UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL
15 August 2006
The Situation in Timor-Leste
Statement by H.E. Mr Robert Hill
Ambassador and Permanent Representative
of Australia to the United Nations
(Check against delivery)
Mr President
We welcome the opportunity to again address the Security Council and to contribute to the Council’s deliberations on Timor-Leste.
Today’s debate takes place against the backdrop of a very full Security Council agenda. But Timor-Leste needs and deserves the sustained attention and support of UN member states.
The international community was quick to respond to the deterioration in the security situation in Timor-Leste, with the dispatch of an International Stabilisation Force which has successfully restored security and stability to the streets of Dili. The Secretary-General’s Special Envoy, Ian Martin, has also completed his mission to Timor-Leste, and we congratulate him on the thorough and professional manner in which he investigated the situation in Timor-Leste.
Mr President
We have all had the opportunity to consider the Secretary-General’s comprehensive report and must now focus on moving forward in partnership with Timor-Leste to secure that country’s future stability, security and prosperity.
Australia has been at the forefront of efforts by the international community to assist Timor-Leste. Along with Malaysia, New Zealand and Portugal we dispatched troops and police to Timor-Leste in response to the crisis. We contributed A$8 million to address humanitarian aspects of the crisis. Australia has provided over A$450 million in development assistance to Timor-Leste since 1999. We will provide an estimated A$43 million during 2006-07. This will include a strong focus on strengthening governance institutions, including in law and justice, public administration and public sector financial management, and improving delivery of services to rural populations. And we stand ready to contribute to a new UN mission in Timor-Leste.
Mr President
As a close friend and neighbour, Australia has a vital interest in ensuring that Timor-Leste develops as a stable democracy and is willing to take a leading role in the international community’s efforts to ensure a prosperous future for the Timorese people.
The United Nations must also continue to play a robust role in supporting Timor-Leste. The UN should focus its resources on those areas of key concern where the UN can make a difference.
We welcome the emphasis on support for political and community reconciliation contained in the Secretary-General’s report. To ensure long-term stability, it is vital that the United Nations assist Timor-Leste in resolving political difficulties. We welcome the proposal to provide electoral assistance for Timor-Leste ahead of elections in 2007. These elections represent an important step in Timor-Leste’s political maturation and it is in all of our interests to ensure their success. It is important, however, that efforts to support elections give priority to ensuring that Timor-Leste establishes electoral institutions which are, and are accepted by all stakeholders as being, politically neutral, independent and professional in all respects.
We are pleased with the priority given to policing in the report. Public security is a prerequisite of both building a democracy and an economy. We accept for the time being the need to have a force with an operational capability. We are pleased with the emphasis on the community policing model, which will not only best address local needs but also help build public confidence.
We are pleased with the acceptance of the need to help build a sustainable Timor-Leste police force, which will have the confidence and culture to be able to deal with any future crisis of law and order in a fair and just way. We will offer a significant contribution to the new force.
The security task for the future is primarily a law and order one but addressed by civilian police. However, we accept that for some time there will be a need for a military back up to the police and for the additional security of the UN personnel and property that a military force can give. We also accept the desirability of support from a military force whilst a significant number of high-powered weapons remain unaccounted for.
We currently have a military force of some 2000 in Timor-Leste. Whilst we are gradually drawing down that force as conditions improve we have indicated that we would be prepared at our cost to continue to provide the force that is required to meet the above needs. In consultation with the Timor-Leste Government, we would seek regional participation in such a force, which would provide both rapid deployment capability and security for the UN.
The advantages of our offer are:
1. A flexible force with its own air mobility which could, at short notice, be bolstered to meet unexpected circumstances.
2. A force familiar with the environment and the tasks with proven command and control.
3. A significantly reduced mission operation cost to the UN and a mission that is focused on the tasks that can be best done by the UN and where a real need exists.
With both the policing and military tasks it is important that the Security Council provides authority under Chapter VII to enable the effective functioning of the forces with the support they are entitled to expect.
Mr President
The international community is again ready to come to the assistance of Timor-Leste, and Australia will play its part. A new UN mission represents an important opportunity to repair and rebuild those institutions which have been damaged or destroyed during the recent crisis and to further strengthen those institutions which have shown resilience.
Above all, the UN and the many friends of Timor-Leste in the international community must lay the groundwork for Timor-Leste themselves to take responsibility for their own affairs. Only then can we collectively claim success in Timor-Leste.
Thank you.