Timor-Leste
Timor-Leste is a country with a complicated and tragic history, and in recent times a close relationship with New Zealand.
Last night we were lucky to have Vicki Poole as our guest speaker. Vicki has had a distinguished career in Foreign Affairs, serving in various roles around the world. Currently, she is Deputy Director of Pacific Development at the Ministry, but from 2016 to 2019, she was our Ambassador to Timor-Leste, and this was the subject of her talk.
Timor-Leste is an independent country occupying the eastern half of the island of Timor. It is the only Asian country in the southern hemisphere and about one hour’s flying time from Darwin.
Timor was a Portuguese colony for 500 years but Portugal abandoned it in 1974. This led to a brutal civil war between independence groups and militias supported by Indonesian forces, ending only when a UN-brokered peacekeeping force was installed. In 2011 Timor-Leste’s own police force resumed control with help from Australian and New Zealand.
Timor-Leste has a mountainous spine, lush rainforests, and narrow coastal plains. Most of the population of 1.3 million lives in mountain villages, driven there by old fears of invasion from the sea.
It is a very poor country, ranked 122nd on the UN poverty index, but the people are ambitious and keen to establish a functioning, corruption-free democracy.
The economy is undeveloped although because of oil rights a $16 billion sovereign wealth fund has been established. To date, this has not been invested wisely. Infrastructure needs developing and education expanded. There is a small private sector and the commercial framework is primitive- problems common to many small Pacific nations.
In Vicki’s view, Timor-Leste could have a bright future in the Asian sphere. Tourism is small but could be developed.
In the meantime, New Zealand is very supportive, with our VSA and NGOs very active, government scholarships and technical advice.
Calling All Puzzle Masters! Can You Solve This?
When John was six years old he hammered a nail into his favorite tree to mark his height.
Ten years later at age sixteen, John returned to see how much higher the nail was.
If the tree grew by five centimetres each year, how much higher would the nail be?
Do you think you know the answer to our daily riddle? Don't spoil it for your neighbours! Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm.
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Live Q&A: Garden maintenance with Crewcut
This Wednesday, we are having another Neighbourly Q&A session. This time with John Bracewell from Crewcut.
John Bracewell, former Black Caps coach turned Franchisee Development Manager and currently the face of Crewcut’s #Movember campaign, knows a thing or two about keeping the grass looking sharp—whether it’s on a cricket pitch or in your backyard!
As a seasoned Crewcut franchisee, John is excited to answer your lawn and gardening questions. After years of perfecting the greens on the field, he's ready to share tips on how to knock your garden out of the park. Let's just say he’s as passionate about lush lawns as he is about a good game of cricket!
John is happy to answer questions about lawn mowing, tree/hedge trimming, tidying your garden, ride on mowing, you name it! He'll be online on Wednesday, 27th of November to answer them all.
Share your question below now ⬇️
Poll: Should all neighbours have to contribute to improvements?
An Auckland court has ruled a woman doesn’t have to contribute towards the cost of fixing a driveway she shares with 10 neighbours.
When thinking about fences, driveways or tree felling, for example, do you think all neighbours should have to pay if the improvements directly benefit them?
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82.1% Yes
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15.2% No
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2.7% Other - I'll share below