Australia's deputy opposition leader and foreign affairs spokeswoman, Julie Bishop, is in East Timor to meet with the country's prime minister Xanana Gusmao and foreign minister Jose Luis Guterres.

Ms Bishop told Radio Australia's Connect Asia program the main purpose of her trip is to assure East Timor's government that if Australia's opposition forms government later this year, they will continue to focus on the relationship between the two countries.

"We will continue to focus our efforts on the bilateral relationship, with a view to deepening and broadening that relationship beyond the security focus and donor-recipient status," she said.

"I'm very keen to hear East Timor's plans for economic development, not only in oil and gas, but agriculture and tourism and other areas of possible expansion, and what Australia can do to assist."

Ms Bishop is also scheduled to visit development projects funded by AusAID.

Following recent discussions on the matter in non-government circles, Ms Bishop says there is a good case for East Timor to join the Commonwealth should it wish to.

"I always think that if a country wants to be a member of the Commonwealth then the Commonwealth should look kindly upon it," she said.

"It's a very diverse group of countries and it deals with a whole range of issues across the diversity of the membership, so it sounds like a very positive issue that Timor has raised."