The news that East Timor may be considering setting up a composite defence force of some 3000 personnel has aroused a curious, and generally negative reaction here in Australia.

Gone is the debate over whether independent candidates should have the right to contest the election for the Jakarta governor in August.

Australia obviously has a keen interest in the outcome of the East Timorese election, to be held on June 30. East Timor is Australia's nation-building project.

What the government announced as a new package of bold measures to reinvigorate investment and empower micro and small businesses in a bid to accelerate economic growth turned out to be

Jakarta – Last weekend's arrest of Abu Dujana, the alleged leader of regional terrorist network Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), by Indonesia's anti-terror squad has deservedly won Jakarta widesp

There is little doubt that our police should have gone about their attempt to persuade retired Lieutenant General Sutiyoso, now Governor of Jakarta, to appear before the Balibo coronial

Greg Ansley – Balibo sits astride a road weaving through the mountains of the far west of Timor-Leste (East Timor).

Bruce Haigh – The NSW coronial inquest into the killing of five journalists in East Timor in 1975 has achieved far more than earlier government inquiries into the deaths.

Loro Horta – After the relatively violence-free presidential elections in East Timor in April-May 2007, many hope that the country may finally be heading on a road to normality after mo

Shirley Shackleton – The sudden departure on May 29 of visiting Jakarta governor, General Sutiyoso, after being asked to give evidence at the inquest into the death of Brian Peters in E

Ben Saul – As the coronial inquest into the killing of five journalists at Balibo draws to a close, the critical question is: what happens next?

The commander of an Indonesian special forces unit accused of murdering five Australia-based journalists in East Timor in 1975 has more lately styled himself as a champion of free speec

Atnike Nova Sigiro, London – During a recent UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva, Indonesia was re-elected a member for the period 2007-2010, receiving the second most number of v

Andreas Harsono, Washington – A long string of human rights abuses had put Indonesia in a deep hole with the United States, but then the September 11 terrorists struck.

It's one year now, and the problems surrounding the mudflow in Sidoarjo remain unresolved. Even worse, there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Some of Indonesia's most influential and politically connected companies have refocused their business strategies and are joining hands with foreign investors to

Phillip Winn – After decades of dominance, Fretilin's star appears on the wane.

Tony Iltis – The second round of East Timor's presidential elections, held on May 9, resulted in the victory of Prime Minister Jose Ramos Horta.

Really encouraging news from East Timor is hard to come by, but the election of Jose Ramos Horta as its new president should be widely welcomed, and not only by his own citizens, some 7

Dili – Incoming East Timor president Jose Ramos-Horta's chances of achieving major reform in the troubled tiny state hinge on the outcome of next month's parliamentary elections, accord

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – A rumbling row between Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla and two top technocrats charged with overseeing economic policy is hampering the implementation of th

Lucy Williamson, Jakarta – Half an hour's drive from Indonesia's parliament, the civilian police in the district of Tangerang go on patrol every evening.

Mario de Queiroz, Lisbon – In the late 1970s, diplomats at United Nations headquarters in New York got used to seeing a discreet young man plying the hallways and conference rooms, tryi

Hopes look dim – if not totally diminished – that victims of violence during the East Timor mayhem in 1999 will find the truth about the events before and after the referendum which saw

Paul Barber – Two apparently unrelated events that together raise important questions about the West's responsibility for conflicts in the world's poorest countries are being held in Lo

It should come as no surprise that Australian Prime Minister John Howard's presence in Dili on the day of Timor Leste's Independence on May 20, 2002 was also to sign the new Timor Sea T

Robin McDowell, Jakarta – The controversy surrounding World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz spotlights a lack of ethics that was apparent two decades ago when he was US ambassador to Indo

Journalists in Indonesia have every right to rejoice today on World Press Freedom Day.

If citizens really had a choice, they would likely send their children to schools that do not follow the national curriculum.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Indonesia and Singapore last Friday sealed a bilateral extradition pact, opening the way for Jakarta to apprehend and try the many wayward business people and ban

Aboeprijadi Santoso, Amsterdam – The horrendous crimes committed in East Timor in 1999 continue to haunt Indonesia.

Workers and trade unions in Indonesia have nothing to celebrate on Labor Day today.

Jill Jolliffe – The high level of instability afflicting East Timor since independence in May 2002 has its international partners wondering whether the new nation is suffering more than

There are about 13 million children under the age of 5 in the country suffering from chronic malnutrition.

Budiarto Shambazy – On April 12, 1963 rebels in Brunei were involved in an armed contact with British troops in North Kalimantan.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – After heavy government lobbying, Indonesia's central bank (BI) has agreed to roll back lending restrictions imposed on the banking sector in the wake of the 1997-

The ongoing debate over whether President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will reshuffle his cabinet seems to have missed the point.

Joe Humphreys – It is the first such ballot since the country gained independence in 2002 – after 21/2 years of transitional rule by the UN, and a 24-year occupation by an often brutal

Damien Kingsbury – Those who view East Timor's politics as largely benign describe the mood before tomorrow's presidential election as "dynamic".

It's five years on from independence, and as the troubled country gears up for Monday's elections, people there tell Joe Humphreys how they see the future.

Fabio Scarpello – Fiery campaigner Ceu Lopes, 50, was active during her fledgling nation's 24-year struggle against the occupation by Indonesia.

Aboeprijadi Santoso, Amsterdam – Former president B.J. Habibie has often been synonymous with unpredictability.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Indonesia's politics of corruption has always been murky, with untold billions of dollars spirited from state coffers into politicians' personal accounts during s

A new security treaty with Indonesia could hamper Australia's ability to speak out about human rights abuses, a Sydney University report warns.

Paul Toohey – A failed effort to heal an injured child has led to the machete killings of three East Timorese women branded as sorcerers.

The administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono took another bold step in its war on corruption with Tuesday's arrest of the chief of the State Logistics Agency (Bulog), Widjan

Susie Berindra and Sidik Ramono – The government wants to strengthen the presidential system by simplifying the multi-party system.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – The opening of a new US$1.1 billion gas pipeline would appear to mark a rejuvenation of Indonesia's until now woefully inefficient natural-gas sector and boost th

Stephen Skinner – Timorese people are starving on our doorstep.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has won high marks from both the United States and Australia for his government's efforts to combat terrorism, inclu