On Wednesday the 23rd February I found 'Inquest into the death of Brian Raymond Peters' - Magistrate Dorelle Pinch Coroner!
'Section 8 - Australian forewarning of the Attack on Balibo' talks about the Australian Policy and Australia's knowledge that Indonesians were going to attack East Timor through Balibo and Maliana. At the time Indonesia was 'the territory through and from which any non-nuclear attack against Australia would be launched... A secure, united well-disposed Indonesia is therefore a basic and enduring desideratum of our strategic policy' - (W. B. Pritchett, First Assistant Secretary, Department of Defence on 9 October 1975, quoted in Documents on Australian Defence and Foreign Policy 1968-1975)
This source also tells us that on the 10th July 1975, Mr Tjan (Head of centre for Strategic and International Studies) told the Australian embassy that the Indonesian government had made a policy to incorporate East Timor into Indonesia.
30th September 1975 - Mr tjan told the Australian embassy 3800 Indonesian soldiers would be put into East Timor to help anti-Fretilin forces.
On the 13th October Mr Tjan 'indicated that the operation would would begin on the 15 October and that the initial thrust would be through Balibo and Maliana'
The magistrate in this source raises the question as to why Australia didn't make a guarantee of safety until the 1 Decemeber 1975, not when they knew of Indonesian invasion! which is a valid point!
I also read in a letter from Canberra to Jakarta that channel 7 and 9 were told by Fretelin leader Xavier Do Amaral that Radio Kupang reported that UDT forces captured 'Five communist journalists who support Fretilin and they got a lesson' - I think I should reaserch further into the Fretilin government and Indonesia's claim that it was a communists government!
At the moment I am currently reading 'Cover up - the inside story of the Balibo Five' by Jill Jolliffe' at the moment it is giving a history of East Timor. I also have 'shooting Balibo - blood and memory in East Timor' by Tony Maniaty to read!!!
Also the Balibo movie site gives a lot of information about East Timor and it is where I got the letter from Canberra to Jakarta! with this site, I look at it quite often so when I write my bibliography do I have to say all the days I looked at it, or just one???
I have also been searching around the National Archives of Australia today and they have a lot of interesting stuff in regards to the governments reaction and interviews!!!
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