Sadachika Watanabe, Nikkei staff writer, Dili – East Timor Prime Minister Rui Araujo expressed his eagerness to liquefy natural gas from a joint project with Australia onshore, with plans to use the resource to help develop an industrial zone in his country.

Araujo spoke to The Nikkei Friday at the national parliament building. The discussion included the Greater Sunrise liquefied natural gas project planned in waters between East Timor and Australia. "We want the pipeline to come onshore," Araujo said.

The joint project with Australia also includes Japan's Osaka Gas as an investor. Stakeholders have yet to reach a consensus on where to put the liquefaction facility.

"We can develop our oil and gas industry, a big supply base, on the south coast," Araujo said, suggesting that this is a long-term goal. He indicated that East Timor seeks to use natural gas from the Greater Sunrise project to help establish an industrial zone.

Other stakeholders see offshore liquefaction as more practical, considering the distance to land and ocean depth of the gas field. If East Timor goes ahead with liquefaction onshore, that would mean more risk and less profitability for Australian and Japanese companies.

Araujo mentioned the $700 million order the government has placed with South Korea's Hyundai Group for facilities, underscoring his resolve to develop the country's south coast.

East Timor relies on a fund of about $16 billion, financed by resource- related income, for most of its national budget. To lessen its dependence on resource revenue, the country plans to develop agriculture and tourism, Araujo said. He added that legal frameworks on investment, bankruptcy, taxation and other areas should be reviewed to promote investment from abroad.

East Timor won independence from Indonesian occupation in 2002, and applied in 2011 for membership in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Araujo said there is no political opposition within ASEAN to East Timor's membership. He said the issue is more a matter of when ASEAN countries will accept that East Timor is ready economically.

Source: http://asia.nikkei.com/Politics-Economy/Economy/East-Timor-prime-minister-favors-country-s-coast-for-LNG-facility

Woodside to up stumps in Timor Sea

West Australian - June 26, 2015

Peter Klinger – Woodside Petroleum has quietly put the Laminaria-Corallina oil project in the Timor Sea up for sale, and is thought to be in talks with a preferred buyer.

The sale would include the Northern Endeavour floating production, storage and offloading vessel, which was at the core of the $1.3 billion project's development 16 years ago.

Woodside's decision follows persistent attempts by its Laminaria-Corallina partner Talisman Energy – since last month owned by Spain's Repsol – to cash out its minority stake.

Talisman's sale of its 40.1 per cent and 33.3 per cent stakes in Laminaria and Corallina, respectively, did not proceed, though it is thought a low- profile east coast company with Chinese backing is now front-runner to pick up all of the project.

Sources say a sale could value Laminaria-Corallina at between $100 million and $300 million, including the FPSO.

The project has delivered more than 200 million barrels to its owners since first production in 1999. Natural field decline whittled down output to 1.6 million barrels last year, and Woodside has flagged an end-of-field life of late next year.

"As with all Woodside assets, we will seek to maximise the residual value of our investment in the Northern Endeavour and associated infrastructure," Woodside wrote in its annual report in February.

A Woodside spokeswoman last night said it did not comment on market speculation.

Source: https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/28565468/

Whistleblowers could have citizenship revoked under proposed laws

The Guardian (Australia) - June 25, 2015

Paul Farrell – Whistleblowers with dual citizenship who speak out on Australia's national security – including those involved in allegations that Timor-Leste's cabinet room was bugged – could face having their citizenship revoked under proposed laws.

A bill introduced to the federal parliament by the immigration minister, Peter Dutton, on Wednesday enhances the power of the immigration minister to revoke or initiate a renunciation of citizenship for conduct deemed to relate to certain terrorism offences. The new bill seeks to strip only dual nationals of their citizenship.

The proposed section 35A of the bill also outlines that citizenship will be lost automatically for Australians who are convicted of particular offences.

While some of those offences are related to terrorism, they also include commonwealth property offences. Legal experts have warned the government has overreached in applying the revocation powers to these kind of offences. The proposed law would also capture a range of offences for disclosing matters relating to national security under section 91.1 of the Criminal Code.

The section is titled "offence relating to espionage and similar activities", but includes several offences for intentionally disclosing matters pertaining to national security.

This offence has been expressly considered by the federal government in relation to the international case surrounding the alleged Timor-Leste bugging.

Ben Saul, a professor of international law at the University of Sydney, said the breadth of the citizenship laws highlighted serious questions about the proportionality of the legislation.

"The fact that the terrorism definition is so wide and sweeps up all these miscellaneous security offences is too drastic and goes too far," he said. "You can see situations where utterly trivial information is classified as a matter of national security, and you can see someone being caught up and then being de-nationalised."

Australia is alleged to have bugged Timor-Leste's cabinet room during negotiations for an oil and gas treaty in 2004. A whistleblower from the Australian Secret Intelligence Service – known as Witness K – is a key witness.

The federal government authorised raids on Timor-Leste's Canberra-based lawyer, Bernard Collaery, and Witness K in 2013 to seize documents in relation to the case, but recently agreed to return them.

During the proceedings at the International Court of Justice relating to the seizure of the documents, the Australian solicitor general, Justin Gleeson, expressly flagged the possibility that Witness K and others involved in the case could be prosecuted under section 91.1.

He told the court: "On the basis, however, of what I have just taken you to, there are reasonable grounds to consider that the materials over which Timor-Leste asserts privilege may include written statements, or affidavits, by a former AIS officer, made to Mr Collaery on behalf of Timor-Leste, disclosing national security information of Australia.

"If that be the case, these disclosures would involve the commission of serious criminal offences under the law of Australia, and I reference sections 39 and 41 of the Intelligence Services Act 2001 (Cth), section 70 of the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) and section 91.1 of Schedule 1 to the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth)."

Guardian Australia understands that Collaery, who is representing Timor- Leste, is himself a dual citizen. It is not known whether Witness K has dual citizenship, and no details can be disclosed about his identity due to secrecy laws.

The bill that is currently proposed will not apply retrospectively for previous convictions. But Abbott said on Tuesday the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security had been asked to expressly consider whether the new bill should operate retrospectively.

Because Witness K has yet to give evidence in the international dispute, it is possible he could be prosecuted after the bill becomes law. It was revealed in May that the Australian federal police (AFP) had prepared a brief of evidence in relation to the disclosures made by Witness K.

Guardian Australia asked the AFP whether the brief of evidence for Witness K prepared by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation related to any of the offences under section 91.1 of the Criminal Code.

A spokeswoman for the AFP did not confirm the particular section of the referral, but said in a statement: "On 13 December 2013, the Australian federal police received a referral from the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation relating to an allegation a former Australian intelligence officer disclosed information relating to operational activity in Timor-Leste.

"Following a thorough investigation, on 18 February 2015, a brief of evidence was provided to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions for consideration. As this matter is ongoing, it is not appropriate to comment further."

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/jun/25/whistleblowers-could-have-citizenship-revoked-under-proposed-laws

Timor spy scandal: Former ASIS officer facing prosecution

Sydney Morning Herald - June 22, 2015

Tom Allard – A former Australian Secret Intelligence Service officer and star witness for East Timor in a bitter dispute with the Abbott government over $40 billion in oil and gas revenue is facing criminal prosecution.

Fairfax Media has learned the Australian Federal Police sent a brief of evidence to prosecutors in February following an investigation that lasted 14 months.

A spokeswoman for the Commonwealth director of public prosecutions, meanwhile, described the case as "ongoing", indicating it is actively considering laying charges.

The AFP investigation came at the request of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, the domestic spy service that raided the home of the former spy and East Timor's Australian lawyer Bernard Collaery in December 2013.

Attorney-General George Brandis authorised the raid on "national security" grounds, saying it was a criminal offence to communicate "any information or matter" regarding ASIS, Australia's foreign spy service.

The former ASIS spy, known as Witness K, also had his passport seized in the raids.

Without a passport, the ex-spy can't travel to The Hague to appear for East Timor before an international arbitration tribunal which will rule on whether a treaty governing the share of oil and gas reserves in the Timor Sea should be annulled.

East Timor claims the treaty was not negotiated in good faith citing an ASIS operation to insert listening devices in the government offices of the fledgling nation in 2004. At the time, the two countries were negotiating the treaty.

Witness K led the operation where agents infiltrated East Timor under cover of an aid program to place the devices inside the wall cavities of its government palace in Dili.

He is among a group of former and current spies angered by the espionage and broader cultural and workplace issues at Australia's highly secretive foreign spy service.

"Any prosecution of Witness K will be a showdown between good and evil and justice will triumph so long as our courts are able to operate," Mr Collaery said.

"We are facing an unprecedented attack on the Rule of Law and all that we have fought for over the years is now at stake."

Mr Collaery acts for Witness K. It is understood the former independent national security legislation monitor, Bret Walker SC, has also taken up the ex-spy's case.

In a speech earlier this month, Mr Collaery said the ASIS operation itself was illegal, as it did not amount to the "proper performance" of an ASIS function.

Instead, Mr Collaery argues the operation largely benefited private commercial interests, most notably Woodside Petroleum, which leads the consortium hoping to develop the lucrative Greater Sunrise oil and gas fields, he said.

The minister for foreign affairs, Alexander Downer, who ordered the ASIS eavesdropping in 2004, later worked for Woodside as a consultant. The then head of the department of foreign affairs Ashton Calvert joined the energy giant's board after he retired. ASIS is part of the foreign affairs department.

The Herald is not suggesting they made their decisions to assist Woodside.

Meanwhile, the director general at ASIS in 2004 was David Irvine. Mr Irvine was head of ASIO when he directed it to raid the homes of Witness K and Mr Collaery in 2013.

Amid outrage from East Timor, the International Court of Justice ordered Australia to cease spying on East Timor and seal the documents and data it seized. Last month, Senator Brandis agreed to return the material to Mr Collaery and East Timor's government.

At the time of the eavesdropping, ASIS was grappling with a spate of terrorist attacks directed at Australians in Indonesia.

"ASIS employees are in our front line. They serve our national interest," said Mr Collaery, a former ACT attorney-general who has acted for Australian security personnel for 30 years.

"ASIS staff are not there to serve private or party political interests. Witness K is an Australian hero, a veteran who drew the line at corrupt misuse of ASIS."

Mr Collaery added that Witness K should have his passport reissued and be allowed to travel to The Hague.

Source: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/timor-spy-scandal-former-asis-officer-facing-prosecution-20150621-ghtp17.html

Timor drops Australia spying case at UN's international court of justice

Australian Associated Press - June 13, 2015

East Timor has officially dropped its case against Australia before the UN's international court of justice, after Canberra returned sensitive documents relating to a controversial oil and gas treaty.

"The case brought against Australia in respect of a dispute concerning the seizure of data and documents which belongs to Timor-Leste... was removed from the court's list on June 11," the ICJ said Friday in a statement.

But a parallel case behind closed doors before the permanent court of arbitration (PCA), which is in the same building as the Hague-based ICJ, is set to continue.

East Timor announced earlier this month it will drop charges in the bitter spy row that saw Canberra seize documents in 2013 in an Australian intelligence services raid on the office of a lawyer representing Dili in the case at the PCA.

It took Australia to the ICJ in January 2014 to get back the secret documents relating to a controversial multi-billion-dollar oil and gas treaty which Dili wants torn up.

In a letter to the ICJ requesting the case be scrapped, East Timor said Australia gave back the documents on May 12.

Therefore "Timor-Leste has successfully achieved the purpose of its application to the court," it said, referring to the tiny half-island nation by its preferred name.

At the heart of the David-versus-Goliath dispute is the treaty signed in 2006 between Dili and its southern neighbour, four years after East Timor's independence from Indonesia.

Australia allegedly used an aid program as cover to bug East Timor's cabinet offices so it could listen to discussions about the treaty.

East Timor has accused Australia of spying to gain a commercial advantage during 2004 negotiations over the Timor Sea gas treaty, which covers a vast gas field between the two nations worth billions of dollars.

Australia said last week it was disappointed by Dili's plan to continue with litigation and vowed to "strongly defend" its case.

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/jun/13/east-timor-drops-australia-spying-case-at-uns-international-court-of-justice

East Timor drops UN court case against Australia

Associated Press - June 13, 2015

The Hague, Netherlands – East Timor has dropped litigation against its powerful neighbor Australia related to a spying scandal, the United Nations' highest court announced Friday.

The move came after Australia returned documents its agents seized from a lawyer working for the tiny former Indonesian island.

The International Court of Justice said that Australia and East Timor wrote to judges last month confirming that "Australia had returned the documents and data" seized in a December 2013 raid.

The raid followed claims by a former Australian spy that his country bugged the East Timorese government ahead of negotiations on the Timor Sea Treaty that carves up revenue from oil and gas under the sea between the two countries.

East Timor wants to renegotiate the treaty which is worth billions of dollars, arguing that it is invalid because of the alleged bugging. In March last year, the world court banned Australia from using the documents.

In a letter to the court earlier this month, East Timor said the return of the documents and data amounted to "implicit recognition by Australia that its actions were in violation of Timor-Leste's sovereign rights."

Australia responded in a subsequent letter to the court that returning the material underscored the country's "commitment to the peaceful settlement of the dispute" and added that "no other implication should be drawn from Australia's actions."

Source: https://news.yahoo.com/east-timor-drops-un-court-case-against-australia-115404138.html

Timor-Leste presses ahead with challenge to Timor Sea oil and gas treaty

The Guardian (Australia) - June 5, 2015

Daniel Hurst – Timor-Leste is set to resume a formal challenge against an oil and gas treaty that became mired in controversy following claims Australia bugged the cabinet room in Dili to gain the upper hand in negotiations.

But the government of Timor-Leste has decided to withdraw an International Court of Justice case against Australia relating to evidence seized by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (Asio) in raids in December 2013.

Those raids, authorised by the Australian attorney general, George Brandis, targeted the offices of Timor-Leste's Canberra-based legal adviser, Bernard Collaery, "on the grounds that the documents contained intelligence related to security matters".

But after ICJ hearings in The Hague last year, and a preliminary ruling that Australia keep the documents protected under seal, both countries entered talks to resolve the dispute. Australia had previously defended its right to seize the documents but recently agreed to hand them back to Timor-Leste.

While the return of the documents has prompted the discontinuation of the ICJ case, it has not deterred the Timor-Leste government from pressing ahead with arbitration against Australia, challenging the validity of the '2006 Treaty on Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea'.

Timor-Leste has previously said it had irrefutable proof that Australia bugged the cabinet room to obtain an unfair advantage in the lead-up to the treaty being signed. John Howard's Coalition government was in power in Australia at the time.

Tony Abbott's Coalition government said on Friday that Australia remained committed to the treaty and would "strongly defend the arbitration".

Timor-Leste's minister of state, Agio Pereira, said the the country had agreed in September 2014 to adjourn both the ICJ case and arbitration for six months to allow for substantive dialogue, but this had not produced a road map for structured talks on maritime boundaries.

"Timor-Leste's preference is always to avoid legal confrontation and focus all of our energy and resources on national development. However, it is also the mandate of the government to defend the national interest," he said in a statement issued this week.

"Timor-Leste is focusing on moving forward in its relationship with its neighbour to substantive dialogue to finalise a permanent maritime boundary based on the principles of international law."

Brandis and Australia's foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop, issued a joint statement on Friday saying that the countries' differences were "best resolved through consultation".

They were "therefore disappointed that Timor-Leste has decided to resume the arbitration against Australia challenging the validity".

"The Australian government reached agreement... with Timor-Leste in 2006 and we remain committed to the treaty," Brandis and Bishop said.

"Both governments agreed to defer further maritime boundary negotiations during the life of the treaty. Australia remains committed to that agreement and is disappointed that Timor-Leste is attempting to re-open it."

Brandis and Bishop said the existing treaty framework had "provided an effective means to share resources claimed by both countries and to develop them jointly" and also provided "the certainty required by international companies in order to make substantial investments in the resource sector".

"Under the Timor Sea treaty framework, Timor-Leste receives 90% of revenue from the 'Joint Petroleum Development Area' and will receive 50% of the upstream revenue from the Greater Sunrise fields – despite nearly 80% of the Greater Sunrise fields lying in an area of exclusive Australian seabed jurisdiction."

In the same statement, Brandis and Bishop said they welcomed formal notification that Timor-Leste would discontinue the ICJ case relating to documents.

"Australia returned the documents in question in the dispute in good faith, without acknowledgment that Australia had violated Timor-Leste's sovereign rights," the ministers said.

The return of the documents followed a preliminary order by ICJ in March 2014 that Australia "shall keep under seal the seized documents and electronic data and any copies thereof until further decision of the court" and "not interfere in any way in communications between Timor-Leste and its legal advisers in connection with the pending arbitration".

Timor-Leste said the documents were returned on 12 May under the supervision of the country's ambassador to Australia, Abel Guterres. It pointed out Australia had defended its right to seize and hold the documents for 16 months.

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/05/timor-leste-to-resume-treaty-challenge-after-australia-returned-documents

Australia 'disappointed' as Timor resumes fight in UN court over oil

Agence France Presse - June 5, 2015

Jakarta – Australia expressed disappointment Friday that East Timor will resume a legal battle in the UN's highest court over a controversial oil and gas treaty between the two countries, and vowed to "strongly defend" its case.

East Timor announced this week it would press ahead with its case against Australia at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague, after a six-month hiatus for talks failed to settle a dispute over the boundaries for vast maritime energy fields shared in the Timor Sea.

The tiny, half-island nation, which has a sluggish economy heavily dependent on oil and gas, wants the treaty signed in 2006 which determined the maritime boundaries torn up, as it claims Australia spied on ministers to gain commercial advantage.

Australia allegedly used an aid project refurbishing East Timor's cabinet offices as a front to plant listening devices to eavesdrop on deliberations about the treaty in 2004.

Australia's Attorney-General George Brandis said Friday both countries had agreed not to renegotiate the maritime boundaries while the treaty was still in effect.

"Australia remains committed to that agreement and is disappointed that Timor-Leste is attempting to re-open it," he said Friday, referring to East Timor's preferred name. "The Australian Government believes differences between our nations are best resolved through consultation."

The treaty splits proceeds from lucrative Greater Sunrise fields 50-50 between the neighbours, despite Australia claiming the vast majority lie in its exclusive seabed. East Timor wants the treaty nullified and the boundaries redefined to place more of the oil and gas resources within its territory, a move Australia has vowed to strongly oppose at the ICJ.

East Timor agreed this week to drop a separate ICJ challenge against Australia, in which it was demanding the return of sensitive documents related to the long-running treaty dispute.

The documents were taken by Australia's intelligence services in a 2013 raid on the office of a lawyer representing East Timor in its spying case.

Australia returned the documents last month as an act of "good faith, without acknowledgement that Australia had violated Timor-Leste's sovereign rights," Brandis said.

The 2006 treaty was signed between Canberra and Dili, several years after East Timor won independence following years of brutal Indonesian occupation.

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/australia-disappointed-as-east-timor-resumes-fight-in-un-court-over-oil-treaty/articleshow/47551231.cms

East Timor 'reactivates' bid for new maritime boundary with Australia

Sydney Morning Herald - June 3, 2015

Tom Allard – An espionage operation by Australia's foreign spy service underpins a new bid by East Timor to establish a maritime boundary between the two countries and gain a bigger share of the lucrative Timor Sea oil and gas fields.

Australia's tiny neighbour said on Wednesday it would reactivate arbitration proceedings in The Hague to nullify the treaty governing the $40 billion in oil and gas deposits and force Australia to negotiate a new boundary.

The long-standing dispute between Australia and East Timor took a dramatic turn in 2013 when it emerged the Australian Secret Intelligence Service had installed listening devices in East Timor's government offices during treaty talks in 2004.

The revelations from a former senior ASIS officer who oversaw the operation prompted the government to authorise ASIO raids on the ex-spy, as well as East Timor's Canberra-based lawyer Bernard Collaery, seizing documents and data.

After legal action was taken in the International Court of Justice, Australia returned the documents from Mr Collaery's home and office 16 months after they were taken in the raids.

East Timor, also known as Timor-Leste, will now drop its action in the ICJ, to the dismay of some of its supporters.

