Australia’s Policy Successes in Timor-Leste

Abstract

An independent Timor-Leste posed a dilemma for Australian foreign policy. On the one hand, Australia led the multinational military coalition that restored peace in 1999, and had an obvious interest in ensuring that its newest neighbour was self-reliant and stable. On the other hand, independence negated three decades of Australian diplomatic effort to control the oil and gas resources of the Timor Sea. Accordingly, Australia accepted Timor-Leste’s formal independence but tried to influence key aspects of its internal and external policies using foreign aid, espionage and other instruments of statecraft.