SYDNEY, Jan 27 (Reuters) – Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will flag Australia’s desire for deeper security and energy ties when he addresses East Timor’s parliament on Wednesday, in his first visit to the northern neighbour as leader.
The visit comes as the tiny Catholic nation, also courted by China, continues to push to build a liquefied natural gas plant on its south coast, instead of the Australian city of Darwin.
Albanese will address East Timor’s parliament and meet its President Jose Ramos-Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao.
According to excerpts of his speech shared in advance, Albanese will recall cooperation between Timorese and Australian soldiers during the World War Two as an example of the history and values that make the two nations friends.
“We look towards a shared future. A new deeper partnership in security, in energy and economic resilience,” he is expected to tell the parliament.
Ramos-Horta said last month he was confident a major gas project would be developed with Australia after decades of delays.
Australia’s Woodside Energy and East Timor agreed in December to study a 5 million metric ton project at the Greater Sunrise fields, an area containing an estimated 5.1 trillion cubic feet of gas that Australia has been discussing, initially with Indonesia, since the 1980s.
The national oil company Timor Gap holds more than 56% of the field located about 140 km (87 miles) south of East Timor and more than 400 km from Darwin.
With a population of 1.4 million people, East Timor became a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in October and is seeking to build its fragile economy.
East Timor signed a strategic agreement with China in 2023 for infrastructure and development, which Ramos-Horta has previously said did not cover military cooperation.
Australia has been East Timor’s largest aid and security partner since its independence from Indonesia in 2002, supported by Australian peacekeepers.
China’s assertiveness in efforts to form security ties with developing countries in close proximity to Australia have raised alarm bells in Canberra, and a shake-up of Australia’s defence has refocused on protecting its northern approaches.
East Timor is around 700 km (450 miles) north-west of Australia.
(Reporting by Kirsty Needham in Sydney; additional reporting by Helen Clark in Perth)
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