However, it will restart the underlying arbitration case over the Treaty on Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea (CMATS), which came into effect in 2007.

In a statement on Wednesday, Prime Minister Rui Araujo said the country would "reactivate" the arbitration, which has been paused since September last year to allow the two parties to reach a settlement privately.

"Timor-Leste's expectation that the dialogue would produce a road map for structured talks on the delimitation of permanent maritime boundaries has not been met," the statement said.

The former ASIS operative, known as Witness K, was East Timor's key witness in the arbitration but his passport was suspended by the Australian government after the ASIO raids, preventing him from travelling to The Hague. His passport has not been reissued.

East Timor argues the eavesdropping on its government offices rendered the CMATS treaty void because it means it was not negotiated in "good faith" as required.

A boundary equidistant between East Timor and Australia would place more of the reserves within the territory of the half-island nation of 1 million people.

But there are differing views on what would happen with the massive Greater Sunrise reserves under such a boundary change. The $40 billion project has yet to be developed because of the boundary dispute.

The Australian government, and some observers, say the lateral boundaries that divide the Timor Sea are key to which country can claim ownership over Greater Sunrise, and note that those boundaries are shared with Indonesia.

A spokeswoman for Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop said it was hoped the two countries would resolve their differences amicably, noting that East Timor got 50 per cent of the Greater Sunrise revenues.

Tom Clarke, of the Timor Sea Justice Campaign, raised concerns about the dropping of the ICJ case as an apparent act of "good will". "It's important to keep in mind that Australia has never done anything to demonstrate its willingness to negotiate in good faith," Mr Clarke said.

"Time isn't on East Timor's side and the Australian government knows this. It has been willing to stonewall Timor's requests for negotiations again and again, and it is more than happy to make things drag on and on. To starve Timor out."

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/world/east-timor-reactivates-bid-for-new-maritime-boundary-with-australia-20150603-ghfrf0.html

East Timor revives attempt to have Greater Sunrise treaty declared

ABC Radio Australia - June 3, 2015

Sara Everingham – East Timor is reviving its attempt to nullify a multi- billion-dollar oil and gas treaty with Australia on the grounds Australia spied on Timorese officials during the treaty negotiations in 2004.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has described the move as disappointing and said the Government believed differences between the two nations were best resolved through negotiation and consultation.

East Timor has been seeking to have the treaty declared invalid in order to establish a permanent maritime boundary halfway between the two countries, which would put more of the Greater Sunrise oil and gas field within East Timor's border.

Last year East Timor agreed to put the arbitration on hold so the two nations could resolve the matter outside court.

In a statement released today, East Timor's prime minister Rui Araujo said his country agreed to the six-month hiatus on the proviso the break would be used to produce a road map for talks on a permanent maritime boundary. But he said that expectation "has not been met".

Ms Bishop had previously said an agreement to develop a plan for talks on a maritime boundary was never part of the deal to put the arbitration on hold.

But East Timor has agreed to drop a case it took to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) 18 months ago after the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) raided the Canberra office of its lawyer Bernard Collaery and seized material to be used in the arbitration case.

East Timor had been planning to use the material to support its allegation that Australia's overseas intelligence agency, the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS), spied on East Timor during the negotiations over the treaty governing the Greater Sunrise field.

The country has argued the alleged espionage gave Australia an unfair advantage in the talks and wants the agreement torn up.

ASIO also raided the home and seized the passport of a former ASIS officer, known as Witness K, who had been due to travel to The Hague as East Timor's star witness in the arbitration case.

Last month, Australia agreed to hand back the seized material and East Timor announced today it would drop that action in the ICJ.

But East Timor is "reactivating" the underlying arbitration case to have the Greater Sunrise treaty – the Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea – declared invalid.

Government spokesman Agio Pereira said East Timor's preference was "always to avoid legal confrontation and focus all our energy and resources on national development". However, he said "it is the mandate of the government to defend the national interest".

"Timor-Leste is focusing on moving forward in its relationship with its neighbour to substantive dialogue to finalise a permanent maritime boundary on the principles of international law," Mr Pereira said.

Source: http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/2015-06-03/east-timor-revives-attempt-to-have-greater-sunrise-treaty-declared-invalid-amid-spying-allegations/1454992

Agriculture & food security

Fortunes of farmers in East Timor grow as seeds start to drive the

ABC Rural - June 8, 2015

While oil has been the mainstay of East Timor's economy in the past, it is farming that is transforming rural areas and creating a new breed of entrepreneurs.

Businessmen and women are learning to grow and barter seeds from crops like corn, thanks to the help of an Australian Government aid program.

John Dalton is the Australian team leader for the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research's (ACIAR) Seeds of Life program, which has been running since 2000.

For three or four months of each year many families experience the "hungry season" where, as John Dalton said, people literally do not have enough to eat.

"When ACIAR first went into Timor one of things they noted was that the varieties of seed crops were very old varieties and so it went about importing better varieties of rice, maize, sweet potato, cassava and peanuts," he said.

Prior to the intervention up to 40 per cent of stored maize was lost each year to pests, like weevils and rats. But Mr Dalton said a simple change in varieties meant these losses were being eliminated.

"We have researched them right across the country in a range of situations," he said. "Of the 12 released varieties they're averaging a 70-80 per cent lift in yield."

Survey results conducted by ACIAR show farmers are now starting to take the fortune of agriculture into their own hands.

"Our final phase, which ends in another 12 months, is to establish a seed system so that those varieties are available to the 130,000 East Timorese farmers."

Developing agricultural entrepreneurs

This year the Seeds of Life program is working to establish a sustainable national seed system.

"Seed supplies are grown and organised at a community level, through community seed producer groups," Mr Dalton said.

"They produce enough seed for themselves and store it for the next cropping and enough to distribute, barter or sell to their neighbours. There are three of these groups per village and 1300 across the country.

"We are working closely with the municipal staff of the Ministry of Agriculture to help them set up municipal seed systems so that each municipality knows how much seed it needs."

This program has been so successful that the country's reliance on imports of maize, corn and rice seed have almost ceased due to the creation of what Mr Dalton calls East Timor's first real agricultural entrepreneurs.

"We have now developed a commercial seed industry and about 60 producers now satisfy that demand" he said.

"The millions of dollars that used to go out of the country to Indonesia or Vietnam now stay in the country and those commercial seed producers are probably the first genuine entrepreneurs in agriculture. "That is the way the country has to move."

Seeds of Life promotes social changes

What started out as a program to help farmers grow crops has resulted in large scale social change in many communities across the rugged terrain of East Timor.

Mr Dalton said East Timor needed to start making money from industries other than oil.

He said farmers were starting to take the economy in a different direction. "There is a tendency for agriculture just to be seen as a subsistence lifestyle," Mr Dalton said.

"There is a huge need for the country to move forward on integrated rural development, so that it starts to generate wealth from something other than its oil resources.

