Wayne Sievers
Encyclopedia
Wayne Thomas Padraig Sievers (born 13 May 1957) is a former Australia
n police officer
, trade union
official, a social justice
campaigner and has stood in numerous elections. He exposed the failure of the Australian Government
, despite being forewarned, to prevent widespread Indonesian military
-backed militia violence in the former Portuguese colony of East Timor
during the territory’s 1999 independence ballot. Thousands of people are believed to have died and East Timor’s economic infrastructure was shattered. Sievers had served as an Australian police officer attached to the United Nations
during the infamous militia siege of the United Nations compound in Dili
, East Timor.
, Australia
to parents of Irish and German descent, he was the youngest member a large farming family in the Canberra
district of Fyshwick
. He entered the Australian Defence Force
at a relatively early age. He transferred to the Australian Federal Police
where he established a reputation for innovative and effective methods in drug investigations, intelligence probes and community policing. In 1996 Sievers aroused controversy when he established the first police gay and lesbian contact officer scheme in Canberra after noticing unacceptable levels of violence and assault against this community.
an economic crisis had contributed to the collapse of the corrupt Suharto government in Indonesia
. It was replaced with the government of President Jusuf Habibie
, whose political position was weak and whose character was often seen as erratic. In 1998 former Australian Prime Minister
John Howard
looked to establish a reputation for himself as a regional statesman, and he attempted to solve the issue of the Indonesia’s brutal 24-year military occupation of East Timor. A third of the population had died as a result of genocidal campaigns by the Indonesian military in this territory just off Australia’s northern coast. Habibie accepted Howard’s proposal for an independence referendum in East Timor, apparently in the mistaken belief that the people of East Timor would vote to remain a part of Indonesia. The Indonesian military, whose generals had extensive business interests and land holdings in East Timor, immediately set about derailing the ballot. Drugs and cash were used to recruit members for armed civilian militias to operate under the control of the Indonesian military. Their purpose would be to attack pro-independence supporters and later the United Nations in East Timor - the UN would later conduct the independence ballot.
In a concession that would have profound and tragic consequences, Australia agreed to an Indonesian military demand that the Indonesian military provide security for the vote and not foreign military forces. Only unarmed United Nations Civilian Police, the largest contingent of whom came from Australia, would accompany the United Nations electoral officials. Wayne Sievers volunteered for this mission and arrived in East Timor as a team leader in June 1999. Unknown to him and the other UN police volunteers were the intelligence reports already being received by the Australian Government suggesting they could become targets of the military-controlled and murderous militias.
After arriving in East Timor, Sievers - an intelligence officer by background - began to receive Indonesian Army and militia documents clearly detailing the Indonesian military's plan to kill independence supporters and destroy the territory in the event of a vote for independence. He passed these on to the United Nations and to the Australian Government, but became deeply concerned when it was apparent these warnings were being ignored. The former Australian Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, was confronted by the media with allegations that the Indonesian military were actually organising the violence rather than protecting the people of East Timor and the UN peacekeepers. He denied this, claiming instead that only a few "rogue elements" in the military were involved. These claims worried those on the ground in East Timor, including Wayne Sievers. The Australian Government had by then received information from its own sources and was well aware that the violence was being orchestrated from the highest levels of the Indonesian military. There were suggestions that Mr Downer's claims were part of a cover up to avoid public scrutiny of a policy failure. It ultimately saw the death and destruction on an immense scale as the Indonesian military double-crossed Australia.
East Timor voted by nearly 80% in favour of independence from Indonesia in the United Nations-sponsored ballot in August 1999. When the results of the ballot were announced in early September, the Indonesian military and their militia supporters immediately unleashed a campaign of violence and destruction that would result in the reported deaths of thousands. About a third of the population were forced at gunpoint into Indonesian West Timor
and the United Nations presence contracted to the UN compound in Dili. A siege lasting several weeks began, with several thousand East Timorese sheltering in the compound with the UN. Food, water and sewage were cut off and disease outbreaks threatened.
