Welcome to the last post of Timoroland.
I was up at 6am with great anticipation of the drive to Balibo today. My 630am meeting time with Felipe came and went. I managed to phone him and wake him up – he had not set his alarm. He spoilt an otherwise perfect record to date being on time or early every time. He arrived and 7am and first stop was the Santa Cruz Massacre Monument downtown to launch Mini over Dili. Morning was the best time and this was the right opportunity since I would be too tired to fly after Balibo. The flight was flawless and the city looked great – wait until you see it in the film !!!
The 122km, 3hr drive to Balibo takes in most of the north coast from Dili to the westernmost point only 5km from the Indonesian border. I visited the following attractions along the north coast before turning inland to head to up the rugged border mountains into Balibo: St John Paul II Fataluku Monument, Prisao de Aipelo (Abandoned Portuguese Jail), Maubara Portuguese Fort. The north west coast is awash with white sand beaches greeting blue-green clear water. There are several tree-covered villages along these beaches selling “Ican Saboko” which is whiting barbequed inside a string-like palm leaf wrapped around the fish.
Form the coast you ascend 630m to reach Balibo 17km inland from the coast. This ascent takes ages given the poor condition of the road here. Balibo is a small village on top of a long rugged tree covered ridge and it is very hot and humid and only 10km from the Indonesian border. It sits at 630m with only 3,300 people but it is a very important place.
Balibo achieved notoriety as the site of the killing of five Australian-based journalists, now known as the Balibo Five, by Indonesian forces in 1975.
Australian reporters from Channels 7, 9 and ABC were covering an incursion by Indonesia into what was then Portuguese Timor. They were: Australians Greg Shackleton 29, Tony Stewart 21, New Zealander Gary Cunningham 27 and two Britons Brian Peters 24 and Malcolm Rennie 29. While the men were aware that Indonesian troops were to mount an attack on the town of Balibo, they believed that, as journalists, they would not be considered military targets. Greg Shackleton was filmed painting an Australian flag and the word 'AUSTRALIA' on the wall of a house in the town square were the reporters stayed so they would not be attacked. On 16 October 1975 Balibo was attacked by the Indonesian Special Forces. The five reporters came out of the house with their hands in the air and were dragged to a nearby house and four were summarily shot and one stabbed in the back. The five corpses were dressed in the captured military uniforms of the Timor-Leste Fretelin resistance fighters and guns placed in their hands. They were then photographed. Videotape was then placed on the bodies and used to light a fire to incinerate the remains. The ashes were later taken to Jakarta where they were buried in an unknown cemetery on 7 December 1975 with no family or friends invited.
Another Australian reporter, Roger East 53, came to Dili much earlier on at the invitation of Jose Ramos-Horta who was then a trusted government official to run the press agency of Portuguese Timor. Roger travelled to Balibo to investigate the disappearance of the five journalists on the official Indonesian invasion day of 7 December 1975 and was captured, tortured and then executed the following day in front of many witnesses at the Dili Port and his body was dumped into the sea.
The Australian Government held three investigations, under severe pressure from the press and public, in the decades that followed with no outcome. The Indonesian Government used the photos of the five to claim they were attacking them and sadly there were no civilian witnesses of their deaths. One of the reporters mother was so distressed with this negative outcome that she took her own life.
I visited the house where the five stayed and the house in which they were killed. Balibo House Trust, established in 2003 with seed funding from the Victorian Government and television stations 7 and 9, now owns this house and preserves it as a community learning centre, crèche, library and dental clinic. I had the amazing good fortune to meet Michelle Rankin from Brisbane and locally born Marios who run the centre and they took me on a detailed tour, which you will see in the film. Michelle lives in a small house next to the centre on a voluntary two-year rotating basis and has done an amazing job there. The Rotary Club of Australia and a number of Australian TV Stations and companies also donate to the Trust.
Balibo is also home to a 400-year-old fort, which was the scene of several battles during the Indonesian invasion in 1975. The Balibo Five were also filming from the fort when Indonesian forces landed in Balibo on the day they died. In 2016 the fort was converted into a hotel by the Balibo House Trust, with support from the Rotary Club of Port Melbourne. The Balibo Veterans Museum was added inside the fort and is the best summary of the history and conflicts of Portuguese Timor.
During the International Force East Timor (INTERFET) mission after the Indonesian withdrawal, the fort was used as a base for approximately one thousand United Nations (UN) troops, as part of Operation Lavarack. Kylie Minogue performed an unplugged concert in Balibo to entertain UN troops in 1999, as part of the Tour of Duty series of concerts.
Balibo is visited by many Australians including serving members of the Australian Defence Forces and the RSL just like Kokoda and Gallipoli. It is definitely a must-visit place for any Australian and was easily the highlight of my visit to Timor-Leste.
From Balibo I returned to Dili in time for afternoon wine and olives with Maureen who skipped today because of a chesty cough that she wanted to sleep off because she would be travelling several weeks through India two days after this trip. I explained the events of Balibo to Maureen over dinner. Maureen and I lifted off from Dili for Darwin at 8am the next day and then flew to Brisbane where I farewelled her and flew onto Sydney.
Timor-Leste is in its infancy of tourism but the sheer beauty of landscape and people and food make it the tourist destination of tomorrow – Timor Tomorrow – truly worthy of Timoroland !!!
BELOW: Inside the Balibo Five House
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