"The name of the game is empowerment; to empower people to understand how they can continue to manage change. You have to hasten to slowly and there is a lot of mentoring and hand holding while people are training while largely on the job."

Seeds of Life is a program run within the Ministry of Education in East Timor. The program is funded collaboratively by the Australian and the Timor Leste governments.

The official aim is to establish a national seed system, including identifying improved varieties of maize, rice, sweet potato, peanut and cassava.

The program is currently in transition to the Ministry of Agriculture in East Timor and will be closing in June of 2016. It is understood DAFF and ACIAR are working on a follow-up project which would be aimed at more integrated rural development, so that village level activities could be coordinated.

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-08/farmers-saving-the-economy-in-easttimor-through-seeds-of-life/6518046

East Timor's economy transformed by rise of farming entrepreneurs

ABC World Today - June 8, 2015

While oil has been the mainstay of East Timor's economy in the past, it's farming that's transforming rural areas and creating a new breed of entrepreneurs. Businessmen and women are learning to grow and barter seeds from crops like corn, thanks to the help of an Australian Government aid program.

Transcript

Eleanor Hall: Oil is a key source of income for East Timor.

But increasingly it is a change in farming practices that is creating a new breed of entrepreneurs. And an Australian aid program has had a key role in this, as Skye Manson reports

(Sound of a truck)

Skye Manson: In East Timor, 80 percent of the population is employed in agriculture but most of the country's money still comes from oil.

Illidio Medonca: My name is Illidio...

Skye Manson: This farmer Illidio Medonca has chickens and pigs and grows maize on a small plot of land near his house. But his main job is selling seeds, from his crop and others grown in the community, to the Timorese Government.

To do that Illidio Medonca has to travel on a bus, which takes three hours to drive just 34 kilometres to the nearest seed depot. The ride costs him $5 each way – almost all of his daily wage.

Illidio Medonca: In the future, it's more about two hours...

Skye Manson: Mr Medonca is the secretary of the national association of commercial seed producers in East Timor.

The association started with the help of the Australian Government's Seeds of Life program. Fifteen years ago it began giving farmers seeds for better crop varieties to help them overcome food shortages.

Australian Team Leader John Dalton says the scheme has gone so well, that farmers now have excess seeds to sell for profit.

John Dalton: The government had been importing about 200 tons of maize and corn and rice seed each year. We've now developed a commercial seed industry and about 60 commercial seed producers now satisfy that demand.

So the millions that used to go out of the country to Indonesia or Vietnam now stay in the country and those CSP, commercial seed producers, are probably the first genuine entrepreneurs in agriculture, and that's the way the country has to move.

Skye Manson: The Seeds of Life program is helping East Timorese earn enough money to educate their children. Some have even started savings and loan schemes.

John Dalton: And they're now making, you know, $10,000, $15,000 a year from commercial seed production. We're helping them, most of them have started savings and loans associations and they're now investing, we're seeing that money being turned over in other productive activities.

Eleanor Hall: That's John Dalton, the Australian team leader for the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research's Seeds of Life program. Skye Manson reporting.

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-08/east-timors-economy-transformed-by-rise-of-farming/6529800

Governance & administration

Timor Leste plans major reforms as country forges peaceful future

Channel News Asia - June 24, 2015

[In an exclusive interview with Channel NewsAsia's Sujadi Siswo, Timor Leste Prime Minister Dr Rui Maria de Araujo discussed plans for reform and the future needs of his people.]

Sujadi Siswo, Dili – Timor Leste, Asia's youngest democracy, is undertaking major reforms after it underwent a peaceful leadership transition in February.

The country gained independence from Indonesia in 2002 and held its last democratic elections in 2012. The nation is now led by a younger generation of leaders, different from the likes of independence fighters former prime minister Xanana Gusmao and former president Jose Ramos-Horta.

Current Prime Minister Dr Rui Maria de Araujo spoke exclusively with Channel NewsAsia's Sujadi Siswo in Dili.

Q: It has been just over three months since you took office. What has been the major focus for your government?

A: The focus of the next two years or so will be mainly on a reform on the public administration of this country, and then focusing on harmonising the legal framework that we have in place, ranging from administrative areas to investment revenues. And then the third area is reform, fiscal reform, to start a new phase of our development focusing more on less dependency on oil, diversifying our economy.

Q: What initiatives or plans have been put in place to diversify the country's economy?

A: In terms of diversification efforts in the economy, not much has happened, but we've established some of the background, groundwork. Two areas of the economy are being considered as important for the diversification, agriculture and tourism.

Q: Timor Leste's membership in ASEAN is being considered. What is Timor Leste doing in preparation for its entry into the regional bloc?

A: We are expecting one last technical assessment this year, I think in July, on the social and cultural areas. In fact the assessment done on the political and security area was done by experts from Singapore and Thailand. The report has been submitted to the Secretariat already.

Now on our side, we've been taking proactive action in opening embassies in all the country members of ASEAN. In the meantime we've been part of many technical meetings in the region. So things are moving in the right direction.

Q: You are seen as representing the younger generation of leaders in Timor Leste. How different are the challenges facing your generation compared to the earlier generation – the likes of Mr Xanana Gusmao and Mr Ramos-Horta?

A: The current generation, or the generation of my age, is a transition between the previous generation with historical links to the direct struggle that we had in the past, but also with their eyes to the future. So we have to really make sure that we can deliver results in the development, that's one way to deal with the expectations.

And to some extent, sometimes they are not very sophisticated things. People want roads for them to move around in the country, to bring their products to the market, people want water and sanitation. Clean water for them, particularly in the rural areas. People want their children to go to school, school with good quality. And people want to have two or three meals a day in their homes.

Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/timor-leste-plans-major/1936580.html

Communication & transport

Citilink to fly to Timor Leste from September

Suara Pembaruan - June 5, 2015

Yohanes H. Douglas, Jakarta – Citilink Indonesia, the budget airline of Indonesia's flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, has struck an agreement with Timor Leste's only airline, Air Timor, to add a flight from Bali to Dili.

Citilink's finance director Mega Satria and Air Timor's president director Belchior Francisco Bento Alves Pereira signed the memorandum of understanding in Jakarta on Friday.

Citilink will start flying to the Timor Leste's capital on Sep. 1, using one of its Boeing 737-500, as Dili's Presidente Nicolau Lobato International Airport is only able to handle narrow-body jets, Mega said.

"This cooperation reflects not only business interests, but also aims to develop tourism in both countries," Mega said.

Air Timor now operates one Cessna 208 B Caravan and charters an Airbus A319 from Thailand's Silk Air to serve Denpasar-Dili and Singapore-Dili routes.

Citilink, on the other hand, has a fleet of 40 airplanes, including 35 Airbus A320 and five Boeing B737.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/business/citilink-fly-timor-leste-september/

Border & security issues

People living miserably in Timor Leste, Australian border areas

Jakarta Post - June 3, 2015

Jakarta – People are living miserably in areas that border with Timor Leste and Australia, the head of the East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Boundary Agency, Paulus Nasehat, said on Wednesday.