Wayne Sievers was present during the siege and helped to care for the refugees. He also assisted in running convoys of evacuees through the city to the airport. These convoys came under fire as they made their way through the burning city. On another occasion he intervened at Dili Airport to stop a senior Indonesian police officer from handing over 30 East Timorese refugees from Baucau
to local militia to be killed. He arranged for diplomatic assistance after they were refused permission to board an aircraft for Australia and escorted them to the relative safety of the UN compound in Dili. It is believed that several thousand East Timorese were killed in the weeks following the independence ballot. The violence that ultimately resulted in the United Nations leaving the territory, followed by several weeks of unrestrained massacres that were ended after the Indonesians withdrew and the Australian-led INTERFET (United Nations International Force in East Timor) arrived to restore order.
Wayne Sievers was evacuated from the UN compound to Darwin
, Australia, on 11 September 1999, sick with dengue fever
. He had also contracted malaria
twice in the previous six weeks. After discharge from hospital he became the Secretary of the Australian Federal Police Association
's ACT
Division in Canberra. From this platform he campaigned strongly on industrial issues affecting police including peacekeeping veterans, community safety and the failure of the Australia's to heed warning on the coming violence in East Timor. He appeared on national media in this role, and soon became the subject of an allegedly politically-motivated campaign to discredit him and force him from the Australian Federal Police.
political party. He was also elected as President of the ACT Democrats in Canberra and campaigned on a raft of social justice issues. He stood as a Senate
candidate in Canberra for the party in the 2001 Australian election. He was ahead of the government incumbent in two-party preferred opinion polling, but was narrowly defeated in a swing back in government support following the 11 September terrorist attacks and the Tampa affair
incident. During his leadership, however, the party achieved its first ever parliamentary representation that year in the ACT Legislative Assembly
. Party membership in the Canberra region doubled.
The Australian Democrats were strongly positioned as the third force in Australian politics at this time. Internal tensions in the party, however, could no longer be contained following the 2001 election. A split emerged on tax policy between the left
of the party, the majority of the membership, and the centre to which most federal Senators belonged. The split was made far worse by the actions of a faction associated with the national Australian pornography industry lobby group. This faction not only attempted a take over of the party in the ACT but also wielded considerable power in the party's National Executive. Sievers resigned, disillusioned, from the Australian Democrats in 2002. The disunity and division so damaged the party's stocks that it lost almost half of its representation in the 2004 Australian election. The sole Democrats representative was also defeated in the 2004 ACT Legislative Assembly elections. The party was wiped out at the 2007 Australian election, losing all its remaining senators. Wayne Sievers was encouraged to join the Australian Labor Party
(ALP) by a number of that party's leaders, including the late Al Grassby
. He is now an active ALP volunteer in Canberra. On 4 March 2008 the ALP candidates for the (Australian Capital Territory general election, 2008
) were announced. They included Wayne Sievers, now endorsed as a candidate for the seat of Brindabella.
After leaving the Australian Federal Police because of his public position on East Timor, he worked in the area of rehabilitation for convicted offenders. He now works in immigration fraud investigation and holds Masters Degrees in Business Administration (MBA) (University of Canberra
), Public Administration (Griffith University
) and Public Sector Leadership (Griffith University
). He also holds a Graduate Diploma in Fraud Investigation (Charles Sturt University
).
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n police officer
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
, trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
official, a social justice
Social justice
Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...
campaigner and has stood in numerous elections. He exposed the failure of the Australian Government
Government of Australia
The Commonwealth of Australia is a federal constitutional monarchy under a parliamentary democracy. The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901 as a result of an agreement among six self-governing British colonies, which became the six states...
, despite being forewarned, to prevent widespread Indonesian military
Military of Indonesia
The Indonesian National Armed Forces in 2009 comprises approximately 432,129 personnel including the Army , Navy including the Indonesian Marine Corps and the Air Force ....
-backed militia violence in the former Portuguese colony of East Timor
East Timor
The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, commonly known as East Timor , is a state in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor...
during the territory’s 1999 independence ballot. Thousands of people are believed to have died and East Timor’s economic infrastructure was shattered. Sievers had served as an Australian police officer attached to the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
during the infamous militia siege of the United Nations compound in Dili
Dili
Dili, spelled Díli in Portuguese, is the capital, largest city, chief port and commercial centre of East Timor.-Geography and Administration:Dili lies on the northern coast of Timor island, the easternmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands....
