AETFA SA MEDIA STATEMENT 27 APRIL 2018:

ASIS ATTEMPTS TO COVER UP DETAILS RE THE MURDER OF THE BALIBO 5 IN 1975

The Australia East Timor Friendship Association of SA today released the following statement after the announcement by Paul Symon, the Director-General of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) that he intended to appear in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal to put forward his organisation’s case to stop the release of documents related to the 16 October 1975 murder by personnel of the Indonesian military (TNI) of 5 Australian based journalists in Balibo, East Timor: These men are now known as the Balibo 5.

“The statement by Paul Symon, the ASIS Director-General on 27 April 2018 that he would appear in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal to prevent the release of the agency’s documents related to the murder of the Balibo 5, is an indication that he will go to any lengths to attempt to cover up what ASIS knew about the murders of these men and the subsequent liquidation of about a third of the East Timor population by the Indonesian military (TNI) during its 24 year illegal and brutal occupation of that country.

Australians who believe in justice and human rights welcome the tenacity of Professor Clinton Fernandes of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Canberra Campus of the University of NSW who has been calling for the release of these documents for many years.

Mr Symon claims that this is a matter of national security. AETFA SA believes that this is totally untrue.

What he and the Acting Attorney General, Greg Hunt, are attempting to do is to prevent Australians from knowing to what lengths ASIS has gone to in the past to support cover-ups of crimes against humanity committed by the TNI in East Timor and West Papua and similar crimes committed by the Chilean military and the CIA in Chile in 1973.

Of course, the claim about dangers to Australian security were made by the former attorney-general, George Brandis, when he authorised the ASIS illegal surveillance of the Timor-Leste negotiating team during the early days of negotiations over the maritime boundary in the Timor Sea. What it was about was Australia trying to get a very unfair commercial advantage over our loyal WW2 ally and the poorest nation in SE Asia and had nothing whatsoever to do with national security.

In addition, the decision by Greg Hunt and Paul Symon means that they are prepared to oppose justice for the Balibo 5 and their families.

We are frequently told by the members of the current government that they believe in the rule of law, democracy and uphold human rights. Massive crimes have been committed by the TNI in Indonesia, East Timor and West Papua. These crimes are viewed by many human rights observers as being as serious as those committed by the Nazis during WW2.

Australians who pride themselves as supporting human rights, democratic rights and freedom want to know why our governments have refused to act against violations of these principles and, indeed, been willing to protect the perpetrators.

Fair minded Australians would support Greig Cunningham, the brother of Gary Cunningham, one of the Balibo 5, when he said that after 43 years the families are entitled to know the truth. The Balibo 5 and their families also deserve justice, as do the East Timorese and the West Papuans, who have suffered genocide at the hands of the TNI. The silence from Australian governments and our security organisations indicate that they have little commitment to the principles of justice, democracy or the rule of law.

When the history of the murder of the Balibo 5 is finally written, Professor Clinton Fernandes, and representatives of the Balibo 5 families, like Shirley Shackleton and Greig Cunningham, will be seen as heroes, and our political leaders and security personnel who aided and abetted the TNI will be seen as being extremely tawdry.

Australians need to ensure that our future political leaders will work for peace, justice and human rights in world affairs and to do this we will need to be an independent, free and non-aligned nation”.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-27/asis-chief-to-front-tribunal-to-keep-east-timor-documents-secret/9700184

Quiz Night
Para Hills Modbury Catholic Parish, East Timor committee
Saturday 26th May 2018
7.30 pm start
Holy Trinity Catholic Church Hall, Kesters Road Para Hills
* Admission $10 pp * Table bookings: 8-10 people *

BYO Drinks and Supper
Tea and coffee available – gold coin donation appreciated

* Lots of Prizes   * Auction   * Raffle

Bookings: Place your name on the Booking Sheets at St John XXIII, Holy Trinity or phone the Parish office on 8264 7590

All proceeds to our sister diocese of Maliana, East Timor

for clean water and electricity projects & repairs to computers

Hi. 2018 Community Lottery tickets are now available online. All monies for tickets go to the Australia East Timor Friendship Assoc SA for Timor Leste projects, incl. advocacy and the Working Womens Centre in Dili. Those buying tickets online before the end of April get 2 chances to win a prize.