Aside from being faced with poor household economies, access to education and health was also limited, Manehat said in Kupang as reported by Antara news agency.

"It seems as if people living in border areas are being sidelined from the development movement so that they mostly live far under the poverty line," he said.

Therefore, Manehat urged the central government to pay serious attention to such conditions, especially by boosting development of the economy and building infrastructure like bridges and roads to facilitate access.

Moreover, people living in border areas are badly in need of water supplies and descent housing, he said. There are 12 regencies with 88 districts that have land and sea border areas with Timor Leste and Australia. (hhr)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/06/03/people-living-miserably-timor-leste-australian-border-areas.html

12 regencies in NTT located in border areas with Timor Leste, Australia

Jakarta Post - June 3, 2015

Jakarta – Up to 12 regencies with 88 districts in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) are located in areas bordering Timor Leste and Australia, head of NTT Boundary Agency Paulus Nasehat said Wednesday.

Nasehat explained that five of the 12 regencies that had land borders with Timor Leste were Belu, Malaka, Timor Tengah Utara, Timor Tengah Selatan and Kupang.

The other seven regencies had sea boundaries with Timor Leste and Australia, namely Rote Ndao, Alor, Sabu Raijua, Sumba Timur, Sumba Barat, Sumba Tengah and Sumba Timur.

Nasehat said that the classification of boundary regions with neighboring countries was stipulated in Presidential Decree No. 179/2014 on spatial planning in border areas.

He further said there was one border still under dispute in Amfoang Timur district in Kupang regency. "Naktuka kampong is still being disputed by the two countries. The others have been fully settled," he said, referring to Indonesia and Timor Leste, adding that delegations from the two countries were expected to meet to settle the issue as soon as possible. (hhr)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/06/03/12-regencies-ntt-located-border-areas-with-timor-leste-australia.html

Foreign affairs & trade

East Timor SPC membership seen as boost for region

Radio New Zealand International - June 25, 2015

The Deputy Director-General of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community says the addition of East Timor or Timor-Leste to the organisation will strengthen the region.

East Timor is in the process of becoming the first new member of the SPC since 1983.

Cameron Diver says increased outreach and a greater exchange of expertise will come out of the move. Mr Diver says the new member already has ties with most of the SPC members, particularly in the Melanesian arc.

"The members saw both historical and cultural reasons but also for reasons linked to having a broader, more holistic approach to development challenges in the region. There are a lot of advantages of inviting Timor- Leste in so that our organisation can address the challenges of all the members, rather than just some of them and then trying to bring Timor-Leste in on an adhoc basis."

Source: http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/277179/east-timor-spc-membership-seen-as-boost-for-region

Timor-Leste appreciates Vietnam's support for ASEAN membership bid

Bernama - June 5, 2015

Dili (Timur Leste) – Vice Minister for Commerce, Industry and Environment, Constancio Pinto, said on Thursday that he appreciated the support from the Vietnamese Government for Timor-Leste's candidacy for membership in ASEAN.

Speaking to Vietnam News Agency (VNA) in East Timor, he voiced his hope that Timor-Leste would join the bloc in the next two years.

Its admittance to ASEAN was vastly welcomed by member states during the 26th ASEAN Summit in Malaysia in April, VNA reported the vice minister as saying.

He added that Timor-Leste's membership application has been evaluated by an ASEAN working group and did not have any negative feedback.

The country has established embassies in ASEAN member countries, which Pinto regarded as an advantage towards full membership recognition.

Timor-Leste lodged its application in March 2011 and has been working to improve its resource quality and implement regime reforms to satisfy all ASEAN requirements, especially in the context of the upcoming ASEAN Economic Community formation by end 2015.

The nation has huge potential in energy, tourism and rice and coffee productions. Energy is the most promising sector, where the nation has been inviting investment from foreign countries including ASEAN member states, Pinto noted.

He also expressed his delight at the Vietnamese military-run telecom group Viettel, the founder of Telemor in Timor-Leste. The brand has become the leading telecommunication service provider in the country since it was established three years ago, contributing to local infrastructure and economic development as well as generating jobs for many local people.

Source: http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v8/wn/newsworld.php?id=1141378

Economy & investment

Arduous economic recovery in post-conflict East Timor

Aljazeera - June 23, 2015

Tom Benner, Dili, East Timor – Following his first 100 days in office, the new prime minister of East Timor marvelled at how the peaceful transition of power from his predecessor stood in stark contrast to the young nation's turbulent past.

"Since independence, East Timor has come a long way," said Prime Minister Rui Maria de Araujo in a speech at the 2015 East Timor Development Partners Meeting.

"We have moved from a fragile country overcoming the ghosts of our traumatic past, to a nation that is consolidating the foundations of our state," the prime minister said.

The 51-year-old leader took over the government with support from former prime minister Xanana Gusmao. Gusmao had been a guerrilla fighter in the country's bloody 24-year resistance against Indonesian occupiers, and a key leader since its 2002 independence. He stepped down from the leadership position voluntarily at 68 years of age and remains involved as a finance adviser.

But the emergence of East Timor from its rocky past – during which time three out of 10 East Timorese lost their lives – has been followed by the challenges of self-rule.

A generation of resistance fighters that took control without experience in governing or state building is passing the torch to a younger generation of leaders who have been forged from a nation plagued by malnutrition, illiteracy, high unemployment, and poor infrastructure.

From war to peace

According to Transparency International data, corruption and a lack of government transparency persist in East Timor, which is also known as Timor-Leste.

Critics of the administration say the country's transition to an efficient, well-run government has a long way to go. They insist the lack of a competitive bidding structure for government contracts, poor and uncoordinated planning, and lazy government staff who merely sit on the payroll, stand in the way of progress.

In addition, while East Timor remains one of the poorest countries in the world by human development standards, critics say the country is using up its oil-and-gas wealth at a pace that stands to shortly deplete its only significant source of income. Even the new prime minister agrees with many of the bleak assessments.

"Despite our progress, we still face many challenges," Araujo conceded at the gathering of the country's development partners and civil society groups during the Development Partners Meeting earlier this month.

"Too many of our people are living in poor conditions with inadequate access to healthcare, education, clean water, basic infrastructure and government services," Araujo said.

"Our development and our economic growth has not been balanced. We can see rising inequality and a disparity between the living conditions of those in Dili and the municipalities. There is also a need to improve government service delivery and the quality of government public works. Regrettably, parts of our civil service have become unresponsive to the needs of our people and have lost sight of the common good."

Cost of freedom

Half of the country's 1.2 million people still live in poverty. Unemployment is considered high but difficult to estimate with so many people subsisting in the informal market, according to the World Bank. High levels of youth unemployment fuel gang violence – idle young men can be seen loitering everywhere. The literacy rate, estimated at 50 percent, is complicated by a multiplicity of languages and dialects.