, East Timor.
Early history
Born in SydneySydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
to parents of Irish and German descent, he was the youngest member a large farming family in the Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
district of Fyshwick
Fyshwick, Australian Capital Territory
Fyshwick is an industrial suburb of Canberra, located east of the South Canberra district. On Census night 2006, Fyshwick had a population of 54 people....
. He entered the Australian Defence Force
Australian Defence Force
The Australian Defence Force is the military organisation responsible for the defence of Australia. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy , Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Force and a number of 'tri-service' units...
at a relatively early age. He transferred to the Australian Federal Police
Australian Federal Police
The Australian Federal Police is the federal police agency of the Commonwealth of Australia. Although the AFP was created by the amalgamation in 1979 of three Commonwealth law enforcement agencies, it traces its history from Commonwealth law enforcement agencies dating back to the federation of...
where he established a reputation for innovative and effective methods in drug investigations, intelligence probes and community policing. In 1996 Sievers aroused controversy when he established the first police gay and lesbian contact officer scheme in Canberra after noticing unacceptable levels of violence and assault against this community.
Police work in East Timor
By the late 1990’s1990s
File:1990s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope floats in space after it was taken up in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields and the USA Lexie in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War; The signing of the Oslo Accords on...
an economic crisis had contributed to the collapse of the corrupt Suharto government in Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
. It was replaced with the government of President Jusuf Habibie
Jusuf Habibie
Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie , also known B. J. Habibie, was the third and shortest-serving President of Indonesia, serving from 1998 to 1999.-Early life and career:...
, whose political position was weak and whose character was often seen as erratic. In 1998 former Australian Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Australia
The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
John Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
looked to establish a reputation for himself as a regional statesman, and he attempted to solve the issue of the Indonesia’s brutal 24-year military occupation of East Timor. A third of the population had died as a result of genocidal campaigns by the Indonesian military in this territory just off Australia’s northern coast. Habibie accepted Howard’s proposal for an independence referendum in East Timor, apparently in the mistaken belief that the people of East Timor would vote to remain a part of Indonesia. The Indonesian military, whose generals had extensive business interests and land holdings in East Timor, immediately set about derailing the ballot. Drugs and cash were used to recruit members for armed civilian militias to operate under the control of the Indonesian military. Their purpose would be to attack pro-independence supporters and later the United Nations in East Timor - the UN would later conduct the independence ballot.
In a concession that would have profound and tragic consequences, Australia agreed to an Indonesian military demand that the Indonesian military provide security for the vote and not foreign military forces. Only unarmed United Nations Civilian Police, the largest contingent of whom came from Australia, would accompany the United Nations electoral officials. Wayne Sievers volunteered for this mission and arrived in East Timor as a team leader in June 1999. Unknown to him and the other UN police volunteers were the intelligence reports already being received by the Australian Government suggesting they could become targets of the military-controlled and murderous militias.
After arriving in East Timor, Sievers - an intelligence officer by background - began to receive Indonesian Army and militia documents clearly detailing the Indonesian military's plan to kill independence supporters and destroy the territory in the event of a vote for independence. He passed these on to the United Nations and to the Australian Government, but became deeply concerned when it was apparent these warnings were being ignored. The former Australian Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, was confronted by the media with allegations that the Indonesian military were actually organising the violence rather than protecting the people of East Timor and the UN peacekeepers. He denied this, claiming instead that only a few "rogue elements" in the military were involved. These claims worried those on the ground in East Timor, including Wayne Sievers. The Australian Government had by then received information from its own sources and was well aware that the violence was being orchestrated from the highest levels of the Indonesian military. There were suggestions that Mr Downer's claims were part of a cover up to avoid public scrutiny of a policy failure. It ultimately saw the death and destruction on an immense scale as the Indonesian military double-crossed Australia.
