The Suai Church Massacre and surrounding events in September, 1999 in East Timor, led to the forming of the Friends of Suai in Pt Phillip, Melbourne.
“after a war is over and the blood has stopped flowing, the suffering and violence as a direct result of those acts of war continue. The terrible irony is, that between the people involved in those acts of war, there are crimsonthreads of kinship forming which will connect them across national borders and generations into the future.” (author unknown)
This quote very much describes the story of many Timorese and Australian relationships. It’s a history of kinship and friendship in our local and regional neighbourhood.
The history also reveals that Australian betrayal has been a recurring characteristic in the history of our two countries. . The stories of activism for justice and human rights that emerged in response to this in my neighbourhood of Pt Phillip, and all over Australia, are inspiring. Timor ponies in Pt Phillip
The images of the violence against the Timorese in 1999, came right into our living rooms via TV. Instead of the usual silent ambivalence to images of television violence, people in my community were in tears. After tears, the response in Australia was a massive protest campaign, mounted within a week. That such a large protest could be organised so quickly was due to the great number of Australians who were working in solidarity with East Timor for 24 years and the work of the Timorese living in Melbourne.
I discovered activism and solidarity are not the only things at play in our relationship. The proximity of our countries to each other is one explanation. But, the seeds for the extraordinary closeness of relationships between ordinary East Timorese and Australians were sown in World War II. Veterans of World War II who served in East Timor were among the most loyal and active supporters of the East Timorese after 1975.
The number of relationships grew again in 1975, 1991 and 1999. These were moments of grave devastation, death and loss of blood for East Timorese people. The events of these years are critical to any history of friendship between East Timor and Australia.
The stories of the Australian families of Greg Shackleton (29) and Tony Stewart (21), who were killed in Balibo in 1975 are reminders that it is not only those who are living in the place of conflict who are vulnerable when our governments act unethically. Shirley Shackleton, Greg’s wife and Pt Phillip resident, was an outspoken critic of successive Australian governments for assisting the Indonesian Government in covering up the murder of her husband, Tony Stewart and the other three journalists, and for many, Shirley became the human face of the Timorese struggle in Australia.
Shirley did not set out to become a supporter of East Timor’s fight for independence; she was a skilled craftswoman, teacher, television personality and mother. The role was foisted upon her in a way, as she tried to make sense of her husband’s death and reclaim his body.
Paul Stewart, Tony Stewart’s brother was a founding member of the Dili Allstars, a band of Timorese and Australians who have played a critical role in attracting crowds to fundraisers, festivals and rallies by entertaining us with great dance music.
David Scott, another resident of Pt Phillip and close friend of Jose Ramos Horta describes himself as an “accidental activist”. In fact David’s history with East Timor also began in 1942, but did not germinate until 1975 .
Local friends, Louise Byrne and Julie Shiels both became active supporters of East Timor after they witnessed the Santa Cruz Massacre on television in 1991. Both of these women worked through culture supporting Timorese in Melbourne in their endeavours to maintain their culture and prepare for independence.
The history of the relationships between Australians and Timorese are as textured and multi-layered as all communities of people. A significant part of that history filters through the stories of Pt Phillip people. This story gives credence to the saying that “the best stories can be found right under your nose!” Timor ponies in Pt Phillip
Just how close my community’s involvement with East Timor was, came as a surprise to me when, in 1999, friends told me the television images we were seeing of Indonesian intimidation were being shot by Carmela Baronowska from St Kilda who lives just a few blocks from me.
Neighbourhood friends in Pt Phillip told me stories about other friends who were in East Timor as observers for the ballot. I had dinner with some of these people when they returned. I learned about the trauma they suffered not just from the violence. All these people were shocked that Timorese intelligence, informing the UN that the Indonesian military and militia were organising violence and intimidation, was ignored. Sitting discussing these matters around a cafe near home with friends who have just witnessed and experienced the kind of political double standards that result in so many deaths, is sobering.
Others, who were in the compound in Dili after the violence began following the ballot, were shocked by the order from the UN for them to leave the East Timorese to be killed, despite promises that they would not. Melbourne photo-journalist H T Lee, organised a protest among Australians in the compound in Dili, stating their objections to this plan and refusing to leave. When they did this the objectors highlighted the gap that can arise between personal and State ethics. A gap that people who worked in solidarity with East Timor for many years, came to know well.
The protest against the violence in East Timor was also organised by Timorese-Australians. The largest Timorese community living in the diaspora lives in Melbourne. Many Timorese sort refuge in Australia in 1975. Their passion for the country saw many of them working for independence in Australia. They brought their children with them and they have born children in Australia. By 1999, many of these children had grown up and joined the Independence Movement and begun intermarrying into the Australian community.
That the protests in our city streets were the largest since the Vietnam War is testimony to this. They were of such a size we succeeded in pressuring the Australian Government into relenting and agreeing to work with the international community to form an international force (INTERFET) to stop the killing. When this happened, we cast another important moment into the history of our friendship between East Timorese and Australians. As a result of Australia’s intervention the Timorese people were, and still are, very very grateful.
In Australia, the drive to help in the recovery began shortly afterwards: ‘Thongs for East Timor’, ‘Computers for East Timor’, ‘Cameras for East Timor’, ‘Tools for East Timor’ - you name it, it was on! I responded to a call for a local meeting to discuss what our neighbourhood (Pt Phillip), could do to help East Timor’s recovery after the violence.
The Friends of Suai was formed shortly after that meeting. Since then about thirty friendship groups have started in Victoria alone.