“Well, if you’re going to look at the oil and gas dispute, it’s like Bill Gates arguing with his retired taxi driver about how much the taxi driver should get. Or it’s a bit like Frank Lowy, the owner of Westfield, arguing with his cleaner about how much she should get. Australia, one of the richest countries in the world, is arguing with the poorest and weakest country in the whole region. How does it look for Australia?”  - Dr Jose Ramos-Horta

5th May, 2004

Now his country’s foreign minister, Dr Jose Ramos-Horta spent more than 20 years travelling the world and urging nations to remember the plight of the Indonesian-occupied East Timor. Now, following formal independence in May 2002, the Nobel Peace Prize recipient is busy grappling with the challenges of rebuilding one of the poorest nations on earth. In Sydney recently to address a dinner hosted by Christian charity fundraising organisation, forceten, Dr Ramos-Horta spoke with DAVID ADAMS...

What, briefly, are the greatest humanitarian challenges you’re facing in East Timor at the moment? “The greatest humanitarian challenge in East Timor are obviously malnutrition, malaria, dengue and tuberculosis. These are some of the most basic needs of the country. The most long-term is endemic poverty which obviously will take years and years to address. The Government is very committed to that and is supported by the international community.”

You said recently that you were ashamed as a human being given that billions were being spent to fight wars yet Governments are still only allocated modest sums to fight poverty. What do you think the average Australian could do to help change that? “As far as East Timor is concerned there is no country in this entire world that is better placed than Australia...to be a shining example of humanity and compassion. You could not have a more disparate and contrasting example of one of the richest countries in the world which is Australia and the other is one of the poorest in the world which is East Timor, right next door. East Timor is very small - less than a million people - and Australia could almost overnight change the whole situation in East Timor if it were to pour in more resources - not only financial but personnel as well. Australia is an important donor but is not more important than Portugal, for instance. Portugal is one of the poorest countries in Europe yet while Australia provided something like 50 to 100 scholarships at the moment for Timorese to study in Australia, Portugal is providing something like 600 scholarship for Timorese to study. Per capita wise, of course, Australian aid to the Timorese is larger but when you compare the two economies of Australia and Portugal, then proportionately, the Portuguese is really much more generous.”

Does that extend to issues such as the oil and gas revenues? “Well, if you’re going to look at the oil and gas dispute, it’s like Bill Gates arguing with his retired taxi driver about how much the taxi driver should get. Or it’s a bit like Frank Lowy, the owner of Westfield, arguing with his cleaner about how much she should get. Australia, one of the richest countries in the world, is arguing with the poorest and weakest country in the whole region. How does it look for Australia?”

It’s now coming up two years since independence from Indonesia. How is East Timor, as a nation, coming to terms with its past - particularly with its neighbour Indonesia? “We have developed friendly, positive relationships with Indonesia in spite of the past. I’m very confident that this relationship will continue to be enhanced thanks to the wise leadership of the two countries. The Indonesian side has shown maturity and statesmanship in meeting us halfway in rebuilding a shattered relationship; a very traumatic relationship of the past.”

On a more personal level, I understand that you lost four of your siblings during the troubles and there’s obviously countless other similar stories in East Timor. How on an individual level can you move past that sort of background? “Individually, emotionally, each of us every time we remember we see the pictures of our dead brothers or sisters or parents who died at the hands of the Indonesians one way or another, directly or indirectly. We are still very resentful but at the same time you have to think of the blessings of today, of the positive things of today - that the country’s free - and we as leaders, we have to do everything possible to put the past where it belongs. We cannot continue to dwell on the past. (But) individually, it’s very difficult because if you think too much of the past, you will remain resentful and angry; hatred consumes your everyday life. But then, as the leaders of a country, we should have a larger picture to deal with and that is the overall relationship with Indonesia.”

What do you see as future for East Timor? “I’m optimistic about the future in spite of the...challenges of today; the difficulties of the next few years. But the country has potential to proper and to be a viable and democratic country.”