Arch Bevis (Brisbane, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, I present the committee’s report entitled Defence Sub-Committee visit to East Timor.

Ordered that the report be made a parliamentary paper.

The Defence subcommittee visited East Timor—Timor-Leste—in the second half of last year for a short one-day visit. It was an important event in respect of the Defence committee’s work, and well attended. Some 14 members of the committee participated in that one-day visit.

The work of Australian Defence personnel in Timor-Leste has been very significant now over quite a period of time, and it is likely to extend into the future. Members of the committee did believe it was important both as a bipartisan sign of support for the work that is there and also as an opportunity to better understand the activities being undertaken to visit physically. With such a large number, it would have been difficult logistically to remain overnight. It was difficult enough, I suspect for those who had to host us to look after the substantial number on the visit. In that respect I would like to place on the record again my appreciation for the cooperation and support of the Australian post and the Australian ambassador, His Excellency Peter Heyward.

The visiting members of the subcommittee attended the Defence Cooperation Program headquarters, and Lieutenant-Colonel Steve Ferndale and his officers provided a very good briefing for those on the committee on the activities that they were undertaking, including their work with the development of the Timor-Leste defence forces and the construction of the DCP headquarters building itself. The committee also visited the International Stabilisation Force headquarters, and met with the ISF commander, Brigadier Bill Sowry.

It is interesting in these sorts of events, having had briefings here in Australia in the committee on the work that is being undertaken there and having read many accounts in the public domain of these matters, that nothing quite compares with the opportunity to be in the presence of those involved in this work and to see firsthand the conditions in which they are operating.

In that respect, I think perhaps the most interesting part of the trip—certainly for me—was when we then went to the training centre at Metinaro—the officer in command there is Major Barry Rhodes—to see the work that is actually being done on the ground in a very fine facility, I have to say. The quality of the facility that has been constructed there by the Australian government for use in the training and support of the local defence forces is first class. It gave all of us on the committee an opportunity not just to talk with the ADF personnel involved but with the local defence and police recruits about what they needed, how they saw the development of their country and also how they saw the assistance that was being provided by the Australian Defence Force.

It is fair to say that the training there covers a wide range of activities, from some of the most basic defence and security related training through to more sophisticated activities. Whilst we were at Metinaro we did get the opportunity to talk to some of the students of English language who were present and also the English instruction teacher who, if memory serves me correctly, was a former New South Wales school teacher. The work that is being done there is vital to the development of basic infrastructure in Timor-Leste. On a broader point, it was also possible as we were driving across the island, to get a better understanding of the basic infrastructure needs of Timor-Leste. They are significant and should not be underestimated.

I want to place on record my thanks to the members of the subcommittee, who gave their time to participate. I particularly want to record my thanks to Wing Commander David Ashworth, who more than anybody ensured that the logistics for the occasion ran seamlessly. David was the Defence officer attached to the committee last year and, for his sins, is now here doing a real job back at the ADF. But we greatly appreciated his support and hard work in ensuring that delegation trip went off without a hitch.

Bob Baldwin (Paterson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence Science and Personnel) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On 5 August 2009 I joined with members of the Defence subcommittee of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade in a brief visit to Timor-Leste. The objective was to develop a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by our ADF personnel and to observe the development of Timor-Leste defence forces as Timor-Leste matures as a nation to a future where it no longer requires Australian forces as a part of its domestic security support arrangements.

For a nation that has been ravaged by events of the past, Timor-Leste is making solid progress since independence toward a more stable security environment. That progress has been driven by the tenacity and bravery of the men and women of Timor-Leste under the resilient leadership of the President, Dr Jose Ramos Horta, and supported by several nations and NGOs in which Australia has played an important role.

At the Defence Cooperation Program headquarters in Dili, Ambassador Heyward briefed the committee on Timor-Leste’s progress and challenges, and gave an explanation of its ongoing relationship and links with Australia and a detailed briefing on the many organisations—governmental and nongovernmental—engaged in Timor-Leste’s ongoing development as well as the country’s neighbourhood and its resource base, economy and trade.

Senior DCP Adviser to the Timor-Leste Defence Force, Lieutenant Colonel Steven Ferndale, briefed the committee on the DCP’s role in assisting to create and sustain a professional military culture. A long-term goal would be to enable the Timor-Leste Defence Force to reach a standard of training and effectiveness that could see it contributing internationally. The briefing also explained how the DCP interacts with the International Stabilisation Force and the Timor-Leste Defence Force. The committee were informed that the DCP’s major projects included the establishment of the Specialist Training Wing, the Maritime Security Program, improvements to logistics management, communications capability and the construction of buildings.

At the International Stabilisation Force Headquarters at Camp Phoenix, Dili, we were briefed by Commander ISF, Brigadier Bill Sowry and his team from the Joint Task Force 631. Briefings covered the ISF’s mission, tasks, organisation, disposition and challenges. We were advised that the ISF was becoming more engaged in liaison and nation building alongside the NGOs through the establishment and use of liaison officers.

The visit to the Timor-Leste Defence Force Nicolau Lobato Training Centre at Metinaro gave the committee an opportunity to meet with trainees, to understand their backgrounds and their reasons in joining the Timor-Leste Defence Force. I was impressed with the newly constructed facilities and the briefing from the Officer Commanding the Specialist Training Wing, Major Barry Rhodes, on the training program, which includes a comprehensive English-language training program. This is an integral part of the DCP strategy, alongside the development of a training culture that will underpin a professional military culture.

In conclusion, the International Stabilisation Force’s mission is to ‘support the government of Timor-Leste in maintaining stability and the development of its security sector in order to allow the continuing growth of Timor-Leste as a stable economic nation’. I am happy to report that this is being achieved and that the strengthening of the Timor-Leste Defence Force will enable Australia and others to reduce their commitment to the ISF and other supporting infrastructure. In recognition of the above, the President of Timor Leste, Dr Jose Ramos Horta, today presented nearly 200 Navy, Army and Air Force personnel with the Timor-Leste Solidarity Medal and expressed his nation’s gratitude to those personnel who are about to return home. To quote President Ramos:

Together we have been able to restore peace and security for the people who so much deserved it … As you depart for Australia I wish to thank you for the services you have provided us on behalf of the Australian people.

I should also note that the ISF Commander, Commodore Stuart Mayer, whom I first met on board HMASAnzac during the wreath laying ceremony over HMAS Sydney on 16 April 2008, was awarded the medal of merit, the medhala de merito, one of the highest accolades that can be presented by the President, becoming one of only a select few people from outside Timor-Leste to receive the medal.

I thank the members of the committee, in particular Wing Commander David Ashworth, and those who made the time as informative as it could have been. Most of all I thank the men and women of the Australian Defence Force, who carry out their role with absolute distinction and do Australia proud. Along with the chair and on behalf of the committee, I would like to personally thank the Ambassador, Mr Peter Heyward, and his staff at the Australian Embassy in Dili; the ADF staff at the Defence Cooperation Program; the members of Joint Task Force 631 and No. 34 Squadron of the Royal Australian Air Force for their support and assistance during this trip.