Timor-Leste (East Timor) offers tax advantages and other incentives to those who want to invest in the country and is working to overcome the shortcomings that still exist in terms of legislation, the country's Trade Minister said Thursday in Dili.

The Timor Sea Justice Campaign will hold a protest action in Melbourne at 12:30pm on Thursday 24 March outside the Department of Foreign Affairs in solidarity with a series of protests taking place outside Australia's embassy in Dili, East Timor.

Angela Macdonald-Smith – US oil giant ConocoPhillips has settled the biggest part of its long-running tax disputes with the Timor-Leste government, clearing the air for potential further investment in the region down the track.

A joint statement issued late Wednesday by the two parties didn't disclose the terms of the settlement, which they said was confidential.

Tanya Plibersek – Australia regularly calls on other countries to abide by international laws and norms to settle disputes. On whaling, on the settling of international trade disputes, and in the 1970s on French nuclear testing, we insist others play by the rules.

The shift in Labor's position in regard to Australia's long running maritime border dispute with East Timor will likely appeal to diplomatic conventions and notions of equity but, of greater significance, the new policy is also consistent with promoting Australia's long-term geopolitical interests.

Tom Allard – East Timor's Prime Minister has written to his Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull asking him to open talks on a permanent maritime boundary between the two countries.

Daniel Flitton – East Timor has hinted its international spying case against Australia could be abandoned should the two countries negotiate a new treaty to divide rich undersea oil and gas fields.

Tanya Plibersek's announcement committing a future Labor government to good faith negotiations over a maritime boundary with Timor-Leste, with international dispute settlement in reserve, represents a significant shift in the status quo. The position was foreshadowed by a motion passed at last year's ALP Conference, sponsored by former MP and long-time advocate Janelle Saffin.

Labor shadow foreign minister Tanya Plibersek has committed a future Labor government to negotiations with the Timor Leste government to reach a permanent maritime border between our two countries, and undertaken to hand the issue over to UNCLOS arbitration if an agreement cannot be reached.

The foreign affairs department insists a decision to deny a passport to a former-spy-turned-whistleblower is not aimed at stopping him from giving evidence in arbitration proceedings in a dispute between Australia and East Timor.

The foreign affairs department was not consulted before Labor announced a new policy to reopen good faith maritime boundary talks with East Timor.

Labor did not consult the foreign affairs department before it pledged to reopen good-faith talks with East Timor on maritime boundaries with Australia.

Venidora Oliveira – The Minister of Public Works, Transport and Communication (MOPTC) Gastso de Sousa said the government has allocated $10 million out of the 2016 state budget for rural roads rehabilitation.

Paulina Quintso, – The Inspector General for Labour (IJT) and Secretary of State for Vocational Training Policy and Employment (SEPFOPE) Aniceto Leto Soro said in 2015 some 2,190 foreigners received work permit visas to work in Timor-Leste.

Kate Stanton, Dili, East Timor – Cesar Gaio loves cooking in the open air. He hovers over a gas stove next to the winding road that edges the sea in Dili, East Timor, preparing wraps filled with purple sweet potato and fresh fish.

Tom Allard – Labor has pledged to submit to international adjudication over the disputed maritime boundary between Australia and East TImor if "good faith" negotiations fail to produce agreement.

Brigid Andersen – Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek says Labor wants to repair Australia's relationship with East Timor by renegotiating the maritime border between the two countries.

Today during a National Press Club Address, the Shadow Foreign Minister, Tanya Plibersek, outlined the Australian Labor Party's recently amended policy position regarding the Timor Sea dispute.

Karlis Salna – Australia spent $1 million fighting litigation brought by East Timor over an ASIO raid linked to a dispute over $40 billion of oil and gas reserves.

The December 2013 raid on the offices of the Australian lawyer acting for East Timor, Bernard Collaery, in which documents and electronic data were seized, was authorised by Attorney-General George Brandis.

Paulina Quintso – The President of National Commission Against Child Labour (KNTI) Aniceto Leto Soro said the commission has started conducting a national research program to determine the number of child currently working in Timor-Leste.

[This statement was originally published by SEAPA on 5 February 2016.]

Timor Leste Prime Minister Rui Maria de Araujo filed a defamation lawsuit against a journalist in connection with an article alleging irregularities in a government computerization project.

One of the most startling cases of a government using the fig leaf of national security to protect its own interests is happening right before our eyes – and it should have Australians up in arms.

Jakarta – The governments of Indonesia and Timor Leste, through the Ministries of Defense, have agreed to establish cooperation in the field of defense, in particular education and training.

Paulina Quintso – The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (MNEC) Hernani Coelho said in 2016 the number of Timorese female ambassadors will increase.

He added that all Timorese, female and male, have equal rights to become ambassadors and that there are no specific requirements apart from the ability and commitment to serve the country.

Steve Cannane – Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has intervened in an application by a former senior intelligence agent to have his passport returned, rejecting his application on the grounds he is a threat to national security.

Venidora Oliveira – The Director of the Directorate of Plenary Support of the National Parliament, Armando Machado said that in 2015, members of parliament were able to pass 10 new pieces of legislation.

He added that some of the laws were proposed by the government while others were proposed by members of the national parliament.

Rutaban Yameen – Australia, which promotes itself as the liberator of the tiny nation of Timor-Leste (East Timor), has been ripping the country off.

Paulina Quintso – The Director General of the Ministry of Education Antoninho Pires said that in 2015 the ministry was able to rehabilitate over 300 schools across the whole Timorese territory.

