Canberra - Australia will push for an act of self-determination in East Timor but will also continue to recognise Indonesian sovereignty over the troubled province, the government said today. Indonesian reaction was said to be mixed.
"It is a change in policy," the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Tim Fischer told reporters. "It is trying to work through a very difficult problem in a constructive way. It does not involve any change to our policy on the question of sovereignty."
Neither Mr Fischer nor the Australian Foreign Minister, Mr Alexander Downer, would spell out the precise details of what Australia was proposing. "In the end, some sort of act which is going to bring a sense of ownership of the process to the people of East Timor, I think is going to be an important conclusion to the process - be that in 10 years time or whatever the period might be," Mr Downer told Australian radio.
David Shanks adds: Mr Tom Hyland, the Irish East Timor activist who strenuously and privately argued Timor's case with Mr Downer during a visit to Dublin last year, said the change was a "small step in the right direction" showing belated Australian concern. Canberra was, he said, coming round to accepting a plan for 10 years of autonomy followed by a referendum on independence, as proposed by the jailed Timorese rebel leader, Mr Xanana Gusmao.