RSS Feed
May 18th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda AAP
On the eve East Timor’s decade anniversary of independence former Prime Minister John Howard has reflected Australia’s involvement was one of its more noble appearances on the international stage.
Mr Howard said he considered Australia’s role in East Timor’s independence one of his greatest legacies.
“It’s got problems, it’s got governance issues but it’s free… I’m very proud of the role of Australia played in bringing that about,” he told SBS TV.
“It’s one of the more noble things Australia has done on the international front for many years.”
Mr Howard was heavily involved at a personal level.
He said the fact Australia, Indonesia’s nearest neighbour, had argued that East Timor should be given greater autonomy was a “catalyst” internationally.
However, for a quarter of a century Australia governments turned a blind eye to human rights abuses in East Timor following the Indonesian invasion.
“Governments on both sides of politics put relations with Jakarta ahead of anything else when it came to East Timor, I acknowledge that,” he said.
East Timor, a half-island nation with a population of 1.1 million, broke away from Indonesia and won formal independence in 2002.
Indonesia’s occupation of East Timor came to an end in 1999 following the resignation of Indonesian dictator Suharto.
His successor B J Habbie allowed East Timor to have a self-determination referendum, under UN auspices.
Militia thugs used terror tactics to intimidate people into voting for continued union.
Australia led an international peacekeeping mission to help restore security.
Australia sent 5500 peacekeepers under the command of Major General Peter Cosgrove.
Asked if Australia should have acted pre-emptively on intelligence the Indonesian militia was going to react badly to news of the referendum Mr Howard said he had done his best.
“The idea of sending in troops before, amounts to an invasion and that’s ludicrous,” he said, adding Australia needed Indonesia’s permission and the UN mandate.
Mr Howard had asked Mr Habbie to allow peacekeepers in ahead of the referendum but had been refused because the Indonesians consider that a violation of the sovereignty.
East Timor is one of the poorest countries in the Asia-Pacific and its efforts to lift itself out of poverty are tied to the Greater Sunrise gas field in the Timor Sea which has an estimated $100 billion in oil and gas reserves.
Australia and East Timor are to share the spoils 50-50.
However many in East Timor feel Australia has ripped them off.
Mr Howard denied playing hardball with Dili over the dividing up of the maritime assets.
He said the deal struck was fair and balanced.
“I thought we were quite generous, we agreed with most of the East Timorese demands,” he said.
“We had obligations to Australia’s future as well as East Timor’s.”
Australia’s Woodside Petroleum is in an ongoing dispute with the East Timor government over the gas plant.
Dili wants the gas piped and processed onshore to create local jobs while Woodside wants to use a floating hub and argues the pipeline is too expensive to build.
Views: 0
Posted in 
Tags: 
