By Cr Patrick Binyon*
THE Mornington Peninsula Friends of Lospalos recent visit to Lospalos and Dili, Timor-Leste, was an outstanding success of inter-community and government friendships. I was fortunate to be part of the self-funded volunteer team of seven visiting “Friends”.
Our team travelled with three key goals: to review current projects, assess our capacity for new initiatives, and participate in the International Conference of Friendship Cities between Timor-Leste and Australia – celebrating 25 years of friendship and community solidarity in continuous support for the development of Timor-Leste.
Our shire’s friendship with Lospalos began in 2000 and is built on strong “Community to Community” and “Local Government to Local Government” friendship underpinned by shared values, mutual respect, and genuine development cooperation.
Nobel Peace laureate and Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta explained this subtle relationship by saying, “The friendship between the two communities is stronger based on shared values and the trust built between the two communities.”
“The sister city and the relationship between the Mornington Peninsula and the community of Lospalos have been established for more than twenty years grounded on values and trust. The people of Lospalos have enjoyed the result of this friendship, thanks to the generosity and solidarity of the Mornington Peninsula Friendship in Victoria. Timor Leste is grateful for all the support given to the community in Lospalos.”
Thirty-two Friendship groups are active in local government throughout Australia in Victoria, New South Wales, Canberra and Darwin.
A highlight of this visit was our formal meeting with Melio de Jesus, President of the recently constituted Lautém Municipal Authority, in which Lospalos is located. The meeting was facilitated by Friends President and optometrist Colleen Hammond and Secretary Xiao Li. Our discussions included the new municipality priorities and how our group can continue to support local community goals in meaningful and practical “ground-up” ways.
One especially touching moment was our visit to Oomucano Village, where we attended the official opening and celebration by the local community of water tanks – piping clean water from a natural spring – funded by the Mornington Peninsula Friends and the shire. Clean water remains a challenge in many areas, and seeing the community celebrate the positive impact of this project was deeply moving.
We also visited the Lospalos Eye Hospital. There we handed over a large supply of donated prescription spectacles, sunglasses, and optometry equipment. This support—made possible through council, fundraising in our own community, and the Lions Recycle for Sight program—will directly improve eye care access for many people who would otherwise go without. (Specs on their way to Lospalos, The News 16/6/25)
In education, we visited preschools running the EMULI program. This initiative initially teaches young children in their mother tongue, Fataluka, helping them communicate at home and in the community. The Friends is actively considering how we can further support this vital work through our Lospalos counterpart – the Lospalos Friends of the Mornington Peninsula Commission.
The visit concluded with our participation in the International Friendship Cities Conference in Dili. It brought together representatives from across Timor-Leste and Australia to reflect on 25 years of grassroots local government to government and community friendships.
The conference was opened by President José Ramos-Horta and featured a video address by Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão, whom we had met earlier. In his powerful speech, the Prime Minister recalled the founding of the friendship movement in 2000 and celebrated the impact of Australian friendship groups on education, health, water access, and local governance.
He said, “Even when political tensions arose, the Timorese people always felt the support of the Australian people.”
A moving testimony from Agio Pereira reflected on Australia’s historical support—from WWII to the 1999 INTERFET mission—and emphasized the spirit of solidarity that continues today.
Other key speakers included the Minister of State Administration Tomas do Rosario Cabral and Australian Ambassador Caitlin Wilson who told the conference, “I am happy to see these long-term friendships and people-to-people links continue to build and grow at the community level.”
Throughout the conference, there were key discussions among the friendship groups and presentations on empowering women and youth, supporting people with disabilities, and strengthening municipal services. These align with the decentralization goal of the Timor-Leste central government to municipal local government and, in the medium term, to representative democratic local government.
In marking our 25 years of Mornington Peninsula friendship with Lospalos, we are proud of the trust we have built, the practical outcomes achieved together, and the deep people-to-people ties we continue to foster.
We remain committed to supporting locally driven initiatives that contribute to lasting, positive change – and we look forward to the next chapter in our friendship.
*Councillor Patrick Binyon is shire councillor for Briars Ward and council-appointed delegate to Mornington Peninsula Friends of Lospalos Inc. A teacher by profession, he has worked as an Australian Volunteer Abroad and recently visited Lospalos, Timor-Leste, as part of the self-funded volunteer Friends team.
