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Historic Balibo house restored

In October 1975, five Australian-based journalists were sent to investigate Indonesian military attacks against East Timor. Malcolm Rennie, a Scot, and Englishman Brian Peters joined Australians Greg Shackleton and Tony Stewart, and New Zealander Gary Cunningham to cover what was then the biggest emerging event in the region - acts of aggression by a military dictatorship against a newly democratising society, the collapse of the decolinisation process in East Timor and the threat of invasion by neighbouring Indonesia.

In a border village called Balibó, Gary Cunningham filmed Greg Shackleton painting an Australian flag and the word AUSTRALIA with a rag dipped in red paint on the wall of the house in which they were sheltering.

After filming an attack on Balibó (16/10/75) the five unarmed men dressed as civilians were murdered while surrendering to 100 red beret Kopassandha (Special Forces secret warfare) troops led by a Captain Yunus Yosfiah. He was promoted after Balibó and he attended courses at the US Army's Command and General Staff College at Forth Leavenworth (1979) and the Royal College of Defence Studies in Britain (1989).

Eight weeks later, Roger East, another Australian journalist was shot on the wharf in Dili following the invasion (7 Dec.) From this time on it was obvious that though our loss was great, it was as nothing compared to the Timorese: in the first four years of the Indonesian occupation 200,000 people died. Out of a population of 680,000 these figures are apocalyptic. There was nothing I could do for Greg so I began to work to free the East Timorese.

In fear of reprisals, the owner of the Balibó house covered the Australian flag with several layers of paint. No one was ever charged with the murders. Three Australian inquiries were held. The first was exposed as inadequate and the other two left many questions unanswered. A full judicial inquiry has never been held. Successive
Australian governments, supported by an influential network of pro-Jakarta lobbyists, worked assiduously to preserve Indonesian sovereignty over East Timor. Successive British government's neglect of their own citizens murdered in cold blood at Balibó mirrored their heartless Australian counterparts.

I have been to the UK many times in support of East Timor. Two interviews stand out in my memory: Tony Benn admitted that he had lied to Maureen Tolfree about the death of her brother, Brian Peters when he was her M.P. 'What my government told me was little more than Indonesian propaganda.' Jeremy Hanley, a former
Conservative Foreign Office minister, was a perfect example of weasel words. He did not even seem to realise that two of the murdered men were British!

Greg's mother committed suicide. It was not the murders that destroyed her: it was Australian government official eagerness to blame the Balibo Five for their own murders and the fact that perjury was committed on behalf of the men who had murdered her only son.

After the East Timorese voted for independence, public pressure forced John Howard to assemble a multinational force to guarantee East Timor's independence.

Following 7 months of investigations, UN CivPol investigators in East Timor recommended the prosecution of Yunus Yosfiah and 2 others over the Balibó murders. John Howard immediately recalled both Australian police officers conducting the investigation and his decision was enforced despite the fact that both the officers and Sergio Vieira de Mello - then the UN Special Representative for the Secretary General to East Timor - appealed to him for time to complete the enquiries.

In 2003, the Victorian government together with assistance from the Balibó House Trust, World Vision, Multiplex, Channels 7 and 9 and the Australian Peace Keeping forces in East Timor, reconstructed and refurbished the Balibo Flag house to provide a Community Learning Centre with a wide range of programs including a crèche, sewing and cooking classes, computer training, mechanics, carpentry, literacy, sport and music activities. It is a matter of great pride to me personally that everything unavailable in Timor at that time - every nail, every grain of sand, doors, windows, cans of paint was donated by 40 Victorian businesses.

Australian troops stationed at Balibó volunteered to work on the house - after doing the hard yards protecting the border they broke their backs working miracles. One Aussie peacekeeper dedicated to finding the flag that Greg had painted, spent hours of painful scrubbing the wall with steel wool. My first reaction when I saw the photograph was horror - it was a ghost image, a nasty reminder of the past, but I agreed to leave it exposed to allow the other
families to decide its fate.

Twelve Australian family members along with three family members from Britain attended the opening by the Premier of Victoria, Steve Bracks, the President of Timor-Leste, Xanana Gusmâo and the Senior Minister for Foreign Affairs and Co-operation, Mr. José Ramos-Horta. Most moving was the presence of hundreds of
Timorese who had walked since midnight from outlying districts in order to pay their respects. The ceremony was dedicated to all those who died including Roger East, Timorese civilians and members of the Resistance Army.

My son was eight years old when Greg was murdered. Balibó was the last place on earth he wanted to be. But he faced the ordeal. There were a lot of tears and great outpourings of joy, from Timorese as well as us. For Evan Shackleton, the whole event and the uncovering of the flag was a kind of resurrection - for 28 years he had suffered recurring nightmares. He hasn't had one since.

The Community Learning Centre is thriving. Additional buildings have been built to house the carpentry and mechanical workshops along with separate créche, sporting and music facilities. For me the flag holds no immediate horror, like the restored house it is a symbol of renewal and of hope for a better future for the Timorese nation. It represents my son's release and promises a kind of resurrection - like an ancient cave painting - it is a precious remnant from the past - a sad and ghostly artefact of a vile and unfinished business.

In 2000 Maureen Tolfree asked the NSW Coroner to hold a formal inquest into the death of Brian Peters, one of the Balibó Five, as he was a resident in NSW. Judge Abernethy has agreed to hold an inquest later this year.