Well, this is embarrassing.
Former East Timorese president Xanana Gusmao has revealed that when he raised the issue of Australia’s spying on East Timor during oil and gas negotiations with Tony Abbott last year, the former PM shrugged off the scandal and made an awkward gaffe.
On ABC Lateline, Gusmao recounted:
“I was with [former East Timor prime minister] Mr Mari Alkatiri in Boao in a conference in China and we met the former prime minister Tony Abbott.
“Mr Mari said to him ‘look I’m very, very sad knowing that you spy on us, on our meetings and conversations’.
“And you know what Mr Tony Abbott said? ‘Don’t worry my friend, [the] Chinese are listening to us.'”
On instruction from the Howard government and under the guise of an aid project to help renovate East Timor’s Palace of Government, Australian spooks snuck into the government building in Dili in 2004 and installed listening devices. The information gathered allowed Australia to gain the upper hand in negotiations over an oil and gas treaty between the two countries.
While Australia’s spying on the former Indonesian president and his wife became a huge media-fed scandal when it was revealed two years ago, our bugging of an East Timorese cabinet meeting to gain commercial advantage over our poverty stricken northern neighbour — and subsequent efforts by the federal government to prevent the truth of the operation coming out — has been met with a relatively muted response here in Australia.
To date, no one — in politics or the bureaucracy — has been held accountable for this illegal act. It is a scandal of the highest order, and the disdain shown by successive Australian leaders on the issue is an international embarrassment.
Our bugging of the East Timorese cabinet room was disguised as a helpful renovation for security purposes..It was used by Woodside Petroleum to eavesdrop for commercial gain..Surprise surprise the former foreign minister Alexander Downer worked as a lobbyist for Woodside after leaving parliament in 2008…
This was such a disgraceful episode, and Alexander Downer’s role in it was appalling, just a bully-boy tactic.
The thing is, it was politically smart for Australia to have a strong East Timor, but we went for the commercial imperative rather than the political.
Just dumb on so many levels, as well as being unethical and as you suggest, probably illegal, if there are any laws in international relations.
Let’s just chill for moment and look at the evidence – Tony Jones seemed sceptical about the allegations, on Lateline last night? … Then again why would they want to get off-side with this government again?
[Apparently industrial/commercial espionage is not a crime? Especially when your government does it, funded by us tax-payers – “in our name”?
How much were ‘we’ able to save/subsidise/off-set costs for Woodside, doing this for them?
“If some foreign country did the same thing to us we wouldn’t give a rat’s!”?
Downer : AWB, NPA?]
But that does raise another question :- “Why do ‘we’ get upset when a trade partner, as important and as venerable as China, does it?”
Then there’s Irvine’s paw-prints over all this too – “In charge of the ASIS buggery; then at ASIO in charge of “gathering” evidence from involved parties after”?
Tricky Dicky claimed, “when the Prez does it, it is not illegal.” and this Divine Right of Governance by/for Spooks gives the unethical, immoral & illegal notion as retread.
So banal we can’t even make new mistakes.
Just quotidian grubbiness.
All in keeping with this government’s unconscionable behaviour on nearly all fronts.