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LINDSAY MURDOCH IN DARWIN, July 29, 2010- The Sydney Morning Herald
THREE weeks after Julia Gillard announced a plan to send asylum seekers to East Timor, the government in Dili says it is still waiting for details.
"So far we have not received any concrete proposal from the Australian government," East Timor's Foreign Minister, Zacarias Albano da Costa, told the Herald yesterday.
Mr da Costa said no negotiations or meetings were scheduled. "It is up to Australia … we are hearing about this mostly through the Australian media."
The Prime Minister and the Foreign Affairs Minister, Stephen Smith, have repeatedly said talks about setting up a regional processing centre for asylum seekers in East Timor are under way, although no formal decision could be taken while the government was in caretaker mode before the election.
But Mr da Costa confirmed that Australian officials who travelled to Dili a few days after Ms Gillard's announcement only flagged her government's preference to build the centre in East Timor and provided no details.
The officials did not meet any government minister or the President, Jose Ramos-Horta, who was overseas.
The only contact Ms Gillard has had with East Timor's leaders to discuss the plan was one telephone call to Dr Ramos-Horta, who holds a largely ceremonial position.
The Prime Minister, Xanana Gusmao, has declined to accept a telephone call from Ms Gillard to talk about the centre, which has been emphatically rejected by all of East Timor's political parties.
Mr da Costa said East Timor remains open to consider any proposal from Australia, but it was East Timor's view that the asylum seeker issue requires a regional solution through the regional forum on people-smuggling, called the Bali process, that was established in 2002.
Thirty-two countries have participated in forum.
After meeting Indonesia's Foreign Minister, Marty Natalegawa, in Dili, Mr da Costa said Indonesia had indicated it would call a meeting of the Bali process by the end of the year.
Reporters in Dili quoted Dr Natalegawa as saying Indonesia also had not received any concrete proposal from Australia about a regional centre.
"We haven't said anything to them," Dr Natalegawa said. "Our position remains the same, that Australia, Timor-Leste [East Timor] and other countries have to consider this issue through the appropriate forum."
The opposition spokesman on immigration, Scott Morrison, said yesterday it was clear the government did not intend to act on the East Timor plan.
''Julia Gillard has been exposed again as a no-show when it comes to her never, never solution for the offshore processing centre in East Timor,'' he said.
''There's no proposal that's even on the table; it's been several weeks now.''
The opposition says the government should reopen an Australian-built centre on Nauru where asylum seekers were sent under the Howard government's so-called Pacific solution.
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LINDSAY MURDOCH IN DARWIN, July 29, 2010- The Sydney Morning Herald
THREE weeks after Julia Gillard announced a plan to send asylum seekers to East Timor, the government in Dili says it is still waiting for details.
"So far we have not received any concrete proposal from the Australian government," East Timor's Foreign Minister, Zacarias Albano da Costa, told the Herald yesterday.
Mr da Costa said no negotiations or meetings were scheduled. "It is up to Australia … we are hearing about this mostly through the Australian media."
The Prime Minister and the Foreign Affairs Minister, Stephen Smith, have repeatedly said talks about setting up a regional processing centre for asylum seekers in East Timor are under way, although no formal decision could be taken while the government was in caretaker mode before the election.
But Mr da Costa confirmed that Australian officials who travelled to Dili a few days after Ms Gillard's announcement only flagged her government's preference to build the centre in East Timor and provided no details.
The officials did not meet any government minister or the President, Jose Ramos-Horta, who was overseas.
The only contact Ms Gillard has had with East Timor's leaders to discuss the plan was one telephone call to Dr Ramos-Horta, who holds a largely ceremonial position.
The Prime Minister, Xanana Gusmao, has declined to accept a telephone call from Ms Gillard to talk about the centre, which has been emphatically rejected by all of East Timor's political parties.
Mr da Costa said East Timor remains open to consider any proposal from Australia, but it was East Timor's view that the asylum seeker issue requires a regional solution through the regional forum on people-smuggling, called the Bali process, that was established in 2002.
Thirty-two countries have participated in forum.
After meeting Indonesia's Foreign Minister, Marty Natalegawa, in Dili, Mr da Costa said Indonesia had indicated it would call a meeting of the Bali process by the end of the year.
Reporters in Dili quoted Dr Natalegawa as saying Indonesia also had not received any concrete proposal from Australia about a regional centre.
"We haven't said anything to them," Dr Natalegawa said. "Our position remains the same, that Australia, Timor-Leste [East Timor] and other countries have to consider this issue through the appropriate forum."
The opposition spokesman on immigration, Scott Morrison, said yesterday it was clear the government did not intend to act on the East Timor plan.
''Julia Gillard has been exposed again as a no-show when it comes to her never, never solution for the offshore processing centre in East Timor,'' he said.
''There's no proposal that's even on the table; it's been several weeks now.''
The opposition says the government should reopen an Australian-built centre on Nauru where asylum seekers were sent under the Howard government's so-called Pacific solution.
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