- Jul 2, 2018
- 3,036
 |
MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS |
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION: SECRET (ENCRYPTED) |
| 16 April 2005 |
| Dear Secretary Gama, Pending that our government is re-elected tomorrow, I am currently in the United Kingdom on the AUKMIN consultations and was wondering if I could extend this visit to Europe to include Portugal. I was hoping to include France, but have yet to hear anything from them. Spain, likewise. We see Portugal as one of the most active European nations on the world stage at the moment, so its imperative we develop good relations. The recent developments in New Caledonia has caused Australia to double down on its efforts in the Pacific and to also re-assess the dynamic of the region. Currently there is one former Portuguese territory in the region, Timor-Leste. We would like to make sure that Australia and Portugal are on the same page about Timor-Leste's security, hopefully come to an agreement and/or establish some sort of framework to enable us to respond quickly to any deterioration in the situation in Timor-Leste and to avoid a situation like we see currently in New Caledonia, a complete basket case. During that situation we also saw a Portuguese task force be deployed to the region with little to no consultation and which added fuel to already growing tensions between several players in the region, something we are also keen to avoid. I look forward to hearing from you. Yours sincerely, Kevin Rudd. |
Parliament House, CANBERRA, ACT 2600 Telephone: (02) 6277 7700 |
| Protective Marking: | Business Impact Level: | Compromise of Information Confidentiality: | Required to be Encrypted: |
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| UNOFFICIAL | No Business Impact | No damage. This information does not form part of official duty. |
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| OFFICIAL | Low Business Impact | No or insignificant damage. This is the majority of routine information. |
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| OFFICIAL: Sensitive | Low to Medium Business Impact | Limited damage to an individual, organisation or government generally if compromised. |
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| PROTECTED | High Business Impact | Damage to the national interest, organisations or individuals. |
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| SECRET | Extreme Business Impact | Serious damage to the national interest, organisations or individuals. |
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| TOP SECRET | Catastrophic Business Impact | Exceptionally grave damage to the national interest, organisations or individuals. |
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Bruno
