In 1999 the Indonesian Government under President B.J. Habibie agreed to let the United Nations supervise a ballot on the future of East Timor: an Indonesian-controlled territory annexed following the cessation of Portuguese control and the declaration of independence by the East Timorese in 1974. The decision was prompted by the Australian Prime Minister John Howard, who wrote to Habibie inviting a reconsideration of Indonesia's approach to managing East Timor. The letter was not intended to mark a significant departure from previous policy towards Indonesia. Howard was eager for Indonesia to continue to govern East Timor but to do so free of the acrimony that had marred the previous quarter-century of Indonesian rule. Habibie took the letter as a call for a drastic re-evaluation of Indonesia's position and in response proposed a referendum on self-determination in September 1999. That story has largely been told elsewhere. As events unravelled, Howard's actions led to a significant departure from the post–Vietnam War approach of providing niche and calibrated military contributions for operations offshore.

Operation Faber

The United Nations Assistance Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) was sent unarmed to East Timor in June 1999, tasked to organise, conduct and supervise a referendum to allow the people to choose between autonomy within Indonesia or independence. As part of Operation Faber, Australia sent six military liaison officers and several unarmed police, most of whom had previous experience on peacekeeping operations and some with Indonesian-language skills. Most of them had a gruelling experience, with the UNAMET mandate butting up against the aspirations of the aggressive, government-supported militias.