Rural villages, many with little running water and electricity, are connected by badly eroded roads. Rural households commonly go through a "hungry season" from November to March without sufficient stocks of rice or maize.

While the country has long benefited from outside assistance – from United Nations peacekeepers who enforced the country's 2002 vote for independence from Indonesia, to a high presence of non-government organisations – the 13-year-old government is still finding its feet.

Shane Rosenthal of the Asian Development Bank told the meeting of development partners that government projects are often planned poorly and built out of scale.

He cited the example of brand new pipes laid down for water supply improvements in Dili having to be torn up and replaced months later for a road upgrade project.

"The government should continue working with development partners and the private sector who can bring what is most needed here, and that's not money, it's know-how," Rosenthal said.

The London-based Overseas Development Institute (ODI), an independent think-tank on global development, earlier this year warned in a report that socioeconomic problems such as malnutrition and youth unemployment, and an over-reliance on limited oil and gas revenues, threaten to reverse the country's modest gains since independence.

"Given East Timor's rising youth population, high levels of poverty, rapid urban drift, growing expectations, and finite oil and gas reserves, there is still some way to go if the Timorese are to embed the gains of their nascent security progress," the report stated.

The Dili-based think-tank La'o Hamutuk called East Timor one of the most petroleum-dependent countries in the world. Last year, 73 percent of state revenues resulted from sale of non-renewable oil and gas, and another 20 percent came from investment returns from the $17bn petroleum fund investments, the group reported.

Since oil and gas resources are finite, the group warned: "East Timor urgently needs to find other sources of jobs, economy and revenue by developing our productive, non-oil sectors such as agriculture, tourism and small industry."

East Timor, the group urged, needs "to rapidly and radically change our priorities to prepare for the day when our petroleum endowment has been used up".

Organic growth

Araujo, a medical doctor by training who stresses "evidence-based" policy- making, said weaning off petroleum revenues is a priority. He identifies tourism, agriculture, and fisheries as industries that have growth potential.

In fact, the country's organic coffee industry, while small, boasts coffee giant Starbucks as one of its buyers. And Heineken's agreement to build a new brewery near Dili is hailed as a good omen for manufacturing.

Higinio Da Costa, an East Timorese who went into business producing candlenut oil with the help of overseas investments and grants, has just one buyer, a cosmetics maker based in Hawaii. He now employs six other people but is worried about the long-term survival of the business. "I don't know the future market," Da Costa told Al Jazeera.

Manufacturers and farmers face the additional obstacle of the country's poor road system, which makes moving people and goods an arduous process.

While the pristine half-island nation, with its white-sand beaches, jagged mountains, and dense forests is a natural draw for adventure tourism, businesses operate in a troubled tropical paradise.

Kevin Austin, an Australian-born tourism entrepreneur, moved his marine sports business out of the coastal community of Baucau because of a rise in gang violence.

"It's still very challenging," said Austin, who has been operating in East Timor for several years. "There's still a lot of youth unemployment, and that's generating a lot of lost hope in communities, and people are turning to violent ways."

While East Timor and Australia, separated by the resource-rich Timor Sea, continually squabble over oil and gas resources, Australia's ambassador to East Timor, Peter Doyle, said it's important to take the long view as the country transitions from its war-torn past to an uncertain future. "East Timor's achievements are really just a little over 10 years old, whereas the World Bank estimates that it often takes post-conflict societies about 40 years to actually get things together and really contribute to the development of their people," Doyle said.

Source: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2015/06/arduous-economic-recovery-post-conflict-east-timor-150618113159072.html

People

Kirsty Sword Gusmao awarded Queen's birthday honour for Timor-Leste work

Australian Associated Press - June 8, 2015

For Kirsty Sword Gusmao, being appointed an officer of the Order of Australia is not just a recognition of her life's work, but of another country.

The Australian-born former first lady of Timor-Leste is being recognised for her service to relations between the two countries in the education sector, as well as being an advocate for improved health and living conditions for the Timorese people.

It was a long journey from Melbourne to becoming a resistance activist and eventually first lady following her marriage to the former president Xanana Gusmao, from whom she separated in March.

"I see it not just as an acknowledgement of my work and advocacy of Timor- Leste, but also as recognition of Timor-Leste itself," she said.

"Obviously for an ordinary middle class Australian it was a tremendous privilege and an honour to have that opportunity to witness and participate in the birth of a nation and to make some small contributions to the wellbeing of the nation."

In her 30 years working and advocating for Timor-Leste, she has seen the nation develop from "ground zero" to a fully fledged statehood. But the dramatic pace of change tended to drown out the needs of women and children.

In 2001 Sword Gusmao founded and became chair of the Alola Foundation, which is aimed at improving women's lives through advocacy, schooling, health support and economic opportunities.

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/08/kirsty-sword-gusmao-awarded-queens-birthday-honour-for-timor-leste-work

Invasion & occupation

Timor independence campaigner Inacia Tamele: the bloody price of freedom

ABC Radio Australia - June 22, 2015

Inacia Tamele huddled in the jungle to learn to read, became a campaigner for independence in East Timor, and returned to the jungle to hide when pro-Indonesian militias were hunting her. My name is Inacia Tamele. Now I am a mother but when I was younger I was a campaigner for independence in Timor Leste.

There was a lot of brutality and inhumanity. When we fight for freedom... I had to hide in the jungle because the militia were hunting me. I disguised myself to survive.

This is part seven of Mama Asia, a long-form journalism series in which Sally Sara meets 12 inspirational Asian women.

Inacia Tamele and her sister took a dictionary into the jungle – it was the most treasured possession they had. They would huddle quietly in their hiding place, amongst the undergrowth, reading and copying words.

"I just sat and read with my sister. We started to learn English and we practise. We made a rule, that every day we must memorise five words."

The dictionary helped to keep their minds busy, while they hid from the militia. The sisters were well educated and proud but in the jungle their hair was unwashed, their clothes torn, and their faces dirty.

"When I was hiding in the mountain, I was wearing traditional dress and my hair was not combed. I looked very dirty. I looked like an old woman. It was the first time in my life to live like this.

"It was difficult. We drink dirty water. We eat maize and cassava. No salt, no meat. I had malaria.

"We didn't have water. We were sitting a night and a day. I was afraid of snakes, because of the big trees. I used the machete. I had no sandals, so I just had bare feet. But, I never cried."

It was 1999, in Oecussi Enclave, Timor Leste. The pro-Indonesian militias were carrying out a campaign of terror, killing the locals and torching their villages; Inacia was one of their targets.

She was a young, outspoken campaigner for independence. The militiamen crossed the border back and forth from Indonesian-controlled West Timor; lists were circulating of villages to be burned and independence activists to be targeted.

