---

Business of the House

Two days ago, the national security archive published analysis of recently released documents that show conclusively that the then British Government misled the House and the country about Indonesian atrocities in East Timor in 1975 and further suppressed information about the killing of Australian and British journalists. For example, at Christmas 1975 the then British ambassador to Indonesia sent a cable to London describing Indonesian soldiers as going"““on a rampage of looting and killing””." In the same cable, he went on to say:"““if asked to comment on any stories of atrocities, I suggest we say that we have no information””." May we have an urgent debate on the previous Government’s complicity in the cover-up, which will give Members an opportunity to press the current Government to release further documents that will be of assistance in the much-delayed inquest, to take place in Sydney early next year, on one of those British journalists, Brian Peters?