Mr ADAMS (11:49 AM) —My good wishes and my support, and I guess the support of most of my electorate of Lyons, go out to the Australian troops now attempting to engender some peace and protection in East Timor. They have my personal backing in this unenviable task of trying to broker peace in a situation where nothing is known.

I have been totally dismayed at the way the foreign affairs portfolio has been managed by this government, with an inarticulate foreign minister, an indecisive Prime Minister, and a ministry of defence without its most senior adviser. This would be a joke if it were not so serious. It is serious because we have let down badly again those East Timorese who fed, sheltered and nurtured those Australians who survived in East Timor during the Second World War. We owe so much to these people, both now and then.

Times do not change much. The scene was set for disaster when Australia demanded a referendum vote without any thought of what might happen afterwards, and when no provision was made to assist in the changeover between Indonesia and East Timor. There was no thought given as to how the local people might act, both the bewildered Indonesians—a lot of whom have property in East Timor—and the terrified East Timorese.

Over the years there has been a lot of work done building up Australia's relationship with this part of the world, something this Prime Minister did not really understand when he took office. He rubbished Labor's efforts to obtain a greater understanding of South-East Asia and APEC, yet when the Indonesian economy started to break down and the Indonesian election did not produce a clear result there was a definite feeling of unrest. There were warning signs there that this government did not read.

The Department of Foreign Affairs does not seem to have grasped the background or the history of the situation in Indonesia at all. The political situation in Indonesia has been in turmoil for some time. The Indonesian people themselves had been revolting against militarism and demanding to have a more democratic government. The outcome of their election has brought a tough time for them as well. With the overthrow of Suharto, Indonesian politics changed. Currently, there is no government in place and players are jockeying for positions of leadership. The military prepared for this at least a year ago. Now was not a good time to try to annex a part of that country.

The other thing that seems to have been forgotten is that the military have played an intimate role in government since Sukarno took over Indonesia for the Indonesians. What we have here is a series of small countries put together under one umbrella to help them set up a structure to govern. The military have been placed strategically at every level of society, from community groups and local councils upwards. The military have been in the local council. They have been the provincial leaders. They have representatives in the parliament. The military have been in government. You cannot change that overnight.

There are many different peoples in the Indonesian archipelago and, although many have not agreed with the role of the military, they came to respect the relative stability the military brought to Indonesia. However, when it started to become corrupt, many questioned the role of the leaders and how they used the military. Violence comes from corruption, and power with violence.

This is perhaps oversimplifying a very complex structure, but suffice to say that the military have been government, the seat of power, and now this is in turmoil because of the election. Somehow it has brought the hostility of many nations against them because of their treatment of the East Timorese. I do not believe the East Timorese are the only ones very frightened.

No one can condone the killings, the murdering and the violence, and I hope all those who had any part in it will be taken to task very severely. But we should understand the situation as it really is. The militia are the worrying ones as they are not apparently led by anyone in government and have used their military protectors as a licence to cause mayhem. They are paid provocateurs, and paid by the military to kill, maim and scare people out of the country.

The Labor Party recognised this complex situation and realised that there was no way that East Timor was likely to have a violence free vote or achieve independence without some sort of aggression, given the instability of government, the economic crisis and the role of the military in government. We asked for assistance to be set up and to go in before the vote was taken. But the Prime Minister vacillated. He hesitated. He hoped for the best. And then when disaster struck, nothing had been done to put a contingency plan into action. People died. Finally, under pressure, late in the game after the vote, he suddenly decided that Australia had to intervene in the slaughter of East Timorese. He started his foreign affairs and defence ministers off in a direction to try and cobble together a United Nations force two weeks after the vote. Meanwhile, people died. Then people started to flee because they felt the situation was helpless and that, if they stayed, they would have been shot, or starved to death.

It was an appalling lack of forward planning and an amazing lack of judgment. No wonder the Indonesians are objecting now and no wonder we have a situation of people being massacred. It was a total disaster. The mismanagement and misunderstanding were woeful. Even food aid took far too long to be started. Now we have a situation where troops are being sent to East Timor with little idea of what will happen to them. Some of the people they may have to be in conflict with are those who have trained with them. I suppose one consolation in all this is that I have great faith in our defence forces. They have been on other peacekeeping missions. They know what is going to be asked of them and I know they have compassion.

I have had heaps of email since this situation became critical. People from all over Australia have been desperate to communicate their views. To deal with this, I set up a section of my web page and developed a regular bulletin that can be accessed by anyone. I have also personally answered the emails and tried to give practical ways for people to be able to assist in this process. I think many have. We must continue to gather funds and resources for the relief of the East Timorese people. We must start planning ways of helping them set up their structures for democracy with their new leaders now. The country is devastated and will need a lot of time and energy to put it back in order. We need to think about that and start planning it now.

I can only say again that the Prime Minister should be condemned for the disgraceful way he has dealt with the situation. And, quite frankly, the Minister for Foreign Affairs should be replaced by someone who actually knows a little bit about what is going on in Asia and in the world.

My best wishes and hopes go to the troops and their commanders. If anyone can help the Timorese in their time of need, I believe these people can. I would like to thank all those other countries that have heeded Australia's call to come and help them try and solve this terrible problem on our doorstep. Most of all, I would like to commend those who stayed in East Timor—those members of the UN who remained in the compound, a few journalists, incognito and acting as aid workers, and all the aid workers who did not leave those people on their own. They were heroes among the people and they stayed to try and protect them and give them advice. Their courage is an inspiration to all. I certainly hope that we can assist East Timor to grow as a nation, to build itself into an independent, democratically elected nation with good structures for the future. (Time expired)