I thank the House.

Bruce Scott (Maranoa, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Minister for Defence may like to move a motion to allow the member for Paterson to speak.

Joel Fitzgibbon (Hunter, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That so much of the standing orders be suspended as would prevent Mr Baldwin speaking for a period not exceeding 8 minutes.

Question agreed to.

Bob Baldwin (Paterson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister Assisting the Shadow Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The opposition strongly welcomes the federal government’s continuing commitment to restoring security and stability to East Timor. Both sides of politics believe that Australia has a strategic and humanitarian interest in assisting this young six-year-old nation-state develop and prosper as a stable democracy.

Since the independence of East Timor in 1999, the Australian Defence Force has maintained a constant commitment to the East Timorese government and people. Through the leadership of the International Stabilisation Force and by providing support to the ongoing United Nations’ mission, Australia remains committed to the stability and prosperity of East Timor. In the long term, this stability can only be guaranteed by East Timorese security forces and it is the aim of the Australian authorities that these forces be adequately trained, equipped and prepared for this task.

There are, as the Minister for Defence points out, 18 Australian Defence military and civilian advisers in East Timor. We support the government’s decision to deploy an additional 14 advisers to further build the capacity of the East Timorese defence force. But a stronger East Timorese military is one thing; East Timor also needs a large, well-trained police force able to ensure domestic security. Despite the large UN police presence in East Timor, more attention needs to be paid to training the police. Security is essential if refugees are to be returned home and for the creation of the conditions that encourage investment and economic growth.

In this light, it is encouraging to hear last week’s news that East Timor’s leaders met to discuss the strengthening of the agreement between the government of East Timor and the UN Integrated Mission in East Timor to reform the security sector. Of course, we share the federal government’s concern that, as the Minister for Defence puts it:

... any future drawdown of the UN Police mission in East Timor needs to be based on the achievement of performance benchmarks by the East Timorese Police.

He continued:

When these benchmarks are met any drawdown would be managed modestly, cautiously and in consultation with Australia.

The assassination attempts against East Timor President, Jose Ramos Horta, and Prime Minister, Xanana Gusmao, in February of this year provided a stark reminder of just how volatile the security situation in East Timor remains. These two men are the best qualified candidates to bridge East Timor’s fractured political landscape. Since those assassination attempts, the army, police and civil authorities have helped prevent violence in the volatile camps, suburbs and towns and so avoided further bloodshed which would have only prolonged East Timor’s agony.

Today it is also worth mentioning the previous government’s noble role in securing East Timor’s independence in 1999. At the time, the decision on whether to intervene in the former Portuguese colony seemed like a no-win situation for Australia. On the one hand, relations with Jakarta hung in the balance, and, on the other hand, the normally pacifist Left—especially including several members opposite such as the then Labor foreign affairs spokesman, Laurie Brereton—were baying for blood with our closest neighbour.

But let history record that the then Prime Minister, John Howard, the then Minister for Defence, John Moore, and the then Minister for Foreign Affairs, now the member for Mayo, defused the crisis with a prudent use of force, resulting in remarkably few casualties, minimal damage to relations with Indonesia and giving East Timor the best chance of stability and development. Critics—such as the current Prime Minister’s close friend and special envoy Richard Woolcott—condemned the Howard government for encouraging Jakarta to host a ballot for East Timorese independence.

That ballot on 30 August 1999 was carried by a 78.5 per cent majority of Indonesians. Former diplomat Tony Kevin, again another close friend and former adviser of our now Prime Minister, even called on John Howard and the current member for Mayo to ‘apologise’ to Jakarta for Australia’s ‘provocative’ behaviour in leading other Asian democracies to protect the helpless people from brutal attack by the Indonesian military.

We can never forget the Dili massacre on 12 November 1991, resulting in over 250 young Timorese being killed. We can never forget the then Labor government’s refusal to acknowledge the severity of the situation, when the then Minister for Foreign Affairs, Gareth Evans, played down the killings, describing them as ‘an aberration, not an act of state policy.’

But by not shying away from the moral issues, Australia, under Prime Minister John Howard, showed true leadership in the Asia-Pacific region for the first time and proved itself a strong and supportive neighbour. Since East Timor’s independence in 1999, Australia, with the support of both sides of politics, has continued to make a significant contribution to nation building in the former Portuguese colony. Our military and police personnel have made successive UN missions. We have invested more than $641 million in development assistance. We have played a major role in managing public finance and revenue collection systems, supporting rural development and the delivery of water sanitation and environmental health services. We have also invested $26 million over five years to help establish an East Timor defence force.

In May 2006, in response to rising unrest in East Timor, Australia committed a company of 130 soldiers to Dili. Within a fortnight, approximately 2,000 ADF personnel had been deployed to East Timor including a 1,300 strong battalion group, 23 armoured personnel carriers, 10 helicopters and five Navy ships. By the end of May, the ADF had secured key infrastructure, successfully repatriated hundreds of Australians, facilitated the return to barracks of the East Timorese defence and police forces, confiscated hundreds of weapons and assisted in the provision of humanitarian aid.

The East Timorese operation has been widely regarded by the international community as a success. But the events of earlier this year highlight that there are still many challenges to overcome and Australia must stand side by side with East Timor in addressing such challenges. The federal opposition supports the federal government’s moves to provide extra assistance to East Timor at this time in addition to maintaining the levels of Australian Defence Force and Federal Police numbers in the country. The stability and safety of East Timor and its residents is of major importance to the federal opposition and we will consider all requests for further assistance in a positive manner. And we stand with our East Timorese friends to assist them in any way and we will react sympathetically to their requests for further assistance.

Finally, the opposition would also like to echo the Minister for Defence’s tribute to the three men who have led the efforts in East Timor and other theatres. Vice Admiral Russ Shalders, Lieutenant General Peter Leahy and Air Marshal Geoff Shepherd are retiring next week as Chiefs of the Navy, Army and Air Force. All are fine men who have upheld the best traditions of our military. I would also like to take this opportunity to extend all good wishes to their successors and in particular to Brigadier James Baker, who takes over from Brigadier John Hutcheson as commander of the Australian led International Stabilisation Force in East Timor.