A STUDY GUIDE by RobeRt Lewis And KAty MARRineR http://www.metromagazine.com.au http://www.theeducationshop.com.au CURRICULUM APPLICABILITY Balibo could be a useful resource for senior students in Politics and Interna- tional Studies, raising as it does foreign Overview policy issues – was Australia justified in allowing Indonesia to invade, or should Australia have supported East Timorese independence, and alienated our major alibo (Robert Connolly, 2009) is Cunningham and Tony Stewart, and neighbour while possibly also having an unstable and radical state on our a powerful fictionalised version Channel Nine’s Brian Peters and Mal- doorstep. Bof the true story of the murder colm Rennie. All five had last been seen of five Australian-based journalists in filming news reports in the small town It also raises historical issues about our Balibo, East Timor, in 1975 during the of Balibo. relationship with and obligations to the invasion by Indonesia, and the death East Timorese, many of whom were cre- ados (helpers and guides) of Australian of a sixth journalist, Roger East, who East does not accept the official story troops fighting the Japanese during the discovered the truth about the killings. that the men were killed in crossfire. As war, and who suffered and even died to Balibo is 111 minutes and is rated M. his determination to uncover the truth protect Australians. intensifies, he and Horta undertake It raises issues that can be explored The story is introduced through the the perilous journey through the rough as part of Civics and Citizenship – the experience of the character Juliana Da country from Dili to Balibo, terrain now obligation of the state to be honest with Costa. She is at the modern-day Timor- occupied by day by Indonesian forces. its members, and the role of the media Leste capital, Dili, to give evidence to in reporting the truth. the Commission For Truth and Recon- Inter-cut with their journey is the story Balibo could be used in middle and ciliation. Her testimony takes us back to of how the journalists, four weeks ear- senior English classes to teach film as 1975, when she was nine years old and lier, made their way to Balibo deter- text and to study the context ‘Encounter- a witness to the Indonesian invasion of mined to film the imminent Indonesian ing Conflict’. what was then East Timor. The revela- invasion. Most forceful of the group is Finally, the film may be appropriate to tions of her testimony frame Balibo Greg Shackleton who is keen to fulfil study in Media Studies, with the film as Juliana describes the day of the his duties as a journalist in a wartime seeking to be taken as virtually a docu- invasion, the massacre that unfolded situation and, from a compassionate mentary account of the events, though on the Dili Wharf, and the story of perspective, to tell the East Timorese presented in a fictional way. This raises ethical decisions that must be made journalist Roger East, whose death she point of view. when making a film that involves and witnesses. affects real people still. On the morning of 16 October all five In October 1975, the former Portu- men are brutally executed in cold guese colony of East Timor is in a blood by the invading Indonesian safely in the air after approving the position of political instability after troops, after clearly identifying them- invasion in secret meetings in Jakarta, its abandonment by the Portuguese selves as Australian journalists. Their and with an assurance of Australian Government. The pro-independence bodies are then burnt. non-intervention by Australian Prime Fretilin and pro-Indonesian integration Minister Gough Whitlam, Indonesian UDT are struggling for power. Indone- Without any official Australian Govern- paratroopers and commandos attack sia decides to impose its control on ment protest, the Indonesian army Dili and immediately capture East who the newly-declared nation. continues to secure the border area is reporting the invasion. and advance on Dili. The five journalists were killed while Defiant to the end, East is killed on the reporting the Indonesian invasion to After uncovering the awful truth, East Dili wharf by an Indonesian execu- seize control. They were reported to be returns to Dili with a renewed determi- tion squad, together with hundreds killed when caught in the cross-fire of nation to tell the story of the country of East Timorese. The young Juliana the battle to take the town of Balibo, he has come to care about. On his witnesses the tragic massacre of her near the Indonesian-East Timor border. return, he is told that Horta has been people, and the murder of Roger East, Four weeks later, veteran foreign cor- chosen by his colleagues in the East her friend. respondent Roger East is approached Timorese Government to leave East by 25-year-old José Ramos-Horta who Timor and represent the country