East Timor voted by nearly 80% in favour of independence from Indonesia in the United Nations-sponsored ballot in August 1999. When the results of the ballot were announced in early September, the Indonesian military and their militia supporters immediately unleashed a campaign of violence and destruction that would result in the reported deaths of thousands. About a third of the population were forced at gunpoint into Indonesian West Timor
West Timor
West Timor is the western and Indonesian portion of the island of Timor and part of the province of East Nusa Tenggara, .During the colonial period it was known as "Dutch Timor" and was a centre of Dutch loyalists during the Indonesian National Revolution...
and the United Nations presence contracted to the UN compound in Dili. A siege lasting several weeks began, with several thousand East Timorese sheltering in the compound with the UN. Food, water and sewage were cut off and disease outbreaks threatened.
Wayne Sievers was present during the siege and helped to care for the refugees. He also assisted in running convoys of evacuees through the city to the airport. These convoys came under fire as they made their way through the burning city. On another occasion he intervened at Dili Airport to stop a senior Indonesian police officer from handing over 30 East Timorese refugees from Baucau
Baucau
Baucau is the second-largest city in East Timor, after Dili, the capital, which lies 122 km east of Dili.Baucau has about 16,000 inhabitants, and is the capital of Baucau, located in the eastern part of the country...
to local militia to be killed. He arranged for diplomatic assistance after they were refused permission to board an aircraft for Australia and escorted them to the relative safety of the UN compound in Dili. It is believed that several thousand East Timorese were killed in the weeks following the independence ballot. The violence that ultimately resulted in the United Nations leaving the territory, followed by several weeks of unrestrained massacres that were ended after the Indonesians withdrew and the Australian-led INTERFET (United Nations International Force in East Timor) arrived to restore order.
Wayne Sievers was evacuated from the UN compound to Darwin
Darwin, Northern Territory
Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...
, Australia, on 11 September 1999, sick with dengue fever
Dengue fever
Dengue fever , also known as breakbone fever, is an infectious tropical disease caused by the dengue virus. Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle and joint pains, and a characteristic skin rash that is similar to measles...
. He had also contracted malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
twice in the previous six weeks. After discharge from hospital he became the Secretary of the Australian Federal Police Association
Australian Federal Police Association
The Australian Federal Police Association is a registered Industrial Organisation under the Fair Work Act 2009 operating as a Branch of the Police Federation of Australia...
's ACT
Australian Capital Territory
The Australian Capital Territory, often abbreviated ACT, is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and is the smallest self-governing internal territory...
Division in Canberra. From this platform he campaigned strongly on industrial issues affecting police including peacekeeping veterans, community safety and the failure of the Australia's to heed warning on the coming violence in East Timor. He appeared on national media in this role, and soon became the subject of an allegedly politically-motivated campaign to discredit him and force him from the Australian Federal Police.
Politics
Wayne Sievers resigned from the Australian Federal Police in 2001 and accepted a post as Director of the National Office for the Australian DemocratsAustralian Democrats
The Australian Democrats is an Australian political party espousing a socially liberal ideology. It was formed in 1977, by a merger of the Australia Party and the New LM, after principals of those minor parties secured the commitment of former Liberal minister Don Chipp, as a high profile leader...
political party. He was also elected as President of the ACT Democrats in Canberra and campaigned on a raft of social justice issues. He stood as a Senate
Australian Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...
candidate in Canberra for the party in the 2001 Australian election. He was ahead of the government incumbent in two-party preferred opinion polling, but was narrowly defeated in a swing back in government support following the 11 September terrorist attacks and the Tampa affair
Tampa affair
In August 2001, the Howard Government of Australia refused permission for the Norwegian freighter MV Tampa, carrying 438 rescued Afghans from a distressed fishing vessel in international waters, to enter Australian waters...
incident. During his leadership, however, the party achieved its first ever parliamentary representation that year in the ACT Legislative Assembly
Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly
The Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Australian Capital Territory...
. Party membership in the Canberra region doubled.
