Peter Ker, Sydney – East Timor President Jose Ramos Horta has weighed into the 2007 federal election campaign by passionately endorsing a direct opponent of Prime Minister John Howard in the Sydney electorate of Bennelong.
Despite foreign leaders traditionally staying out of Australia's domestic politics, Mr Ramos Horta has lent his support to Margherita Tracanelli, who is contesting Bennelong for the Climate Change Coalition party.
In a glowing 103-word email tribute seen by The Age yesterday, Mr Ramos Horta said Ms Tracanelli was "very hardworking, articulate and eloquent". He then speculated over her winning Bennelong, which Mr Howard holds by 4.1 per cent.
"She will be a convinving (sic), powerful voice in the Federal Parliament," he said. Ms Tracanelli worked for Mr Ramos Horta in East Timor as a communications consultant during the 1990s.
In the statement, which was prefaced with a note saying "Here it goes, a sentence for you" and signed with the letter "J", Mr Ramos Horta praises Ms Tracanelli for her commitment to environmental causes.
"Margherita Tracanelli is one of those human beings with a heart and passion," he said. "For me, a good leader, a true leader, is someone who has a heart, who is compassionate and is passionate about what she/he believes in, someone who cares about the poor and the dispossessed of this planet.
"Margherita is one such person who cares and is passionate about our environment, our planet, about the harm we have done to our own common home, the home of humanity, the home of our children."
Ms Tracanelli also has a handwritten personal reference signed by Mr Ramos Horta dated October 30, 1996.
The Age contacted Mr Ramos Horta's media spokesman, Joel Maria Pereira, in Dili yesterday in an attempt to confirm the tribute. Mr Pereira said he could not contact Mr Ramos Horta because the President was visiting regional parts of East Timor and would not return to Dili until later this week.
But Ms Tracanelli said she was good friends with Mr Ramos Horta, and he had written the note on Sunday in full knowledge that it would be made public. "I told him I was going to stand and he said 'I would vote for you'," she said. "I normally wouldn't use him but I thought this is an occasion in which I should pull out all the stops."
Ms Tracanelli said Mr Ramos Horta was fully aware of the significance of Bennelong being the home seat of the Prime Minister. But she added there was no bad blood between Mr Ramos Horta and Mr Howard. "He knows it is worthwhile because he understands the security issue of climate change," she said.
Ms Tracanelli also has a 2004 reference from former Australian Defence Force chief General Peter Cosgrove relating to her work in East Timor, but being more than three years old, it does not endorse her political ambitions to claim Bennelong.
Earlier this year, US President George Bush said he would not prejudge the decision of Australian voters when asked if Australia's alliance with the US would weaken under a Rudd Labor government.
Mr Ramos Horta has links to many Australian politicians. Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer previously described him as "a friend" while former Victorian Labor premier Steve Bracks now works as an unpaid adviser to the East Timorese Government.
The Climate Change Coalition has several high-profile candidates in NSW, with science guru Dr Karl Kruszelnicki on the Senate ticket, and former deputy mayor of Sydney, Dixie Coultan, contesting the lower house seat of Wentworth against Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull.