The Australian diplomatic presence in East Timor dates back to 13 April 1941, when Group Captain David Ross, was officially appointed as a Technical Representative of the Australian Department of Civil Aviation in Dili, the capital of Portuguese Timor, officially tasked with managing the Qantas Empire Airways Flying boat route to Dili, which had been established in January 1941. Ross had also been secretly tasked by the Australian Government from 5 November 1941 to act as Australia's representative in the colony to report on any matters relating to the political situation there. At the instigation of Herbert Evatt, Minister for External Affairs, Ross was also serving as the British Consul in Dili and was later arrested when Japanese forces invaded the colony in February 1942.[2] The establishment of a consulate with Ross as its head had been mooted prior to the Japanese invasion.[3]
With the end of the war and the return of Portuguese authority to Timor, the Australian Government established a consulate in Dili, commencing operations on 1 January 1946 with the appointment of Charles Eaton as consul.[4] Australia had been approached by the Portuguese Government of António de Oliveira Salazar to accept the establishment of an embassy in Canberra, but this was not approved, with Australia citing that it was unable to reciprocate owing to a lack of resources, instead suggesting an Australian consulate in Dili, which was agreed to.[5] Prior to the establishment of an Australian Embassy in Portugal in 1970, the consulate dealt with various matters relating to Australia's relations with Portugal. Following the establishment of the embassy in Lisbon, the consulate became much less important and on 3 May 1971, the Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs, Reginald Swartz, announced the consulate's closure, which took effect on 31 August 1971.[2]
In August 1975, the Foreign Affairs Caucus Committee of the Australian Labor Party visited Timor and produced a report noting that Governor Mário Lemos Pires had made several requests for the consulate to be reopened: "We asked for a consul in November [1974] and have asked about ten times since. Mr Taylor of the Australian Embassy [in Jakarta] was asked last week. [Australian Ambassador] Mr Woolcott was asked this week. We have asked Lisbon and I believe Dr Matias, Portuguese Ambassador in Canberra, has, or will be, asking again in Australia." Governor Pires also noted to the committee that these requests were made in order to make Australia more able to engage with the increasingly unstable situation in the colony prior to the Indonesian invasion of East Timor: "At present Australia cannot compensate for Indonesian propaganda or understand the day-to-day happenings in the colony."[6]
Indonesian Timor and independence
Graffiti on the outside wall of the Australian Embassy in Dili
In early April 1999 Prime Minister John Howard and Indonesian President B. J. Habibie met in Bali to discuss matters relating to the unrest in the Province of Timor, which had Indonesian-occupied since Timor's brief independence from Portugal in 1975. Howard initially requested Habibie to agree to a peacekeeping force in the province, which was refused, but Habibie agreed to allowing the establishment of an Australian Consulate in Dili.[7] On 4 June 1999 Foreign Minister Alexander Downer announced the appointment of James Batley as consul in Dili, noting that the consulate "will allow us to service the consular needs of the increasing number of Australians in East Timor, and will facilitate Australia's considerable support to the United Nations Assistance Mission in East Timor."[8] However, with the establishment of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) on 25 October 1999, Batley's role was changed to be Australia's Head of Mission to the UNTAET and following independence was appointed as Australia's first ambassador on 20 May 2002, the first foreign diplomatic appointment to the new Republic of Timor-Leste.[9]
East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. The country comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor and the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco. The first inhabitants are thought to be descendant of Australoid and Melanesian peoples. The Portuguese began to trade with Timor by the early 16th century and colonised it throughout the mid-century. Skirmishing with the Dutch in the region eventually resulted in an 1859 treaty for which Portugal ceded the western half of the island. Imperial Japan occupied East Timor during World War II, but Portugal resumed colonial authority after the Japanese surrender.
Bilateral relations exist between Australia and East Timor. The two countries are near neighbours with close political and trade ties. East Timor, the youngest and one of the poorest countries in Asia, lies about 610 kilometres northwest of the Australian city of Darwin. Australia has played a prominent role in the young republic's history.
East Timor and Indonesia established diplomatic relations in 2002. Both share the island of Timor. Indonesia invaded the former Portuguese colony in 1975 and annexed East Timor in 1976, maintaining East Timor as its 27th province until a United Nations-sponsored referendum in 1999, in which the people of East Timor chose independence. Following a United Nations interim administration, East Timor gained independence in 2002. Indonesia already had a consulate in Dili during the Portuguese colonial period, though Indonesia formalized their relations by establishing an embassy in Dili. Since October 2002, East Timor has an embassy in Jakarta and consulates in Denpasar and Kupang. Relations between the two countries are generally considered highly positive, despite various problems. Numerous agreements regulate cooperation in different areas. East Timorese are visa-free in Indonesia.
The Australian Consulate General Hong Kong represents the Commonwealth of Australia in Hong Kong, and is also accredited to Macau. As Hong Kong was linked to the Commonwealth during British administration, Australia's diplomatic presence was exercised by an Australian Commission, until 1 January 1986, when it was renamed the Australian Consulate-General. From 1946 to 1972, Australia was represented by the Australian Trade Commission.
The Australian Consulate-General in Shanghai represents the Commonwealth of Australia in Shanghai, the most populous city and a global financial centre in the People's Republic of China. The Consulate-General, one of many in Shanghai, has its offices in the CITIC Square building, 1168 Nanjing Road West.
1 2 Metcalf, Karl (2001), "Chapter 2: External Affairs records", Near Neighbours: Records on Australia's Relations with Indonesia, Canberra: National Archives of Australia, archived from the original on 30 August 2014
↑ "CONSUL IN TIMOR". Tweed Daily. Vol.XXXIII, no.23. New South Wales, Australia. 26 January 1946. p.3. Retrieved 25 June 2016– via National Library of Australia.
↑ Mário Lemos Pires quoted in Scott, David, 'Last Flight Out of Dili: Memoirs of an Accidental Activist in the Triumph of East Timor', Melbourne: Pluto Press, 2005, p.305.
↑ Cotton, James (2004). East Timor, Australia and Regional Order: Intervention and Its Aftermath in Southeast Asia. Routledge. p.119.
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