No Bullshit!: Balibo 1976 and Bob Hawke's Diplomatic Masterclass

During Indonesian territorial incursions into Portuguese Timor in late 1975, five newsmen working for Australian media were killed. It became a major domestic political issue in Australia, and had potential to cause a diplomatic crisis with Indonesia. Australian diplomats needed to uncover what happened to the newsmen, while avoiding further bilateral fall‐out. They sought to confirm the deaths and to recover their remains, and when the information surrounding the cause of their deaths proved contestable, they endeavoured to conduct a further enquiry to settle the issue. But to achieve this they required Indonesian cooperation to access now Indonesian‐occupied East Timor. For 50 years, the circumstances of how that enquiry in April 1976 eventuated have been kept secret. That was because it was accomplished by two non‐diplomats—Clive Williams, Indonesian President Soeharto's close confidant, and Bob Hawke, leader of Australia's peak trade union body. Hawke was not an emissary for the Australian Government, he was representing the more than 50% of working‐age Australians who held a union membership. Williams and Hawke came to an understanding that was to the satisfaction of the Australian and Indonesian governments. This was a rare occurrence: when an unofficial exchange succeeded where diplomats failed.