in exile After these tragic events, José Ramos- SCREEN EDUCATION attempts to lure him to East Timor to at the United Nations. Horta is unable Horta went on to represent his country run the East Timor News Agency. Roger to convince Roger East to join him in exile for twenty-four years, receiving East agrees to join Horta in East Timor, on a flight to safety in advance of the the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996, and re- but only if he is first given complete impending invasion, leaving East as the turning to an independent East Timor access to the nation to find out the fate only remaining foreign correspondent in 1999. He is currently the elected of the ‘Balibo Five’ journalists – Chan- in East Timor. With US President Ford President of the Democratic Republic nel Seven’s Greg Shackleton, Gary and Foreign Secretary Henry Kissinger of Timor-Leste. 2 BEFORE WATCHING THE FILM Understanding the background to the events Here is a map of Timor-Leste and a brief chronology of the history of East Timor, and Australia’s connections with it. These will help you understand the historical background to the events in the film. ous to do so. Up to 60,000 East Timor- of pacification followed over the next ese were killed by the Japanese. two decades, during which an esti- Locate Dili, Balibo and Maliana on the mated 100,000 to 250,000 individuals map. These locations are central to 1949 lost their lives. the story. After the war, the Dutch were forced out of West Timor, which in 1949 be- 1980s ~ came part of Indonesia. Indonesia built roads, hospitals and schools, and imposed Bahasa Indone- 13 000 years ago 1974 sia as the national language (replacing The first settlements in Timor Portugal decided to abandon East Portuguese), but many East Timorese Timor. This led to a civil war between still resisted and wanted independ- 1500s–1600s rival local parties – the left-wing Freti- ence. Europeans came and established lin, and the pro-Indonesian Timorese Many East Timorese joined Fretilin (the colonies. The Portuguese and the Democratic Union (UDT) – over who army of Felintil), and waged guerrilla Dutch were the main colonial powers. was to control the newly declared war fought from the jungles against They established trade (mostly sandal- independent nation. The UDT asked the occupying Indonesian troops. wood and coffee), took slaves, fought Indonesia for help. over territory, and introduced Euro- 1991 pean building, customs and religions. 1975 A massacre of East Timorese by Portugal claimed East Timor in 1520, In September, Indonesian troops be- Indonesian soldiers during a pro- and the Dutch claimed West Timor in gan infiltrating across the border. Five independence march in Dili in 1991 the 1640s. journalists (two Australians, two British helped focus world attention on the and one New Zealander) reported on area. Shortly after the massacre 1859 the infiltration and were murdered by Australia signed the Timor Gap Treaty The island was divided into two, with the Indonesians at Balibo. The Austral- with Indonesia, guaranteeing that the a 1916 adjustment so that Portuguese ian government did not intervene. countries would develop and share the had the east half plus an enclave, Oe- Indonesia feared having a communist- rich oil and gas resources in the Timor cassi, while the Dutch had the rest. dominated nation threatening its own Sea between Timor and Australia. Portugal generally neglected the security and stability, and invaded in colony of East Timor in the nineteenth December 1975 to impose order and 1993 and twentieth centuries. control. The Australian government The United Nations Human Rights accepted the invasion. Commission made the first of two World War Two reports criticising Indonesian abuses Timor was invaded by the Japanese. 1976 of human rights in East Timor. SCREEN EDUCATION Australian troops tried to defend the is- Indonesian President Soeharto land and fought the Japanese for about proclaimed East Timor as the twenty- 1996 twelve months, but were captured or seventh Province of Indonesia. The The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to forced to withdraw. The Australians Australian government was one of the Jose Ramos-Horta and Bishop Carlos were supported by many East Timorese very few to accept the legitimacy of Belli for their efforts to gain freedom people, though it became very danger- this claim. An unsuccessful campaign and independence for East Timor. 3 1998–1999 2002 parliamentary elections in April and President Soeharto (President since East Timor becomes the new nation of June 2007 in a largely peaceful atmos- 1966) was replaced by President Timor-Leste. phere. In February 2008, a rebel group Habibie. In 1999, the Indonesian gov- staged an unsuccessful attack against ernment announced that there would 2006-2008 the president and prime minister.