Sian Powell – Former prime minister Gough Whitlam has been condemned for his tacit approval of Indonesia's invasion of East Timor in 1975, his refusal to acknowledge famine on the half-island and his alleged lobbying against its Catholic church leader.

A 2500-page report by the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation criticises Australia for failing to "use its international influence to try and block the invasion" and criticises Mr Whitlam personally for his appeasement policies.

The report notes Mr Whitlam preferred Indonesia to annexe East Timor following Portugal's disengagement from its former colony. It also details his meetings with Indonesia's then dictator-president Suharto, in which he made his thoughts clear.

Mr Whitlam believed East Timor "too small to be independent", the report says, a belief he conveyed to Suharto in meetings in Indonesia and Australia in 1974 and 1975, just before the invasion.

"The government of Gough Whitlam made it clear to president Suharto that it shared the Indonesian government's preference that Timor-Leste be incorporated into Indonesia," the report says, adding that Australia turned a blind eye to Indonesia's potential use of force and how it would affect East Timor's population of more than 620,000 people.

An Indonesian general quoted in the report said the Australian position helped "crystallise" Indonesia's thinking on East Timor. The report relied on a number of sources, including interviews with Harry Tjan, a key adviser on East Timor to president Suharto.

Mr Whitlam continued to campaign on Indonesia's behalf after he left office, the report says. "Following a visit to Timor-Leste in 1982, on which he reported directly to president Suharto, he was instrumental in having Dom Martinho da Costa Lopes removed as the head of the Catholic Church in East Timor and later that year he appeared before the UN Special Committee on Decolonisation and petitioned to have the question of Timor-Leste removed from the UN agenda," the report says.

Monsignor Lopes had written to Australia in late 1981, warning of another impending famine. In March 1982, Mr Whitlam visited East Timor, and met with Monsignor Lopes, but publicly disputed his claims. Australia maintained its pro-Indonesia position through successive governments.