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Find out moreTimor-Leste President to open Embassy in Canberra
22-June-2010
An artist's impression of the new Timor-Leste embassy building in Canberra.
The President of Timor-Leste, Jose Ramos-Horta, will tomorrow attend the official opening of the Timor-Leste Embassy in Canberra.
The Embassy was built as a gift to the people of Timor-Leste from the people of Australia.
It is the only known gift of an embassy from the people of one country to another.
The embassy building project was driven by Leadership Victoria and the Rotary Club of Melbourne, which raised most of the money. Grocon did the building work, only charging for the cost of the materials.
Melbourne businessman Philip Endersbee is deputy chairman of the East Timor Embassy Building Project, a role he undertook due to his involvement in Leadership Victoria and Rotary (he is incoming president of Melbourne Rotary).
Mr Endersbee is also deputy chairman of the board of Plan International Australia, a children’s development NGO working in Timor-Leste.
“I have been to Timor-Leste a number of times, and I very much admire the way the Timorese are devoting themselves to the work of building their new nation,” Mr Endersbee said. “As an Australian, I am also very proud to be involved with organisations such as Rotary and Plan International that are doing great work to help the Timorese overcome the barriers that they face on a daily basis.
“So it has been a wonderful experience to also be a part of a project that helps the Timor-Leste Government establish a suitable diplomatic centre here in Australia that will hopefully strengthen the friendship and collaboration that is already occurring between our two countries.”
Grocon CEO Daniel Grollo said the company was proud to have been able to contribute to the project.
“We have done several projects at cost, with no profit and no margin involved, in line with one of our core values of community,” he said.
“We believe we need to give back to the societies in which we work, not only in terms of the built form but in terms of the social footprint we leave behind.
“To be able to be involved in providing an embassy in Canberra to the people of Timor-Leste has been a privilege for our organisation.”
Plan International Australia was instrumental in Plan’s decision to establish a Timor-Leste country office in 2001, and currently supports more than $1 million worth of development projects throughout the country, focusing on youth livelihoods and development, water and sanitation, and soon moving into projects that prioritise people with disabilities.
Plan International’s Programs Director Dave Husy said the opening of the Timor-Leste Embassy in Canberra was another crucial step in Timor-Leste’s growth as a nation, and in the formal relationship between Australia and Timor-Leste.
“This is a great move, and we are very proud that one of our board members has played such a significant role in this gift to the people of Timor-Leste,” Mr Husy said.
“The establishment of a formal Embassy in Canberra is an important signal of a growing relationship between Australia and Timor-Leste. It demonstrates that relationships are reaching a stage of political normalcy, and it opens up an opportunity to develop even more formalised and mutual communications and relationships.
“Given this important step forward, Plan would like to highlight that more could be done in collaboration with Australian NGOs to support development in Timor-Leste. While we welcome AusAID’s Timor-Leste country strategy and support it, we feel it could be enhanced by developing a much broader mechanism to guide Australian NGO support to the Timor-Leste Government and to Timorese civil society.
“One form of this could be a co-operation agreement for NGOs to work with the Timor-Leste Government and civil society. Such an agreement would be negotiated and designed together with the Timor-Leste Government.
“These kind of agreements exist in other countries where Australian NGOs work, and are an important framework for guiding the work of NGOs, ensuring that they are more effective in their work and at supporting governments and civil society.”
ENDS
Editor's Notes
Learn more about the embassy construction project.
Learn more about Plan’s work in Timor-Leste.
DETAILS
What: Official opening of Timor-Leste Embassy by President Jose Ramos Horta.
Where: Timor-Leste Embassy, 7 Beale Crescent, Deakin, Canberra.
When: 2pm-4pm, Wednesday, June 23, 2010.
For interviews with Dave Husy or Philip Endersbee, contact:
- David Cook
Media Officer
Plan International Australia
Mob: 0448 816 900
Ph: (03) 9672 3652
Email: david.cook@plan.org.au
For more information about the embassy opening, contact:
- Jorge Camoes
Timor-Leste embassy
Ph: (02) 6260 4833
For comment from Grocon, contact:
- Jane Wilson
Communications Manager
Ph: (03) 9631 8833
Mob: 0407 831 456
Email: janewilson@grocon.com.au
Background information
Philip Endersbee
Philip Endersbee has been a board member of Plan International Australia since 2003.
Philip has spent the past 35 years building and managing manufacturing companies in Australia and overseas, the first 15 years with Pacific Brands and the last 20 years building Wilderness Wear. Currently Managing Director and owner, Wilderness Wear Australia Pty Ltd; Director of Three Peaks Outdoor Gear Pty Ltd; Member, President elect, Rotary Club of Melbourne; Deputy Chair, East Timor Embassy Building Project Pty Ltd; Fellow, Leadership Victoria; Independent Trustee and Director, John T Reid Charitable Trust.
Dave Husy
Dave Husy is Plan International Australia’s Director of Child Centred Community Development (Programs Director is an appropriate abbreviation).
Dave joined Plan in 2008 bringing nine years of experience as a program strategy and review consultant with international development agencies in South and East Africa. Prior to that, Dave worked for 10 years as a senior NGO manager in southern Africa.