Xanana Welcome Rudd’s Visit But Will Have Hard Question

Tempo Semanal-Dili, 08/07/2011

Xanana and Rudd 

The former Prime Minister of Australia and now Foreign Minister of Australia Mr. Kevin Rudd arrives in Timor-Leste tomorrow (09/07).  The Timorese will be happy to receive Mr. Rudd for two reasons.  He is known to be a friend of Timor-Leste, and unlike almost all other senior Australian politicians, he is coming to stay overnight, and will leave on Sunday (11/07) after a visit to the rural areas.

In May 2010 Prime Minister Gusmao rejected to meet the Australian Minister for Trade, and in March 2011 Gusmao also rejected to meet the Australian Minister for Defence on his 6 hours visit to East Timor.  Mr. Rudd is being welcomed to East Timor because ehe has a long history and undertstanding of the Timorese, and is happy to make time and priority to stay overnight with his Timorese friends.

Tempo Semanal has learned that Rudd plans to meet with the President of Timor-Leste Jose Ramos-Horta, the Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, and the Foreign Minister Zacarias Albano da Costa.

According to TS sources Mr. Rudd will meet with Prime Minister Gusmao at 1730 hours on 9 July 2011 at the Government Palace.

This visit comes a few days after the Australian Government has responded to a review of Australian Aid – this change in Australian aid is due to the initiative of Foreign Minister Rudd.  Rudd has accepted that there have been long term mistakes made and is trying to correct some of those mistakes.  These mistakes were covered by this newspaper in 2008, 2009, and 2010.  Many of these issues caused the relationship between the Canberra and Dili to become bad.

Critically Australian aid is increasingly from $75 million a year to $125 million a year starting now.  However, the Governments of Australia and East Timor have not yet informed the public how this extra money will be used. But it is important to note that an extra $75 million is not viewed as being very much by Timorese authorities in the context of the Government’s current $1.3  billion annual budget. East Timor President, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance have many times expressed concern over the usefulness of international aid, including Australian assistance, in East Timor.

In May 2011 the Prime Minister angrily spoke out on the effectiveness of international aid in East Timor, asking what happened to the $8 billion dollars of aid between 1999-2009.  It is an issue, which Timorese of all political allegiances from Dili to the mountains ask over and over again.

Rudd’s visit to Timor-Leste comes just days before the Timor-Leste Development Partners meeting in which the Prime Minister of Timor-Leste Xanana Gusmao shall reveal to the international community his so called Strategic Development Plan for Timor-Leste 2011-2030.

There are remains serious differences of opinion between Canberra and Dili over the effectiveness of Australian aid in East Timor and the Timorese Government is making its own path to national development.  The Opposition in Parliament has differences of opinion with both Canberra and the Gusamo lead coalition Government.

Of most serious argument is the matter of the Greater Sunrise liquid natural gass field in which the Government, Opposition and Australia’s Woodside Company have very serious conflicts over the direction of the pipeline. North to East Timor or south to Australia.

In 2010 during the public consultation of the Strategic development plan by PM Gusmao the the PM accused Woodside and Australia of seeking to steal East Timor’s future economic prosperity.  The President of East Timor has tried to mediate between Gusmao, Woodside, Australia and the Opposition on the issue. 

President Ramos-Horta has appealed to Canberra to bring Woodside to the position of running the pipeline north to East Timor.

Rudd is in East Timor from 9-10 July.  The Woodside agreement expires in early 2012. There is not much more time for Australia, Woodside and East Timor to reach a solution.  Failure to do so will put the future of Timorese children at risk.

Public Opinion on Australian Government Sinks to 1989 Lows.

Gareth Evans and Ali Alatas drink to Timor Oil Deal 1989

Not since 1989 when Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans gulped down champagne with Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas over the Timor Sea have Timorese relations been so bad.  In 1989 Timorese watched as the Australian and Indonesian Governments’ stole the future prosperity of Timorese by carving up the Timor Sea petroleum deposits between Canberra and Jakarta.

That was 21 years ago.  Since then the Australian Government has come to the assistance, although unwillingly, of the Timorese people in 1999 and 2006.  However, in 2010 relations between Canberra and Dili have sunk to the point where they can almost no longer to talk to each other.  For example when Australian Foreign Minister Steven Smith proposed to visit Dili meet Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao in Aileu on 14 May Xanana refused.

This is for many reasons.  While the most obvious reason is the disagreement between the two over the Woodside – Greater Sunrise polemic there are many other causes.

From Left to Right Gareth Evans, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Foreign Minister Steven Smith.

Since 1999 the AusAID has provided hundreds of millions of dollars of support for the development of Timor-Leste, but the people of Timor-lest are not sure that they have received much good for this help.  Poverty rates increased, political stability declined (ie 2006), and aid programmes have often failed to provide much.  Amazingly, given its “saviour” role in 1999, the Australian Defence  Force has also been viewed with some suspicion by many Timorese for real and perceived political biases.  The Opposition Party even contends that Canberra in many ways helped Prime Minister Gusmao unseat former Prime Minister Alkatiri in 2006.  And now Gusmao is spending his days traveling the country telling the Timorese people, one sub district at a time,  that Canberra and Woodside are stealing Timorese resources once again – over the Greater Sunrise issue.

Many Timorese argue that AusAID programmes are wasteful and they are achieving little if anything.  Certainly the corruption, poverty, unemployment figures are all going in the wrong direction.  What is remarkable is that AusAID uses taxpayers money to create accountability in Timor, but the projects are not accountable for their failures as accountability is getting worse not better.  Some Australian efforts are worthwhile such as in the water and sanitation and private sector development areas.  But these are rare examples.  AusAID puts millions of dollars into projects in the finance, justice, infrastructure, and media sectors, which are more destructive and productive.  What is wrong?

As the heat rises on Greater Sunrise Timorese and Australians should realize the people in the mountains are beginning to think its just like 1989 all over again.  In those days Timor was a police state under the Suharto regime.  The Australian Government was happy with that as they made oil and gas deals with Suharto.  Since then the Australian Government has changed its face, but has it changed its spirit?

When Timorese see Australian Government programmes in Timor, they usually see high paid consultants on 1000-2500 dollars a day.  Giving Timorese advice and not much more.  Timorese need advice for some things to be sure.  But Australians should know that the Government’s agencies in Dili do not take advice.  They should concentrate on the projects that the Timorese, and not Government, feel are useful.  And reconsider the rest.  If this is not done there is a possibility that relations could get worse.

In 1942 Australian soldiers fought and died alongside Timorese in the war against Japan.  Many more Timorese died that Australians.  Those Australians that owed their lives to the Timorese that were their comrades in arms never forgot their debt to Timor.  Timorese will never forget the debt of 1999 owed to Australia.  But the last Timorese to fight alongside Australians in World War two died this year.  In time memories of 1999 and the debt owed to Australian will fade.  Good relations are based on history but also the present and the future.

Australia needs to know that the poor relations are not just about Woodside.  There is history here.  The history is mostly bad.  If the history is to develop into a better one, pay attention, the time is now.