Shipley unveils new option for Timor refugees

By Audrey Young

political reporter

DARWIN - Plans to bring 300 East Timorese refugees to New Zealand for temporary haven may be dropped, Prime Minister Jenny Shipley said yesterday in Darwin.

Instead, New Zealand might use its resources to take refugees from West Timor back to more secure areas of East Timor.

Any decision not to bring the refugees to New Zealand would be in no way acceding to Indonesian demands that East Timorese refugees renounce citizenship before being released from West Timor, Mrs Shipley said.

She said the agencies she met yesterday, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, had asked New Zealand to put diplomatic pressure on Indonesia to drop its conditions of release, and she had agreed to do so.

Mrs Shipley made a flying visit to Darwin yesterday in a move dubbed "an expensive photo opportunity" by Labour leader Helen Clark.

Coinciding with her visit was a statement from Defence Minister Max Bradford, strongly hinting that New Zealand troops would get a pay increase next week.

Defence personnel in Darwin - about 75, including two Hercules air crew - were thrilled at the news when told by reporters.

And they were delighted by Mrs Shipley's visit, preferring to leave the bickering to the politicians.

Supply regiment soldier Mike Hill said: "I suppose Helen Clark would be doing the same thing in her boat."

Warrant Officer Craig Surtees said the Prime Minister's visit and that by Max Bradford last week made the troops feel very important.

"It's a buzz," he said "The boys feel pretty special. We are starting to feel singled out and special.

"We had never really had that in our careers before."

Accompanied by Northern Territory First Minister Denis Burke, Mrs Shipley visited 27 troops waiting at the Robertson Barracks Australian Army base for deployment to Dili, and an Air Force Hercules air crew which carries goods and people to Dili.

Mrs Shipley was briefed yesterday by defence personnel and humanitarian agencies about the refugee question.

"At this stage, the human rights people from United Nations and others say the situation is stabilising rapidly," she said.

"They did qualify it very quickly that it is a very fluid situation, and my impression was that they may well be able to skip taking the displaced people to other locations."

Instead of paying to take refugees to New Zealand, it might be better to get them back to East Timor.

"Perhaps this is a better place to put our resources rather than into bringing them out," she said.

Mrs Shipley also said it was time to turn attention to developing infrastructure as the East Timorese returned.

"We are interested in ... the redevelopment of the infrastructure and establishment of an interim government," she said.

"New Zealand is very keen to offer whatever assistance it can as we go through those phases."

A company of about 420 New Zealand troops is already in East Timor.

It will be joined by a further 380 in a few weeks, taking the New Zealand contingent to battalion size and making it New Zealand's biggest military commitment since the Second World War.