Australia and the Indonesian occupation of East Timor

Suharto-Whitlam House in Dieng Plateau (Indonesia), where East Timor's fate was discussed in 1974.

There are a number of reasons why the Whitlam Government supported Indonesia's annexation of East Timor. Whitlam, speaking to the ABC, said to an extent, his Government was carrying on the view that East Timor was not viable as an independent state.[10] Additionally, there were initial fears of a possible Communist government being installed in East Timor by the Timorese, after the withdrawal of the Portuguese. This saw the Whitlam Government look favourably upon Indonesian annexation, and Whitlam expressed this desire to Suharto in a visit to him in 1974.[11]

Michael Salla, writing in the Australian Journal of International Affairs, said Whitlam perceived and interpreted the issue in an anti-colonial framework. Whitlam himself said "the division of the island of Timor is no more than an accident of Western colonial history". There were also fears that a long drawn out civil war could result in great loss of life over a long period, as had occurred in Angola, another ex-Portuguese colony.[12] To an extent, Whitlam established the logic and support of the annexation, and this was carried on by later Australian prime ministers and their governments. In addition, the Australian Government saw the desire for peace in the ASEAN region. Nicholas Klar, writing on Whitlam's response to the Indonesian invasion, said that Whitlam also was concerned that revolution by separation movements could spread across Indonesia, causing a domino effect that could see the balkanisation of Indonesia into several small states.[13] According to historian Luke Miller, Wikileaks documents have indicated that before the invasion, there is some possible evidence that Australia was feeding intelligence to Indonesia about Portugal, in order to minimise misunderstanding about the situation between the two countries.[14]

It has been argued that comments by the Whitlam Government may have encouraged the Suharto regime to invade East Timor,[15] with former Army officer, and deputy commander of UNTAET, Michael Smith, writing that the invasion at least had "tacit approval from Australia and the United States".[16] Despite this, and the general favourable view of the annexation, the Australian Government voted for a UN resolution condemning the invasion, in 1975.[9]

During the lead up to Indonesia's invasion of East Timor in 1975, the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) paid a Dili-based Australian businessman Frank Favaro for information on local political developments. The leaking of his identity in late 1975 led to a confrontation between the then Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam and Bill Robertson, the head of ASIS, resulting in the sacking of the intelligence agency director on 21 October 1975, to take effect on 7 November.[17][18] Bill Robertson disputes the reason for his dismissal in documents lodged with the National Archives in 2009.[19]

The Government of Malcolm Fraser was the first to officially recognise Indonesia's de facto annexation of East Timor, doing so in January 1978. This was followed by de jure recognition, during negotiations with Indonesia regarding the seabed boundary between the two countries.[12][20] The Prime Minister ordered the seizure of a two-way radio link between East Timor and Australia being operated illegally by Fretilin supporters near Darwin. Following his return from Jakarta, Mr Fraser gave instructions that the Telecom outpost radio service near Darwin cease picking up and passing on Fretilin messages from East Timor. He also denied Australian entry visas to Fretilin spokesmen claiming to represent the Democratic Republic of East Timor.[21]

The opposition party at the time, the Labor Party, in 1979, called on the Fraser Government to withdraw the recognition.[22] Fraser himself saw that he had no choice but to continue the recognition, as it would have caused serious repercussions with Indonesia, and the US at the time would not support Australia, as they saw the East Timorese resistance group, FRETILIN, as communists,[23] and it was seen in Australia's interest to support Indonesia.[24]

The Timor Gap

The Hawke Government continued and confirmed Australia's de jure recognition of the Indonesian annexation of East Timor. Portugal expressed its displeasure by recalling its Ambassador, Inacio Rebello de Andrade, back to Lisbon.[25] Indonesian and Australian representatives signed the Timor Gap Treaty in a plane above the Timor Sea. The treaty came into force on 9 February 1991. It established a zone of cooperation in an oil-rich undersea area, with future plans to manage oil resources in the area.[26]

Initially, after Paul Keating took over the role of Prime Minister, he simply continued the recognition of Indonesia's annexation of East Timor. However, the Keating Government escalated its military and other relations with Indonesia, beyond the previous governments. Both Australia and the US were involved in assisting the Indonesian military,[4][27] and upgraded relations during this time included the signing of a security treaty.[1] According to John Pilger and several other journalists, Keating was perceived as not having done enough, while Prime Minister, to prevent human rights abuses in East Timor,[28][29][30] though others, such as Whitlam, have defended Keating's policies.[31]

Birmingham, Cotton and Thakur, writing in their respective books on the occupation of East Timor, stated that following the 1991 Dili massacre, which occurred on 12 November 1991, the Keating Government claimed the massacre was an aberration, and not indicative of the occupation as a whole.[32][33][34] However, a Government Joint Committee criticised the Government, saying its response to the massacre should have been more condemning.[35]

Documentary maker John Pilger also accused Keating of covering up a second round of massacres, which occurred while he was Prime Minister. In response, Keating threatened to sue Pilger.[36] Keating's foreign minister, Gareth Evans, defended Keating by saying that in fact, there had been a second round of massacres, though they had not been covered up.[36][37] During the period of the East Timor occupation, Keating refused to give political asylum to East Timorese fleeing Timor.[38][39]

RAAF aircraft in Dili (2000)

After winning power in 1996, the Howard Government initially continued on the path of the previous Australian governments, and continued to support Indonesia's annexation of East Timor. However, following the fall of Indonesian President Suharto the Howard Government government policy on East Timor shifted, and in 1998 Howard helped precipitate a proposal for a referendum on the question of independence for East Timor.[40] In late 1998, the Howard Government drafted a letter to Indonesia setting out a change in Australian policy, suggesting that the East Timorese be given a chance to vote on independence within a decade. The letter upset Indonesian President B. J. Habibie, who saw it as implying Indonesia was a "colonial power" and he decided to announce a snap referendum.[41] There was also a view within Indonesia, that unless the issues of independence were dealt with in East Timor, Indonesia might spend 10 years investing money and time in the province, only to have the province break off. A UN-sponsored referendum held in 1999 showed overwhelming approval for independence, but was followed by violent clashes and a security crisis, instigated by anti-independence militia. Australia then led the United Nations backed International Force for East Timor (INTERFET) to end the violence and order was restored.[42]

After the withdrawal of the Indonesian military from East Timor, violence flared in Indonesia, mainly involving pro-Indonesian militia.[43] Australia under the then Prime Minister, John Howard (who had replaced Keating in 1996), deployed peacekeepers as part of INTERFET to stop violence against the East Timorese by militia. In response, Keating was reported as saying that the violence was in fact Howard's fault.[44][45] While some media commentators defended Keating's comments, and said he had been misinterpreted,[46][47][48] other commentary from journalists and politicians argued at the time that in fact Keating's attack on Australia's intervention only highlighted Keating's own past errors in judgement over East Timor.[49][50] The INTERFET coalition deployed to East Timor on 20 September 1999, as a non-UN force operating in accordance with UN Resolutions. Led by Australia, who contributed 5,500 personnel and the force commander, Major General Peter Cosgrove, it was tasked with restoring peace and security, protecting and supporting UNAMET, and facilitating humanitarian assistance.[51] While the intervention was ultimately successful, Australian-Indonesian relations would take several years to recover.[52][53]