Dili deserves better from Canberra, Brown says

Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown says the WikiLeaks exposure of a senior Australian diplomat's description of Timor-Leste as "a burden" underscores a mean and unneighbourly attitude in Canberra.

"This is the region's richest country putting down its poorest neighbour," Senator Brown said today.

"Instead, Australia should be fostering 'special nation' status for Timor-Leste and helping it with education, health, transport and renewable solar power."

The attitude towards Timor-Leste was articulated during political-military talks held between senior Australian and American officials in Canberra in 2008, according to the report in the Sydney Morning Herald.