Mr McIntosh, now in his 90s,
travelled to Timor in 1983 as part of the first Australian Parliamentary
delegation to visit what was then Indonesian occupied Timor-Leste. After the
trip Senator McIntosh wrote a dissenting report on the delegation's findings,
effectively neutralising attempts to show that the situation in ‘East Timor’ was
no longer a significant political issue. His petitioning of the United Nations
Decolonization Committee in 1982 was crucial in keeping Timor on the list of the
Committee and his various activities over many years made a major contribution
to the cause of self-determination.
Mr McIntosh’'s trip to Díli this week follows the discovery of a letter last year that has remained missing for 27 years. The ten-page letter was typed in 1988 by Commander in Chief Xanana Gusmão and sent to Mr McIntosh via resistance cadres based in Australia.
The
letter is a detailed history and update of the struggle for self-determination
and criticises the Australian Government of the day as being motivated by a
desire to “safeguard the economic interests of Australia at the expense of
principles that befit a democratic country” and observes that “everything
suggests that Australian policy towards Timor-Leste was determined by the
Indonesian offer of joint exploration of the Timor Gap.”
It is noteworthy
that Minister Gusmão released the letter publicly in Díli last Monday, the
same day that he officiated in the launch of Timor-Leste'’s Maritime Boundary
Office website. During the launch, Prime Minister Dr Rui Maria de Araújo
expressed his “regret” in the current lack of progress with the Government of
Australia in regards to the delimitation of Timor-Leste and Australia'’s maritime
boundaries under international law. The Prime Minister reconfirmed that it is
Timor-Leste'’s national priority “to delimit our maritime boundaries as part of
our struggle to reach full sovereignty.”
During this visit it is planned that Mr McIntosh will meet the man who as a young boy, at risk to his own life, collided with the Senator's delegation in 1983 on Atauro Island, in order to secretly pass a note listing the names of political prisoners being detained and tortured.
Spokesperson for the Sixth Constitutional Government, Minister
of State Agio Pereira noted “it is a great honor for the Government of
Timor-Leste to host the visit of former Senator Gordon McIntosh. He is amongst
friends today as he participates in the Veterans Conference and will be greeted
by many of the veterans as “Ulun Tos” a name affectionately bestowed upon him in
the 1980s by Falintil guerillas who admired his “stubbornness” and “hard
headedness” in not accepting the views of his colleagues visiting in 1983. The
former senator was awarded the Order of Timor-Leste in 2014 for his efforts
towards Timor-Leste’'s self determination and it is an honor to have him attend the
events of Veterans Day today.
While passing through Darwin, McIntosh , who had been a Labor Senator in Western Austalia , was contacted by longtime Timor-Leste activist and supporter Rob Wesley-Smith.
While passing through Darwin, McIntosh , who had been a Labor Senator in Western Austalia , was contacted by longtime Timor-Leste activist and supporter Rob Wesley-Smith.
