AMBENO (TOP) – President José Ramos-Horta has begun a five-day visit to Australia, which includes a lecture at the University of Sydney on the five Australian-based journalists killed in Balibo 51 years ago, and a global climate summit in Perth.
On the day Timor-Leste and the journalism world remember the five journalists killed in Balibo (Bobonaro) 51 years ago, President of the Republic and Nobel Peace laureate José Ramos-Horta will stand on the stage of the University of Sydney. His working visit to Australia will run from 16 to 20 October 2026, with two major engagements in Sydney and Perth.
Sydney: democracy, ASEAN and the Balibo Five
In Sydney, Ramos-Horta will deliver the main public lecture at an event organized by the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre (SSEAC) at the University of Sydney on 16 October. The lecture is titled “Revisiting Democracy in Turbulent Times: Lessons from Southeast Asia and Southeast Asia’s Role in the World.” The keynote will focus on “Revisiting Democracy in Turbulent Times from 1975 to 2025,” followed by a panel discussion.
The timing of the lecture is no coincidence. The event takes place in the first year since Timor-Leste’s historic accession to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as its 11th member state on 26 October 2025, the bloc’s first expansion since 1999.
President Ramos-Horta will explore Timor-Leste’s path from occupation and resistance to democratic nationhood, the implications of ASEAN membership for regional cohesion, and major challenges such as democratic backsliding and geopolitical competition in Southeast Asia.
16 October carries even deeper significance. On this day in 1975, five journalists from Australia were killed in the Balibo Administrative Post, Bobonaro Municipality. The Sydney program will include a special ten-minute segment to commemorate the Balibo Five, honoring their legacy and Timor-Leste’s day of remembrance for press freedom. There will also be a floral presentation to surviving family members of the Balibo Five.
“On the 51st anniversary of the Balibo Five, I feel honored to join the University of Sydney community in remembering these courageous journalists,” President Ramos-Horta said through his press release, which The Oekusi Post (TOP) accessed today, Wednesday, 14 October 2026.
“The lecture is an opportunity to reflect on Timor-Leste’s journey from occupation and resistance to a democratic nation, a journey that now continues as a full member of ASEAN,” President Ramos-Horta said.
Ramos-Horta is a co-recipient of the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize for his decades of advocacy for a just and peaceful resolution to the Timor-Leste conflict. He is currently serving his second term as President of the Republic (since May 2022; first term 2007–2012), and previously served as Prime Minister (2006–2007) and Minister of Foreign Affairs. According to the communiqué, this experience speaks directly to the lecture’s themes of democratic transition and resilience.
Perth: energy, climate and “independence”
From Sydney, the President will travel to Perth to take part in the Global Citizen NOW: Perth 2026 summit, running from 18 to 20 October at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre in Western Australia. The summit is held ahead of COP31 and creates a platform for leaders to advance practical solutions, announce new commitments, strengthen partnerships and mobilize investment in clean energy, rapid electrification, energy security and global development.
The summit will bring together government, business and philanthropic leaders, First Nations peoples and Indigenous communities, academia and civil society.
On Monday, 19 October, President Ramos-Horta will take part in a conversation on “Energy, Security & Independence,” moderated by Tzeporah Berman, President of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Announced speakers include Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda and Commonwealth Chair-in-Office Gaston Browne; Western Australia Premier Roger Cook; Asia Society President and CEO and Australia’s 26th Prime Minister Kevin Rudd; International Energy Agency Executive Director Dr. Fatih Birol; and Fremantle Dockers captain Alex Pearce. UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed will deliver an address by video.
President Ramos-Horta underscored that Timor-Leste faces climate change from a position of vulnerability.
“As a country highly vulnerable to climate change, for Timor-Leste this conversation is not abstract; it is existential,” President Ramos-Horta declared.
“I look forward to advancing solutions that guarantee energy independence, regional stability, and a just transition for all,” he said.
He also said he was honored to stand alongside former Kiribati President Anote Tong, Prime Minister Browne, Premier Cook and former Prime Minister Rudd.
Two messages from one trip
The five-day trip showcases Timor-Leste’s diplomacy on two fronts: memory and democracy in Sydney, and the energy and climate future in Perth. For a country that has newly joined ASEAN and faces serious climate risks, the President’s voice will be heard on two different but interconnected stages.
The President will return to Dili on 21 October 2026.
