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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Christopher Knaus

Alexander Downer called Timor-Leste an ‘open book’ for Australia in 2000, tribunal hears

Alexander Downer Australia Timor United Nations Bernard Collaery Rex Patrick
East Timor Foreign Affairs Minister Jose Ramos-Horta and Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer shake hands after signing a
Philip Dorling has given evidence he heard concerns from Timor-Leste’s José Ramos-Horta (left) about surveillance, and saw Downer’s remarks ‘as a measure of confirmation’ of those concerns. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Former foreign minister Alexander Downer privately boasted that Timor-Leste was an “open book” to the Australian government in the year 2000, well before the infamous bugging scandal revealed by Witness K, a tribunal has heard.

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal is hearing an application by independent senator Rex Patrick, who is seeking the release of previously secret cabinet documents about Australia’s dealings with Timor-Leste following its 1999 independence vote.

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