SYDNEY, Jan 27 (Reuters) – Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will signal Australia’s desire for deeper security and energy ties when he addresses East Timor’s parliament on Wednesday, in his first visit to the northern neighbor as leader.
The visit comes as the tiny Catholic nation, also split by China, continues to push to build a liquefied natural gas plant on its south coast, instead of the Australian city of Darwin.
Albanese will address the East Timor parliament and meet its President Jose Ramos-Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao.
According to excerpts from his speech that are passed before, Albanese will recall the cooperation between the Timorese and Australian soldiers during the Second World War as an example of the history and values that make the two nations friends.
“We look to a shared future. A deeper new partnership in security, energy and economic resilience,” he is expected to tell parliament.
Ramos-Horta said last month that he is confident that a major gas project will be developed with Australia after decades of delays.
Australia’s Woodside Energy and East Timor agreed in December to study a 5 million metric ton project in the Greater Sunrise fields, an area containing about 5.1 trillion cubic feet of gas that Australia has been discussing, initially with Indonesia, since the 1980s.
The national oil company Timor Gap owns more than 56% of the field located about 140 km (87 miles) south of East Timor and more than 400 km from Darwin.
With a population of 1.4 million people, East Timor became a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in October and is looking to build its fragile economy.
East Timor signed a strategic agreement with China in 2023 for infrastructure and development, which Ramos-Horta previously said did not cover military cooperation.
Australia has been East Timor’s largest aid and security partner since its independence from Indonesia in 2002, supported by Australian peacekeepers.
China’s assertiveness in efforts to forge security ties with developing countries near Australia has raised alarm bells in Canberra, and a shake-up of Australia’s defense refocused on protecting its northern approaches.
East Timor is located approximately 700 km (450 miles) northwest of Australia.
(Reporting by Kirsty Needham in Sydney; additional reporting by Helen Clark in Perth)