The news that East Timor may be considering setting up a composite defence force of some 3000 personnel has aroused a curious, and generally negative reaction here in Australia. Some of the comments border on the absurd – for example, the ridiculing of the size of the force and the need for 'such a small nation' to have a force of this size.

Well, East Timor is not really so small. It is several times the size of Singapore and Brunei, with fishing resources and potential marine exploration sites to protect. For this purpose little Brunei (just over 2,000 sq miles, or one-third the size of ETimor) has a force of some 7,000. And Fiji, which is smaller both in size and population, has a force of of 3,500.

The question is not just about the size of the force, but its nature and its purpose. Not least it must be grounded in the constitutional discipline that assures East Timor that it will never again breach that neutrality so essential in a democracy. My view is that a force along the lines of a national guard might be considered – a force designed to support the Timorese people in the event of national disasters, as well as military threats, a force that could support the ongoing task of reconstruction.

Those who feel the East Timorese should be relying on the Australian presence should think again. Our forces may constitute a comforting presence, but this new nation has to have some defence capacity of its own, for it cannot be assumed that East Timor and Australia's national interests will always coincide. Certainly that did not happen in the past, as we all so well knpw. As for the present, the Australian Government's lack of interest in bringing to justice'those TNI officers responsible for past atrocities is in itself a warning that our perceptions of national interest may not always place East Timor's interests ahead of expediency.

There has been criticism of the perceived need for helicopters, but their presence is of fundamental importance to emergency services, as well as surveillance, in Timor's mountainous terrain. As for plans for a navy, the vessels concerned should, I feel, be fast patrol vessels, rather than corvettes, which are expensive both to purchase and run. Australia could assist the development of this force, rather than suggest that it is unnecessary. The development of such a force will take time – and money, but military assistance could make it affordable.