José Ramous Horta the East Timor President, concession
speech today is generous and bodes well for democracy in his country.
José’s commitment to his people through the long decades of
Indonesian oppression and occupation of his land won a Nobel prise for him and
fellow leader Xanana Gusmao.
José immensely appreciated the commitment from New
Zealanders towards East Timor. His recognition of the three New Zealanders who
have died over three decades; cameraman Gary Cunningham of the Bilbo
five, Karmal Bamadhaj in 1991 whose story is told in the documentary Punitive
Damage and Private Tim Manning who died in active service in East Timor in
2000, was expressed on the occasions he was our guest and was extremely moving.
We talked about them and it was evident they were acknowledged in his prayers.
We discussed José’s wish for an Operation Hope to be sent to East Timor in
1985, and further discussed the 1974 photos Canadian documentary maker Elaine
Briere took months before independence of a arid poor land indicate the
enormity of the task that East Timor faced as an emerging independent nation.
His appreciation towards the support given from a small
number of New Zealanders through our military commitment are not only
appreciated but he believes are necessary for the foreseeable future. Indonesia
has not forgotten about East Timor and their continued occupation on East
Papua, this makes East Timorians nervous and they wish for the Anzac forces to
remain.
As president, José has survived an assassination attempt and
used his diplomatic skills in managing relations with Australia and Indonesia
to build a sustainable future for his people.
The independence struggle that José led internationally over
the twenty five years was fought in any forum he could get to and in the lonely
corridors of United Nations where he would badger any diplomat. His story has
been told in the documentary’ The Diplomat’, where New Zealand has its
own chapter. It was in Auckland 1999 at APEC that José was able to
get Bill Clinton to lean enough on Indonesian president Abbas to concede
independence for East Timor. José has never forgotten the support and
generosity of New Zealanders over this time, and with the transition to a new
leadership I hope as people we reinforce our commitment to the democracy of
East Timor .
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