He added that some schools were only renovated while others received additional classrooms and other facilities.

Kupang – The governments of Indonesia and Timor Leste will conduct a joint survey of some border areas in East Nusa Tenggara Province, which are still considered as disputed territory by the two countries.

Thomas Ora, Timor Leste – Pope Francis has appointed Salesian Father Virgilio do Carmo da Silva, the provincial superior of the Timor-Leste province, as the new bishop of Dili, replacing Bishop Alberto Ricardo da Silva, who died of brain cancer last April.

Surabaya – Former prime minister of the Democratic Republic of Timor Leste (RDTL) Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao visited patients at the Indonesian hospital ship KRI Dr Soeharso (KRI SHS)-990, which is on a health service mission.

Surabaya, East Java – Indonesian navy warship KRI Dr. Soekarso (KRI SHS)-990 has arrived in Dili, Timor Leste, for a health service mission.

Paul Rogers – Two decades on, an inspiring example of successful direct action against powerful states and the arms industry is recalled.

Paulina Quintso – The Chief of the Department of Non-infectious Diseases, at the Ministry of Health, Dr Herculano Seixas do Santos said now the Tobacco Control Law has been approved by the Timorese Council of Ministers, the ministry has begun socialising its contents to the community.

Paulina Quintso – The Chief of the Department of Non-infectious Diseases, of the Ministry of Health, Dr Herculano Seixas do Santos has urged the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Environment (MCIA) to raise to $10 per packet of cigarettes.

Ina Parlina, Dili, Timor Leste – Jokowi was in Dili on Tuesday, his first trip abroad this year, and met with Timor Leste Prime Minister Rui Maria de Araujo and President Taur Matan Ruak.

Dili (ANTI/Pacific Media Watch) – Human rights advocates have appealed to President Joko Widodo to "end impunity and consolidate democracy" on the eve of his first visit to Timor-Leste today.

Jakarta – President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) during his state visit to Timor Leste on Tuesday is expected to discuss the settlement of Indonesian assets in the country, according to a legislator.

Nusa Dua – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo is set to visit Timor Leste on Tuesday to discuss efforts to speed up land and maritime border resolutions, as well as to boost bilateral trade and cooperation on investment, energy and infrastructure, in his first state visit to Dili since he took office.

Jakarta – Timor-Leste President Taur Matan Ruak will bestow the country's highest medal of honor, Grande Colar de Ordem de Timor-Leste, on President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) in a ceremony at the presidential palace in Dili, Tuesday.

President Jokowi, accompanied by First Lady Iriana, is on a state visit to Dili, Ari Dwipayana of the presidential communications team noted in a statement.

Jakarta – President Joko Widodo will visit Timor Leste on Wednesday as a part of a drive to strengthen bilateral relations and development cooperations with the country.

Joko is scheduled for separate meetings with Timor Leste President Taur Matan Ruak and Prime Minister Y.M. Maria de Araujo on Wednesday.

Tom Allard – Malcolm Turnbull's keynote speech in Washington DC last week, the first serious articulation of his foreign affairs stance since becoming prime minister, gained plenty of plaudits on both sides of the Pacific.

Djemi Amnifu and Ni Komang Erviani, Kupang/Denpasar – Indonesian authorities have called on the Timor Leste government to immediately relocate the latter's citizens from a disputed border area between the two countries following Indonesia's discovery of illegal activities in the region that was thought to be uninhabited.

Sarah Marinos – It's a weekday afternoon at Coburg Library and Kirsty Sword Gusmao and her youngest son, Daniel, 11, are browsing. Since she and her three sons settled in Melbourne's northern suburbs last year, the former First Family of East Timor has relished quiet moments like this.

Paul Toohey – East Timorese police have issued a wanted poster for a suspected Islamic State militant they believe has crossed into the country from the Indonesian province of West Timor.

The warning, issued on January 15, the day after the Jakarta attacks by ISIS militants, names the suspect as Fajar.

Ken Westmoreland – Jordan Peterson's piece "Should Timor-Leste Turn to Portugal?" has had the unintended effect of asking a question to which virtually everyone in the country, irrespective of generation or language, will give the same answer: No. (Or, in Tetum and Portuguese, lae and nso!)

Dili – A Chinese Navy task force on Saturday arrived in Dili, capital of Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, to pay a five-day official visit to the country.

"The Tale of the Timorese Coffee Farmer" – Timor-Leste's booth at the 2015 Milan Expo – showcases one of the region's main exports. This exhibition marks the country's biggest international promotion event to date, representing a significant moment for the country's ascension onto the world scene.

Venidora Oliveira – The Deputy Human Rights and Justice Ombudsman (PDHJ) Jesuina Gomes said in 2015 cases amounting to good governance offences registered higher than other types of violations.

She said that in 2015 PDHJ registered 0 cases of good governance violations, even though this was lover that the cases registered in 2014 amounting to 153 cases.

Kupang – The head of the Border Agency of East Nusa Tenggara Province, Paul Manehat, said the settlement boundary issue between Indonesia and Timor Leste can be resolved by involving traditional leaders as part of a socio-cultural approach.

Venidora Oliveira – The Vice Minister of Finance Helder Lopes said based on the preliminary results of the Population and Household Census 2015, the Timorese population has grown from 1.066.409 in 2010 to 1.167.242 five years on in 2015.

The Vice Minister added the population growth has been consistent and can be disaggregated by gender with 588.561 males and 578.681 females.