On August 7th, 2023, the Prime Minister of Timor-Leste, Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão, welcomed at the Government Palace in Dili the Director-General of National Intelligence of Australia, Andrew Shearer, and the Director-General of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, Kerri Hartland.
During the meeting, the Prime Minister and Australian intelligence officials discussed various security-related matters, covering national and regional issues. The main focus of the meeting was on bilateral cooperation in intelligence and security, aiming at strengthening Timor-Leste’s institutional capacities.
The Prime Minister highlighted the importance of maintaining close collaboration with Australia to address common challenges in regional security and expressed his gratitude for Australian support in strengthening security and intelligence institutional capacity.