Dili – The prison in the six interconnected bungalows of Comarca became notorious during the 24 years that Indonesia occupied East Timor. Many of those locked up there for resisting the occupation did not survive its torture cells.

Centre Alliance Senator Rex Patrick is calling on the government to fix an "historic wrong" committed against Timor-Leste.

Crossbench senator Rex Patrick is calling on the government to reverse changes that prevented Timor Leste from taking Australia to court over potential international maritime law breaches during oil and gas negotiations.

Christopher Knaus – The crossbench senator Rex Patrick will push to fix a historic wrong stemming from the "shameful" treatment of Timor-Leste during oil and gas negotiations by overturning decisions that limit Australia's exposure to international courts.

Viji Menon – Domestically, the political stand-off between Timor-Leste's president Francisco Guterres and the government has continued with the president still refusing to swear in nine ministers because of their alleged involvement in corruption investigations.

Luke Hunt – Twenty-years ago, Timor-Leste was tipped into the abyss. A UN-backed referendum on August 30th, 1999 – the 20th anniversary of which was commemorated last week – paved the way to nationhood with voters overwhelmingly favoring independence, but a bloody rampage by pro-Jakarta militias resulted in over 1,000 dead along with massive displacement.

Robin Perry – Last week, Dili polished itself up and played host to visiting government officials from more than 20 countries, including Prime Minister Scott Morrison from Australia, to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of Timor-Leste's vote for independence on 30 August 1999.

Mark Beeson – Australia is one of the most outspoken and prominent supporters of the 'rules-based international order'. Given its status as a modestly credentialled middle power with a limited capacity to influence the international order or the behaviour of its most powerful members, this is unsurprising, perhaps.

Luke Hunt, Dili – East Timor is marking the 20th anniversary of a referendum that ended 24 years of Indonesian occupation and delivered independence, but that also sparked a bloody rampage by pro-Jakarta militias who killed 1,500 people and pushed another half-a-million out of their homes.

Lisa Davies – Australia's prestige in our region rests not just on our aid or our military might but also, we hope, on our reputation for dealing fair and straight.

Paulina Quintao – The National Director for Integrated Policy on Gender Approaches and Women's Capacity, at the Secretariat of State for Equality and Inclusion (SEII), Maria Filomena Babo Martins said advocacy services on gender equality and on women's emancipation in Timor-Leste started in 1975, and despite some significant progress since independence 20 years ago, Timor-Leste is

James Massola, Dili – Millions of dollars of Chinese heavy machinery and at least 20 Chinese workers are sitting idle on East Timor's south coast, waiting to resume work on multimillion-dollar infrastructure projects.

Sophie Raynor – There are 100,000 people tonight in Tasi Tolu, a wide, flat, dusty expanse on Dili's outskirts, near the capital's western bus terminal, with enough space to fit all those coming to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Timor-Leste's vote for independence.

Paulina Quintao – The Executive Director of the Young Women's Movement Organization (MOFFE), Yasinta Lujina urged the National Parliament to get back on the agenda the draft law on child protection, which has not been discussed nor approved during the previous legislatures, so that children are protected in Timor-Leste.

Paulina Quintao – The Executive Secretary of the Agricultural Census, Claudio Ninas Nabais said the main objective of the agriculture census 2019 is to provide information and accurate data to the government, so it can develop policies that respond to the need of farmers and that increase the country's agriculture production.

Binoy Kampmark – Cringe worthy, a touch molesting in sentiment: this was the celebratory occasion of the gathering of Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison with his East Timorese counterparts.

Hannah Sinclair, Timor-Leste – Superintendent Natercia E.S. Martins is a rare type of authority figure in the Southeast Asian nation of Timor-Leste.

Not only is she female, she's also determined to encourage other women to take up space in what she calls typically "masculine spheres".

Alison Bevege, Sydney – Thousands of people turned out on Friday night to celebrate East Timor's independence on the 20th anniversary of the 1999 referendum that led to the end of Indonesian occupation.

Fireworks, music and song erupted at Tasi Tolu outside Dili, where the crowd sang the national anthem "Patria" which means "Fatherland", ABC News reported on Saturday.

James Massola, Dili – Joanna Remejio has a crystal-clear memory of the night her first child, Pedro Unamet, entered the world. She was 20 and her husband, Simplicio, was 17. It was Tuesday, September 7, 1999.

Anne Barker – It was Timor-Leste's biggest party since independence itself.

Thousands turned out last night at Tasi Tolu ("Three Lakes") just outside Dili, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the 1999 independence vote that led to Timor-Leste's freedom from Indonesian occupation.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced a major funding package for the East Timor defence force to counter China but former president Jose Ramos-Horta says he is more worried about its influence in Australia.

In 1999, Navy Captain Shaun Fogarty was deployed to East Timor as a military liaison officer with the United Nations.

Capt Fogarty was in town for the country's independence referendum and to make sure it was free from political interference.

While the vote went off without a hitch, the results triggered violence around the country from pro-Indonesian militia.

Sandra Fulloon – Australian inventor and entrepreneur Dr Len Humphreys has found a way to convert used plastic into products such as fuel – and he says it's a game changer.

Jonas Guterres – Every year on August 30, Timor-Leste celebrates Popular Consultation Day 1999. It commemorates an event of historical importance: when the people of Timor-Leste were finally given the chance to vote on their future, with a strong majority – 78.5 percent of voters – choosing independence from Indonesia.

Luke Henriques-Gomes – In my family, the thought of Timor always lingered in the air.

At birthday dinners, or Easter or Christmas with the cousins (like all Timorese, cousins is an imprecise term), we would talk about the football or our jobs or studies.

