Chris Ellison (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Justice and Customs) Share this | Hansard source

That is a very important question from Senator Ferguson in relation to a matter which is of great interest to all Australians. Over the weekend, I visited East Timor with the Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police, Mick Keelty. On the ground, we saw first-hand the excellent work that is being done by the men and women of the Australian Federal Police and, indeed, by the Australian defence forces. By the end of this week, we anticipate that we will have up to 80 state and territory police joining our contingent in East Timor, and that will allow us to draw down some of the AFP number there. Of course, we acknowledge the cooperation of the state and territory police in this regard.

It also gave us an opportunity to gauge on-the-ground reaction to the work being done by Australian police in East Timor. I believe that the East Timorese people appreciate our presence there. They have a trust in Australian policing and, of course, they have had experience of that in the past. The Australian government has every confidence in the professionalism of our Australian personnel posted to East Timor in what is a very tense and dangerous situation. There has been some progress made, and we do not underestimate that progress, but life is gradually returning to normal.

I had the opportunity to meet with Minister Baris, the minister for the interior. We discussed a range of operational matters in relation to the issue of law and order and how we will achieve that. Minister Baris indicated the East Timorese government’s appreciation of the work that we are doing and supported our mission in East Timor. He indicated that the East Timorese government was firmly resolved to investigate the crimes that we have seen committed in recent times. We discussed that with him and he also undertook to cooperate with us in our efforts to preserve evidence in relation to the crimes that have been committed. The United Nations will be setting up a commission of investigation. The work that our AFP has done over the past few days, of course, is vital in the preservation of evidence for that investigation. I discussed this very issue with a UN adviser who had visited East Timor to assess this and other issues which face us in establishing a new United Nations mandate.

We cannot underestimate the challenge that lies ahead. Last night, Four Corners aired allegations which were indeed very serious. The Australian government has always said that it is up to the East Timorese government and people to solve those political issues which they face. It is not our job to do that. East Timor is a sovereign nation. Insofar as crimes have been committed and insofar as we need to return that country to a normal situation where people can go about their daily business without interference or assault, we will do everything we can to assist. The Malaysians have indicated they will provide 250 police. We look forward to a multinational police presence and, of course, we would welcome wider participation in that regard. We are fully supportive of a new UN mandate. That is being looked at in detail by the United Nations. In that interim period, Australia has a very important job to do in returning law and order to East Timor, and I believe that is something which has the full support of the East Timorese people.