I reject, totally, the claim made by Mr Paul Keating yesterday that the
Government's decision to send Australian troops to East Timor was motivated
by domestic political considerations.
It is a claim, moreover, which should also be rejected by the Leader of
the Opposition, Mr Beazley. He has fully supported the deployment of Australian
troops. To my knowledge, Mr Beazley has never alleged that domestic political
considerations were behind the Government's decision.
Australian troops are in East Timor in response to a United Nations' request,
and as part of a multinational force, whose presence in East Timor has been
sanctioned by Indonesia.
Australia has played a principled and honourable role. We have acted in
a constructive and balanced way.
The operational readiness of Australian forces meant that we were able to
respond promptly to the United Nations' request to both participate in,
and lead the multinational force.
The former Prime Minister's outburst owes more to his lingering inability
to accept the magnitude of his electoral defeat in March 1996 than it does
to any rational foreign policy analysis.
4 October 1999