The Australian Democrats were strongly positioned as the third force in Australian politics at this time. Internal tensions in the party, however, could no longer be contained following the 2001 election. A split emerged on tax policy between the left
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
of the party, the majority of the membership, and the centre to which most federal Senators belonged. The split was made far worse by the actions of a faction associated with the national Australian pornography industry lobby group. This faction not only attempted a take over of the party in the ACT but also wielded considerable power in the party's National Executive. Sievers resigned, disillusioned, from the Australian Democrats in 2002. The disunity and division so damaged the party's stocks that it lost almost half of its representation in the 2004 Australian election. The sole Democrats representative was also defeated in the 2004 ACT Legislative Assembly elections. The party was wiped out at the 2007 Australian election, losing all its remaining senators. Wayne Sievers was encouraged to join the Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
(ALP) by a number of that party's leaders, including the late Al Grassby
Al Grassby
Albert Jaime Grassby, AM , Australian politician, was Minister for Immigration in the Whitlam Labor government. He initiated sweeping reforms in immigration, human rights, and is often known as the father of Australian "multiculturalism".-Early life and state politics:Born Albert Grassby in...
. He is now an active ALP volunteer in Canberra. On 4 March 2008 the ALP candidates for the (Australian Capital Territory general election, 2008
Australian Capital Territory general election, 2008
Elections to the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly were held on Saturday, 18 October 2008. The incumbent Labor Party, led by Jon Stanhope, was challenged by the Liberal Party, led by Zed Seselja. Candidates were elected to fill three multi-member electorates using a single...
) were announced. They included Wayne Sievers, now endorsed as a candidate for the seat of Brindabella.
After leaving the Australian Federal Police because of his public position on East Timor, he worked in the area of rehabilitation for convicted offenders. He now works in immigration fraud investigation and holds Masters Degrees in Business Administration (MBA) (University of Canberra
University of Canberra
Over the years the Stone Day program has gradually become larger and larger, taking up a whole week and now Stonefest is one of Australia's most popular music festivals. The first foundation celebrations were held in 1971. In 1973 Stone Day celebrations were held over two days, which was expanded...
), Public Administration (Griffith University
Griffith University
Griffith University is a public, coeducational, research university located in the southeastern region of the Australian state of Queensland. The university has five satellite campuses located in the Gold Coast, Logan City and in the Brisbane suburbs of Mount Gravatt, Nathan and South Bank. Current...
) and Public Sector Leadership (Griffith University
Griffith University
Griffith University is a public, coeducational, research university located in the southeastern region of the Australian state of Queensland. The university has five satellite campuses located in the Gold Coast, Logan City and in the Brisbane suburbs of Mount Gravatt, Nathan and South Bank. Current...
). He also holds a Graduate Diploma in Fraud Investigation (Charles Sturt University
Charles Sturt University
Charles Sturt University is an Australian multi-campus university located in New South Wales, Victoria, and the Australian Capital Territory. It has campuses at Bathurst, Canberra, Albury-Wodonga, Dubbo, Goulburn, Orange, Wagga Wagga and Burlington, Ontario...
).
See also
- ACT Corrective Services
- Australian Federal PoliceAustralian Federal PoliceThe Australian Federal Police is the federal police agency of the Commonwealth of Australia. Although the AFP was created by the amalgamation in 1979 of three Commonwealth law enforcement agencies, it traces its history from Commonwealth law enforcement agencies dating back to the federation of...
- Australian Labor PartyAustralian Labor PartyThe Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
- Australian DemocratsAustralian DemocratsThe Australian Democrats is an Australian political party espousing a socially liberal ideology. It was formed in 1977, by a merger of the Australia Party and the New LM, after principals of those minor parties secured the commitment of former Liberal minister Don Chipp, as a high profile leader...
External links
- Official Wayne Sievers Website for the 2008 ACT Election
- Interview on ABC TV's Lateline Program
- Interview on SBS TV's Dateline Program
- Interview on ABC TV's The Law Report Program
- Interview on ABC TV's Four Corners Program
- Interview on ABC TV's 7.30 Report
- Interview on ABC TV's National News Program
- Interview on ABC Radio's The World Today Program
- Interview on ABC Radio's The World Today Program
- Interview on ABC TV's 7.30 Report
- Interview on ABC TV's Lateline Program