Australian Foreign Policymaking Towards the East Timor Question from April 1974 to January 1978: a Re-Examination
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Australian foreign policymaking towards the East Timor question from April 1974 to January 1978: a re-examination Tomohiko Kimura A thesis in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Humanities and Social Sciences University of New South Wales, Canberra 2012 ORIGINALITY STATEMENT ‘I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis. 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Table of contents Table of contents…………………………………………………………………………………i Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………………..vi Abbreviations………………………………………………………………………………….viii Chapter 1: Introduction…………….…..………………………………………………….1 1.1 Outline of research………………………………………………………………...1 1.2 Literature survey…………………………………………………………………..7 1.2.1 Literature of 1970s…………..………………………………………7 1.2.2 Literature from the 1980s to 1990s………………………………12 1.2.3 Literature after 2000………………………….……………………18 1.2.4 Findings from literature survey……………………..……………...26 1.3 Structure of thesis………………………………………...………………...……28 Chapter 2: Historical and international contexts of Australia’s engagement policy with Indonesia and other South East Asian countries during 1970s………….………………….31 2.1 Australian foreign policy towards South East Asia and Indonesia under Liberal and Country governments from 1949 to 1972…………………………………………….31 2.1.1 Australian foreign policy towards South East Asia during Menzies period………………………….……………………………………………31 2.1.2 Transformation of Australian foreign policy from late 1960s……..…36 2.2 Australian foreign policy towards South East Asia and Indonesia during the periods of the Whitlam and Fraser governments……………………………………..43 2.2.1 Whitlam government’s foreign policy towards South East Asia and i Indonesia……………………………………………………………………43 2.2.1 Fraser government’s policy towards South East Asia and Indonesia……………………………………………………………………50 Conclusion………………………………………………………………….55 Chapter 3: Beginning of crisis in Portuguese Timor and Department of Foreign Affairs’ support for internationally acceptable act of self-determination from 1974 to March 1975……………………………………………………………………………………………..57 3.1 Start of Portuguese decolonisation of East Timor and Indonesia’s annexation policy, and Australian Department of Foreign Affairs’ brief for Prime Minister Whitlam…...57 3.1.1 Start of decolonisation of Portuguese Timor and Indonesia’s annexation policy………………………………………………………………………..58 3.1.2 DFA’s policy and Whitlam-Suharto talks in September 1974………..66 3.2 Development of crisis in Portuguese Timor and Department of Foreign Affairs’ policy from September 1974 to March 1975…………………………………………73 3.2.1 Development of Portuguese decolonisation policy, Timorese independence movement and Indonesian annexation policy……………….73 3.2.2 Department’s policy towards Portuguese Timor from October 1974 to March 1975…………………………………………………………………83 3.3 Increasing Australian public interest in Portuguese Timor……………………….95 3.3.1 Australian media’s growing concerns over Portuguese Timor……….96 3.3.2 Australian public concerns and Denis Freney’s involvement in Portuguese Timor………………………………………………………….101 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………...111 Chapter 4: Road to civil war in East Timor and Australian policymaking under influence ii of Prime Minister Whitlam from September 1974 to September 1975…………………...113 4.1 Two informal summit talks between Prime Minister Whitlam and President Suharto and advice from Ambassadors to Indonesia………………………………...114 4.1.1 Ambassador Furlonger and Whitlam-Suharto talks in September 1974………………………………………………………………………..114 4.1.2 Ambassador Woolcott and Whitlam-Suharto talks in April 1975…...118 4.2 Escalation of Indonesian interference and eruption of civil war in Portuguese Timor...........................................................................................................................123 4.2.1 Indonesian interference with Timorese politics…………………..…123 4.2.2 Civil war in Portuguese Timor and Portuguese and Indonesian diplomacy………………………………………………………………….130 4.3 Whitlam’s policy and dissenting opinion………………………………………..139 4.3.1 Australian policy guided by Gough Whitlam and Richard Woolcott…………………………………………………………………...139 4.3.2 Australian media and interested group’s concerns over Portuguese Timor………………………………………………………………………149 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………...160 Chapter 5: Beginning of Indonesian military intervention in East Timor and transformation of Australian policy from late September to mid-December 1975………162 5.1 Indonesian military intervention in East Timor and end of diplomatic solution….163 5.1.1 Beginning of intervention of Indonesian regular forces……………...163 5.1.2 End of international diplomacy……………………………………...168 5.1.3 Fretilin’s declaration of independence and Indonesian full-scale intervention………………………………………………………………..171 iii 5.2 Transformation of Australian policymaking towards East Timor………………..181 5.2.1 Last days of the Australian Labor government……………………...181 5.2.2 Fraser caretaker government’s policy towards East Timor………….187 5.3. Development of the Australian public’s concerns over East Timor……………193 5.3.1 Development of Australian opinions concerning East Timor……….193 5.3.2 Activities of interested people and organisation…………………….198 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………...206 Chapter 6: Indonesia’s forcible integration of East Timor and its non-recognition by the Australian government from mid-December 1975 to July 1976…………………………..207 6.1 Process of Indonesian annexation of East Timor as its 27th province…………...208 6.1.1 Intervention of UN Security Council in question of East Timor……208 6.1.2 Process of Indonesian integration of East Timor……………………218 6.2 Fraser government’s policymaking towards East Timor question………………232 6.2.1 Policy conflicts between DFA and Australian Embassy…………….232 6.2.2 Fraser government’s protest against Indonesian military invasion….237 6.2.3 Australia’s non-recognition policy of Indonesian annexation of East Timor………………………………………………………………………243 6.3 Australian society and Indonesian war in East Timor…………………………...247 6.3.1. Domestic Australian opinion on East Timor as expressed in newspaper…………………………………………………………………247 6.3.2. Private Australian activities in support of Fretilin and Timorese…..253 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………...259 Chapter 7: Road to Australian de facto recognition of Indonesian annexation of East Timor from August 1976 to January 1978………………………………………………….261 iv 7.1 Indonesian military operation in East Timor and its diplomacy………………...261 7.2 Australia’s gradual policy shift…………………………………………………..265 7.3 Persisting concerns of Australian media and interested people…………………271 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………..278 Chapter 8: Conclusions……………………………………………………………………... 280 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………………..285 v Acknowledgements I am very appreciative of the great deal of support I received from many people during my research as a PhD candidate in Politics in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Canberra. Firstly, I am greatly indebted to my principal supervisor, Emeritus Professor James Cotton, who generously and constantly guided me from beginning to end and provided me with invaluable and thoughtful suggestions and comments. I express my sincere gratitude to Associate Professor Clinton Fernandes for sharing his knowledge and ideas which certainly contributed to my research. I am very much obliged