"On September 5 the chief of the village, he already saw the list showing the village would burn. He said, 'every night, you must sleep outside. Your things you can take them outside, because they have a plan to burn and destroy our village.' They wanted to destroy everything. They wanted the cities and villages to become dust.

"The leaders of the militia were very, very dangerous. They wrote many, many things on paper, they said 'When we see Inacia, we will rape her, we will kill her.'"

Inacia had grown up under Indonesian rule. She was born in a village not far from Oecussi town. From an early age, she was different. She didn't want to play the games the other girls played.

She was bright, adventurous and brave – much happier to spend time with her father than sit inside with the women and girls.

"My category is 'naughty child' because I like to try everything, climbing, jumping. Some kids were afraid of me. I was fast and strong.

"My mother said, 'You are a girl. You need to sit and be quiet and just follow the women's business. So you cannot climb to the coconut or go to take the fire in the mountain, it's dangerous for you.'

"But, every day after school I just follow my Daddy. If he went to the garden, I would follow him. If he went to the buffalo, I follow him.

"He was a kind man. He was a businessman, selling his produce, like maize and coconut and buffalo. I learn business from my Daddy.

"He said if you just expect your salary, it's not enough, so you must find another small business to support your salary. You can be independent. He said you must be strong, so support yourself."

Inacia excelled at school and started running her own business when she was still small. She sold coconuts outside the schoolyard and followed her father's advice to have enough education and savings to be independent. But the land where she was born, wasn't free.

Oecussi was an outpost, surrounded by West Timor. It was one of the regions hardest hit by the violence and destruction of the pro-Indonesian militias in 1999. That's why Inacia and her sister were hiding in the hills. It was too dangerous to remain in the village; even in the jungle they were frightened the militia patrols would find them.

"We felt scared and very afraid because of the darkness in the jungle. We could not move.

"You must pray hard that people don't pass that hill. You must sit like a stone. You pray hard."

Tension had been building for months. In April, pro-Indonesian forces set up roadblocks so they could search and harass the locals. It could make even the simplest errand or journey a menacing experience. It was a way to maintain an underlying sense of fear.

"At that time, we must carry the Indonesian flag in our bag to go to work or even go to the market or visit family. You must put the Indonesian flag in your bag. If they check up and they see the Indonesian flag they think you are their friend. Even though I held the Indonesian flag, my heart still wanted independence."

In May 1999, Indonesia and Portugal signed an agreement to allow East Timorese to vote on their future. The referendum was held in September, the result left little doubt, 78 per cent of voters endorsed independence. It was a step forward for democracy, but it unleashed a wave of violence from pro-Indonesian militas. Up to 1000 people were killed, by machete, firearms and hand.

Inacia had learned as a teenager just how bloody the fight for independence could be. On November 12, 1991, she was in Dili to celebrate her 19th birthday but what happened that day changed the course of the independence struggle and gave a horrific insight into the brutality of the Indonesian regime.

Thousands of demonstrators had gathered to march through the city, protesting against the brutality of the Indonesian regime and unfurling the flags of the independence movement. Indonesian forces responded by opening fire; more than 250 demonstrators were killed, many were cornered in the Santa Cruz cemetery when the shooting started.

Footage of the massacre was later smuggled out and broadcast around the world.

"On that day was my birthday. I could hear the shots. Many youths were running past our house and I said, what happened? They said the Indonesian army is shooting people in the cemetery.

"I was very shocked and surprised. It was the first time I saw the people running and the Indonesian army came and took the people and threw them in trucks, the bodies.

"I think it had a big influence on my thinking because many, many people died. The Santa Cruz massacre made the people brave."

She went on to university in Dili and in 1996, returned to Oecussi, determined to work for her people and campaign for independence. She set up a youth group, to encourage young people to become more involved in politics and education. But, it was a risky move as the grip of the pro- Indonesian militias tightened.

"Most of the people were illiterate and didn't have enough knowledge to think about the future. The objective was to encourage the people to understand the importance of education.

"At that time my family was already in two groups. One group supported independence and another group supported Indonesians.

"They said, 'You must be careful.'

"In our culture the women are in the back. But, I said, 'Men and women are the same.' I encourage the women to participate in the vote.

"I said, 'If we get independence we can go free. We can get jobs for the youth and a free life.'"

But it was a dangerous time to be young, female and outspoken, and even some of Inacia's own relatives wanted her silenced. Some feared she would bring reprisals to the family, others believed it was improper for a young woman to voice her views so publicly.

"My uncle was in the police. He was very angry, he abused me. He said I now have a degree and a big mouth too. They said maybe if Inacia was not involved in independence, maybe our village would not have been destroyed.

"People were living under tarpaulin. Most of the villages were destroyed, only two or three houses standing. Many of the children got malaria, diarrhoea. I felt pain in my heart.

"When the situation was normal and we came back to the village, they apologised to me.

"I thought I must forgive them. Some of them had no education and you know that was the plan of the Indonesians. They wanted to keep us down. My people, their thinking was limited."

Members of the Australian Defence Force were deployed to Oecussi in late October 1999, much to the relief of the frightened and desperate locals. They brought medical help, supplies and long-awaited security.

"The army arrived from Australia. When I heard it, I was jumping and I was happy. I saw the aeroplane go around, [an] Australian aeroplane.

"People said, 'Our dream has arrived.' They said, 'They are white skinned but they are very, very lovely people. They are friendly.'

"The Australian Army, the soldiers were smiling. They give clean water to the people."

After the Australian troops arrived, many members of the pro-Indonesia militias fled to West Timor to avoid arrest but the situation was still tense and independence was still a long way off.

Elections for a national constituent assembly were held in 2001. The following year, independence campaigner Xanana Gusmao was elected as president, and on the 20th of May 2002, Timor Leste became independent.

The remaining Australian peacekeepers left in 2005.

Now, more than a decade after she was hiding from the militia in the jungle, Inacia is a mother and human rights worker. She hopes her children never have to experience political fear and oppression.

"My dream is for them to become more educated than me and my husband. Also I would like them to become good leaders. They need to know that if they make trouble in the country, it's not good. If they make trouble, bad things will come.

"I would like them to know my story. Our dream has become reality."

Despite her optimism, Inacia is not blind to the challenges facing the fledgling nation.

"If the problems are not fixed, I don't think our country will develop. But I hope in my heart, I am always asking the Lord, we need to create peace, because the youth are this nation's future. If there is no education, we will go nowhere.

"I know the road to independence is not easy. Sometimes I'm very, very worried. If your nation wants independence, you have to work hard; we lost everything, that is the price we had to pay. You need to be brave and it should be based on principles.

"I am very proud of our independence. I'm really happy that now we are getting our nation. During the trouble, people were crying, but I did not cry.

"I believe one day we will be a proud nation."

Source: http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/2015-06-22/east-timor-independence-campaigner-inacia-tamele-the-bloody-price-of-freedom/1461084