The Timor-Leste government has presented the Australian union movement the Medal of the Order for their assistance in achieving independence.

Australian unions have been presented the Medal of the Order of Timor-Leste in recognition of the role the movement played in the campaign for the country's independence 20 years ago.

Paul Daley – Australia's precise role in bringing independence to Timor-Leste two decades ago continues to simmer as unsettled business at the heart of modern Australian diplomatic and military history.

Ivo Mateus Goncalves, Canberra – Today, the people of Timor-Leste will commemorate the 20th anniversary of the popular consultation, through which the nation restored the independence it had prematurely declared in 1975.

Damien Kingsbury – In the weeks before Timor-Leste's historic vote for independence in 1999, there was a sense the horror and misery of the 24 years of Indonesian occupation were coming to an end.

Perth's Colleen Thornton-Ward and Murray Thornton were on the ground as East Timor struggled for independence in 1999. The memories of that year are still fresh in their minds.

Ha Noi – Timor Leste always appreciates the support from Viet Nam for his country during the war time and in the past 20 years, Prime Minister of Timor Leste Taur Matan Ruak told the special envoy of Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyan Minh Hung.

Ali MC, Dili, East Timor – It's a Saturday morning in downtown Dili, the bustling port city and capital of one of the youngest nations in the world, East Timor.

In the central park, a broad catalogue of books is on display, including socialist texts, biographies on Marx and Lenin, key books on East Timor and novels.

Canberra – Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced a "maritime security package" for Timor-Leste including a revamped military base, Xinhua news agency reported, quoting local media.

Australia will not compensate East Timor for an alleged $5 billion in gas revenue it collected during a previous treaty signed after it spied on the country by bugging its offices.

Australian and East Timor signed a new maritime boundary treaty in Dili on Friday giving the latter a far greater share of gas royalties.

James Massola, Dili – Prime Minister Scott Morrison has dismissed calls for the Australian government to drop the prosecution of whistleblowers Bernard Collaery and Witness K.

Mr Morrison was asked about the cases during a trip to East Timor where he finalised a long-awaited revenue-sharing agreement for the Greater Sunrise oil and gas fields.

Anthony Stewart and Erwin Renaldi – Kuon Nhen Lay had just joined the resistance movement against Indonesia's invasion of Timor-Leste in December 1975, when his wife went into labour the next day.

The then 34-year-old guerilla fighter was forced to keep a low profile to protect his family, and soon sent his wife and newly-born to Australia while he stayed behind to fight.

Paul Karp – Counsel for the former spy Witness K has launched a broadside at Legal Aid ACT, accusing it of an "extraordinary unexplained roadblock" in approving funding for the whistleblower's case.

Helen Davidson – An "infuriated" Alexander Downer tried to get US officials to back up his response to leaks revealing Australia rejected a US request to join a peacekeeping force in East Timor, documents show.

Anne Barker – Newly published intelligence documents, declassified by the US, shed new light on the turbulent events surrounding the 1999 independence referendum in Timor Leste, when Indonesian-backed militia gangs went on a murderous rampage across the country.

James Massola, Dili – The Morrison government will throw East Timor a digital lifeline and spend millions to fund the laying of a first sub-sea fibre optic cable connection to the tiny island nation.

David Fickling – Given a sad history of exploitation by foreigners, the young democracy of Timor-Leste can hardly be blamed for being hell-bent on self-sufficiency. But its current drive to cement its independence risks squandering the faltering progress the country has made. If the government doesn't tread carefully, a future of debt peonage to China beckons.

Rod McGuirk – A former Australian spy charged with conspiring to reveal classified information about an allegation that Australia bugged East Timor's government during negotiations over the sharing of billions of dollars in oil and gas had been denied legal aid and might not be able to adequately fund his case, his lawyer told a court on Thursday.

Timor-Leste's Nobel Peace Prize-winning former Prime Minister Jose Ramos-Horta says Australia "should get over it" and drop charges against two whistleblowers who revealed covert spying.

James Massola, Dili – Senior figures from the East Timorese government and opposition say they would welcome Chinese investment in the huge Tasi Mane infrastructure project, which includes development of the $50 billion Greater Sunrise oil and gas field.

Anthony Whealy – The prosecution of witness K, a former intelligence agent, and his lawyer Bernard Collaery has raised considerable outrage.

Helen Davidson – The US government knew for months that Indonesia's military was supporting and arming militias in East Timor in the lead-up to the 1999 independence referendum but continued to push for stronger military ties, declassified documents have revealed.

James Massola, Dili – Some of East Timor's most respected political leaders are demanding the Morrison government drop the prosecution of Australian whistleblowers Bernard Collaery and former spy Witness K, as the Prime Minister prepares to land in East Timor on Friday.

Sara Niner – On August 30, Timor-Leste will celebrate the referendum that gave it independence from Indonesia. For the people of this small island, it has been a long battle – one that continues today. You can read our companion story on the island nation's vexed relationship with Australia here.

Steve Cannane, ABC Investigations and Peter Cronau – The former prime minister of Timor Leste, Xanana Gusmao, says he wants to travel to Canberra to give evidence in court on behalf of former spy Witness K and lawyer Bernard Collaery if their prosecution continues.

Michael Leach – On August 30, Timor-Leste will celebrate the referendum that gave it independence from Indonesia. For the people of this small island, it has been a long battle – and one that continues today. You can read our companion story on the island nation's struggle for independence here.

Laurentina Barreto Soares, Melbourne – This month, Timor-Leste is in a festive mood, celebrating the 20th anniversary of its independence referendum.

On Aug 30, 1999, the people of Timor-Leste cast their ballots in a United Nations – administered popular consultation to determine the fate of the country, with 78.5 per cent voting to separate from Indonesia.