Jakarta – Independence celebrations in Indonesia's eastern province of West Papua will go ahead next week despite stern warnings from Jakarta, the province's independence leader said yesterday.

Theys Eluay's insistence that the celebrations would proceed came as the New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister, Phil Goff, confirmed he had met a representative of the West Papuan independence movement in Wellington on Wednesday.

That meeting, and Mr Goff's statement that New Zealand wants to encourage peaceful dialogue aimed at solving West Papua's problems with Indonesia, are likely to rankle Australia.

The Howard Government has been at pains recently to remain at arm's length from the independence movement of West Papua, formerly known as Irian Jaya, and support Indonesian sovereignty over the province.

The Prime Minister, Mr Howard, declined to meet a West Papuan independence spokesman, Franzalbert Joku, and his colleagues at last month's Pacific Islands Forum.

The Foreign Minister, Mr Downer, recently backed West Papua staying within Indonesia and declared that "the Balkanisation of Indonesia, if that were to happen, would create enormous regional instability".

Mr Eluay said yesterday that Mr Downer should stay out of West Papua's affairs. "He doesn't understand our problems, and he doesn't know our history. So don't get involved. Ask first," he said.

Mr Goff said Wellington's position, which was being pursued with Jakarta and the independence movements, was "to encourage peaceful dialogue with a view to exploring the parameters of autonomy which might give people in West Papua a high level of control over their own lives".

West Papua independence movements were keen for New Zealand to play a role because of its reputation as an impartial broker, he said. But he stressed: "While New Zealand will always be ready to help if requested, it would require the Indonesian Government and the pro-independence movements to ask for that. It's unlikely at this point that the Government of Indonesia would ask for outside intervention. We're not trying to tell anyone what the outcome should be, we are simply encouraging restraint."

Mr Eluay, who heads the Presidium of the Papua Council, the body spearheading demands for independence, yesterday said Papuans would commemorate the anniversary of a 1961 declaration of independence, but would not make any new declarations. "On December 1 we will commemorate our 39th independence day with prayers and thanksgivings," Mr Eluay said in Jakarta, where he is trying to meet President Abdurrahman Wahid and senior politicians.

Indonesia's Co-ordinating Minister for Security and Political Affairs, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, warned on Wednesday that the Government would consider any commemoration on December 1 an "act of treason".

Last week the Indonesian armed forces sent two elite reserve battalions, about 1,300 troops, to West Papua. Observers believe the new troops will take to more than 10,000 the number of police and soldiers in the province.

There are also unconfirmed reports Jakarta has sent elite troops from Kopassus, the unit blamed for orchestrating much of the violence in East Timor last year. Activists fear Indonesia's security forces have encouraged the formation of East Timor-style militia to provide an excuse for a brutal military crackdown.