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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 6 Hansard (16 May) . . Page.. 1754 ..

MRS CROSS (continuing):

The coming years will bring with them many burdens, and those burdens will need strong shoulders-his strong shoulders, along with the strong shoulders of his fellow leaders and of his people. The challenges that lie ahead are daunting-no-one would deny that-but he is a dauntless leader of a dauntless people. And bear in mind that he will not be left to walk alone. We in the international community must and will help these people bear their burdens.

It is in this frame of mind that I believe in years to come the work done during the conference I attended will stand as a very positive moment in East Timor's history. In Canberra there is goodwill towards establishing a sister city relationship with Dili as a continuance of a long friendship between our two countries that extends back to the Second World War. I am committed to this relationship and have been for many years, going back to my time living in Indonesia and subsequently when the United Nations became involved. I understand there are many other members of this place who are also interested in the same thing. I look forward to the time this relationship is cemented. Hopefully, that will be soon.

I welcome the Chief Minister's open-minded approach in this regard, and I thank him very much for supporting my trip. This trip was planned at short notice, and I would also like to pay a special thanks to the Speaker and the Secretariat for their assistance.

During my recent visit to East Timor, I took the opportunity to meet with as many people in positions of responsibility as I could. Among these were the President-elect, Prime Minister-elect, ministers for health, urban services and education, Director-General of Infrastructure, representatives of the World Bank, Australia's head of mission and representatives of the United Nations. The overwhelming feeling was extremely positive, despite the turmoil the East Timorese had been through. They are determined to put all that behind them and move forward. I suggest we in the West help them along the way and move forward as well.

In Timor Loro Sae we have a newcomer nation in the neighbourhood and, like all good neighbours, we stretch our hand over the fence in welcome. Born through pain and suffering after a long and bitter struggle, Timor Loro Sae has now come into the light of freedom and hope, a light that we pray will burn steadily and never again be fanned into flames by bitter winds from the past.

We all hope and pray that, with hearts and minds as one, under wise leadership (and with a little help from their friends) the people of East Timor will go forward confidently into the peaceful and democratic future for which they have had to wait so long.

In the most recent news that has come to hand, it seems that Indonesia's President, Megawati Sukarnoputri, has now decided to attend East Timor's independence celebrations in Dili. If this is true, it is a good sign for the region, a sign that some of the past bitterness is abating and that the prospects for cooperation between East Timor and Indonesia are a little more encouraging.

Xanana Gusmao, apparently against resistance among some of Megawati's advisers, has worked hard at persuading her to be part of the celebration. He will be delighted by her attendance, and I can tell you this for a fact, because he told me so when I was in East

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