{"id":41266,"date":"2026-10-22T16:20:34","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T05:20:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=41266"},"modified":"2026-10-22T16:20:34","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T05:20:34","slug":"australia-and-timor-leste-advance-shared-security-and-regional-priorities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2026\/10\/22\/australia-and-timor-leste-advance-shared-security-and-regional-priorities\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia and Timor-Leste advance shared security and regional priorities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Australia and Timor-Leste are deepening their partnership through more than $60 million in new Australian investments to strengthen cooperation on security, resilience, and regional engagements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over the next five years, Australia will support initiatives to strengthen Timor-Leste&#8217;s cyber security and disaster response capabilities and expand the Timor-Leste Police Development Program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These investments build on the <em>Parseria Foun ba Era Foun<\/em> (New Partnership for a New Era), signed by Australia&#8217;s Prime Minister, the Hon Anthony Albanese, and Timor-Leste&#8217;s Prime Minister, His Excellency Kay Rala Xanana Gusm\u00e3o, in January 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Building on longstanding cooperation, the package will also support Timor-Leste&#8217;s regional engagement as ASEAN&#8217;s newest member.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These initiatives include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Cyber security uplift:<\/strong> Support to strengthen Timor-Leste&#8217;s cyber security capabilities through specialist advisers, cyber incident response support and enhanced protection of critical systems and infrastructure.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Maritime policing vessels:<\/strong> New vessels for the Timor-Leste National Police (PNTL) to patrol Timor-Leste&#8217;s waters for maritime security, marine search and rescue and countering transnational crime.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Digital forensics:<\/strong> Support for the development of digital forensics capabilities to strengthen Timor-Leste&#8217;s national policing agencies&#8217; ability to investigate cybercrime and disrupt scam centre operations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Disaster response:<\/strong> Measures to strengthen Timor-Leste&#8217;s disaster preparedness and response capabilities, including through closer integration with ASEAN and Australian disaster response systems.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These initiatives reflect Australia and Timor-Leste&#8217;s commitment to addressing shared security challenges and supporting a peaceful, stable, and prosperous region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Australia and Timor-Leste share a history of deep security cooperation, underpinned by decades of security cooperation and strong people-to-people ties. This package reflects the trust and friendship between our countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;As Timor-Leste takes on a greater role in our region as ASEAN&#8217;s newest member, Australia is proud to stand alongside our close neighbour and work together in support of a peaceful, stable and prosperous region.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;The Parseria Joint Declaration is driving a new era of cooperation between Australia and Timor-Leste, and these initiatives are a demonstration of our close partnership and friendship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;As close neighbours and partners, Australia and Timor-Leste are working together to address shared challenges and ensure the peace, stability and prosperity of our region.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Minister for Home Affairs, the Hon Tony Burke:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;The Timor-Leste Police Development Program has operated continuously for 22 years and is built on the principles of cooperation, mutual respect and a shared commitment to justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;This package will upscale the Timor-Leste Police Development Program to ensure it remains responsive to serve the interests of the Timorese people and contribute to regional stability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Due to the global nature of cyber threats, it is in our shared interest to ensure critical systems and infrastructure remain resilient. That&#8217;s why, as part of this package, we&#8217;ve committed more than $19 million for a cyber-security uplift, including an investment in specialist cyber advisors, cyber incident response support and enhanced protection of critical systems and infrastructure.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Australia and Timor-Leste are deepening their partnership through more than $60 million in new Australian investments to strengthen cooperation on security, resilience, and regional engagements. Over the next five years, Australia will support initiatives to strengthen Timor-Leste&#8217;s cyber security and disaster response capabilities and expand the Timor-Leste Police Development Program. These investments build on the &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2026\/10\/22\/australia-and-timor-leste-advance-shared-security-and-regional-priorities\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Australia and Timor-Leste advance shared security and regional priorities&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41266"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41266\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41267,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41266\/revisions\/41267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}