Thankyou for your continued support and goodluck! Just click on the link below:-

www.peopleschoicecu.com.au/australia-east-timor-friendship-association-of-sa/

Bob Hanney
Secretary

AETFA SA MEDIA STATEMENT 8 MARCH 2018:
The Australia East Timor Friendship Association of SA today released the statement below following the announcement that agreement had been reached between the governments of Australia and Timor-Leste that the maritime boundary between the two nations will be the midline between their coastlines:

“The agreement signed by Agio Pereira for Timor-Leste and Julie Bishop for Australia is a truly historic occasion because, finally, the Australian Government has been forced to accept the principle of international law (the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS) in relation to the maritime border between the two nations in the Timor Sea.

However, it is not a proud moment for Australia, whose leaders from the beginning of negotiations on 2002, sought to cheat Timor-Leste, the poorest nation in the region that was still recovering from 24 years of brutal occupation by the Indonesian military (TNI) out of its fair share of the oil and gas resources in its half of the Timor Sea.

Later, the Timor-Leste Government took Australia to an International Court over allegations of ASIS (Australian Security Intelligence Service) spying on its negotiating team in 2005 and accused it of bullying tactics during the early stages of its Independence forcing the new East Timorese nation to accept an unfair deal.

Then in 2016, Dili took the maritime border dispute to the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) at The Hague. The International Court ordered compulsory arbitration between the two parties which has finally led to the current agreement. The response of the then Attorney General, George Brandis was to order an ASIO (Australian Security Intelligenc Organisation) raid on the office of Bernard Collaery, the Australian lawyer who was representing the government of Timor-Leste and to withdraw the passport of Witness K, a former Australian military intelligence officer, who became a whistle blower because of Australia’s unfair treatment of Timor-Leste. Many international legal observers consider that these tactics were intended to pervert the course of justice.

These outrages followed the 24 years of aiding and abetting the TNI during its long and illegal occupation of East Timor. All of this has to be considered as a disgraceful and contemptible way to treat our valiant World War 2 ally whose people suffered greatly at the hands of the Japanese military for supporting Australia.

If Australia is acting in good faith, it should return the royalties for the resources that were removed from Timor-Leste’s half of the Timor Sea to help it provide urgently needed humanitarian, rebuilding and development programs to build a healthy and viable nation in the future. Its people still suffer high levels of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, malnutrition, youth unemployment, illiteracy,and infant mortality.

While AETFA SA is pleased that the East Timorese have gained some justice with the signing of the treaty, it notes that there is still disagreement over how to share revenue from the lucrative Greater Sunrise oil and gas field in the Timor Sea which analysts have valued at between $40 and $50 billion. Timor-Leste wants a 70:30% split in its favour with processing being done in Timor-Leste. Australia wants to share profits with an 80-20 percent split in Timor-Leste’s favour, but with oil and gas processed in Darwin.

AETFA SA would ask why Timor-Leste should only receive 70% or 80% of the revenues given that 100% belongs to them ? It would be much fairer for the Australian Government to offer 90% of the revenues to Timor-Leste and offer a high percentage of staff positions in the refinery industry go to East Timor engineers, geologists, technicians.

Don Rothwell, an expert in international maritime law at the Australian National University has said that the opportunity for a gas processing industry was “worth more to Timor than to Australia”- especially the dire struggle for independence against incredible odds. Surely Australian leaders could show some compassion and fairness to our struggling neighbour that faces so many challenges as it seeks to be an economically viable nation instead of continuing the mean minded treatment of a people who have been out loyal friends”.

Andrew (Andy) Alcock

Information Officer

AETFA SA Inc

Phone: 61 8 83710480

0457 827 014

Email: andyalcock@internode.on.net

AETFA SA – 43 YEARS OF SOLIDARITY WITH TIMOR-LESTE FOR INDEPENDENCE & JUSTICE

( AETFA SA was originally the Campaign for an Independent East Timor SA until Timor-Leste’s independence in 2002)