In the 1980s I was an activist for independence for East Timor. I lobbied, I wrote letters and attended protest meetings. Members of the Indonesian Army who controlled the island killed five Australian journalists in cold blood, as they were reporting on the battle for an independent East Timor. The five journalists became known as the Balibo Five. The Indonesian army was ruthless and lawless.
I kind of of have a personal connection to Shirley, the widow of one of the murdered journalists Greg Shackleton, who was helped in her older years by Ray in his volunteer role. She was a great activist to bring the murdering members of the army to justice, and as a advocate for an independent East Timor.
I don't know why the island was divided. Under Portuguese rule then later Dutch rule, the island was Catholic in East Timor and Protestant in the West Timor. Indonesian independence in 1949 saw the central Indonesian government take control of the whole island, but those in the east weren't having a bit of this and fought for its independence. Many died in the battle and at one point Australian troops and others were there as a peace keeping force.
In 1991 we were living in our house in Glen Iris and with Ray at the wheel after a night out clubbing with friends, we had nearly reached home and I turned on the car radio for perhaps the 1am news, and I learnt that Indonesian troops had massacred at least 250 mostly young people at the East Timor Santa Cruz cemetery.
The massacre was witnessed by two American journalists and filmed by another from Yorkshire, England. The film was cunningly smuggled out from Indonesia to Australia and free for the world to see, and it was shocking.
It took until 2002 for East Timor to become an independent county, and later claim a share of the oil revenue from the Timor Sea.
Shirley Shackleton, widow of Greg, died in 2023 at the age of 91, and with a tribute from the President of East Timor.
So now East Timor, Timor Leste is an independent country, and Shirley was awarded The Medal of the Order of Timor-Leste. While she has won plaudits for her writing etc in Australia, oddly she hasn't received a government honour, such as a Medal of the Order of Australia, OAM. The Australian government covered up details of the deaths of the Bilabo Five, and still does so.
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Err, this was supposed to be about West Timor, but I became side tracked with memories.
West Timor is marked as Indonesia, which of course it is. There is an odd little bit of isolated East Timor displayed on the map, and I have no idea what that is so. I will investigate when I do write about West Timor.
Here is the location in relation to northern Australia, quite close.
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I don't about there. But the orange Buffoon, would like to shut down lot of the press.
ReplyDeleteHe's tried hard, Dora.
DeleteI don't mind when you get sidetracked sharing memories. :) God rest her soul, and Ray's. We never have enough such gentle souls. Take care, my dear.
ReplyDeleteDarla, most of her life fighting for justice.
DeleteWhitlam and his government were in office and they refused to do anything to bring the Indonesians to account. There was a cover up .
ReplyDeleteEven today there has been argument between Australia and Timor Leste about the ownership of oil and gas in the sea. Timor Leste is poverty stricken except for those in the ruling class. It should be a prosperous nation based on its resources but of course they have neither the capital or the infrastructure . All the Balibo5 were trying to do was to bring the truth .about the Indonesian Governments violence to the outside world .
For that they were slaughtered and Whitlam government did nothing
The same situation occurred in West Irian with regard to Indonesian takeover , and there are still regular skirmishes between Indonesian troops and the local people.
When you do your research check out Indonesian trans migration policy
As an ex PNGer from wayback when Indonesia was claiming West Irian I can tell you, from experience, it was ugly
Yes, a cover up, for geographic political reasons I suppose. I can't make a call on that, more than it was disappointing.
DeleteI thought the oil and gas had been sorted out, after Australia tried to cheat East Timor.
I am not surprised about the poverty. Isn't it always the way.
West Irian had slipped my mind. That still goes on. I remember reading about the trans migration, some time ago, and I can't remember the detail now. Ah, ex PNGer. I've worked out who you are.
Thanks for sharing this Andrew. I only have vague memories of what went on on the island but your blogpost makes it all seem so much more real. It pleases me to learn that you and Ray were sometimes activists, standing up for just causes.
ReplyDeleteYP, it was quite local for us and received a lot of publicity here.
DeleteGood on Ray and his activism. I know little about the Timor situation only what I've gleaned from news reports at the time. As always it's rich and poor when there are valuable resources to be gained.
ReplyDeleteXO
WWW
WWW, it was me who was the activist. Yes, and the sad part is that the divide is increasing and not decreasing as many of us hoped.
DeleteCatholic in the East, Protestant in the West, sounds a lot like the Irish divisions and all the fighting that happened there. Did East Timor want independence only to keep the religion pure? I only vaguely remember things happening in the 80s, never paying much attention in between factory work and housework and making sure the kids went to school with clean and ironed clothes.
ReplyDeleteIt does sound like that River, but I don't remember any religious friction. Yep, you were involved in important business back then. Do you still iron?
DeleteVery rarely, and then usually only handkerchiefs so they sit neatly in the drawer.
DeleteJust as I was wondering where east Timor is,you provided a map, thank you. I knew a bit of the history, though not the massacre, but was hazy on the location. That lady did some great work.
ReplyDeleteBoud, I added another map after the first to give a better perspective of the location of Timor. Shirley fought for justice for her husband, and also independence for East Timor.
DeleteThe Government often hides 'things' from us Andrew, such a pity. I can only remember it vaguely unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteMargaret, I do recognise that some interactions with overseas governments need to be hidden, but in this case, with grieving families, maybe more information should have been divulged.
DeleteImagine knowing the closest relative of one of the Bilabo Five. That turned a general tragedy into a very personal one.
ReplyDeleteBecause the country is so close Hels, and the people's help during WWII, I always thought we owed them.
DeleteYour connection to history.
ReplyDeleteTenuous, but yes TP.
DeleteI didn't realize East Timor has an enclave in the west. That's bizarre. A majority-Protestant area, maybe?
ReplyDeleteI wasn't aware of the Bilabo Five. The conflicts in Timor have always been vague in my mind.
Oh, majority Catholic, I mean.
DeletePerhaps related to the colonisers the Dutch being protestant and the Portuguese being catholic.
DeleteI knew none of this, Andrew. Thanks for the info.
ReplyDeleteNo problem Pat. You are a long way away.
DeleteOh my gosh, Andrew, I had no idea. How very sad. I appreciate hearing about events in your corner of the world.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sandra. It is quite a few decades ago, but here is my living memory of the events, and the living memory won't last forever.
DeleteIt always amazes me how little I know about the larger world. Thanks for sharing this.
ReplyDeletePixie, it is hardly a place that pops up in everyday conversation. I expect few people could point to it on a map.
DeleteThank you for your activism. There are many causes I care about but have rarely been able to get involved. I was not even at school when the Balibo 5 died but I remember they were discussed in the media when i was a younger adult. Maybe when the movie came out
ReplyDeleteKylie, there was a film? I probably knew at the time but I've forgotten.
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