There has been no shortage of turbulence in the past six years,a period of heightened political feuding in Dili,but Gusmao has an ally in Ramos-Horta,who sees eye-to-eye with him on his greatest ambition. The former guerilla fighter toldThe Sydney Morning Herald andThe Age in a pre-election interview in the south coast town of Suai that his immediate attention,if his party assumed government,would be on the economy,which has been overly reliant on dwindling oil and gas revenue from the Timor Sea.

He made no secret that as prime minister he would push tofinally make the vision of processing gas from Sunrise in Timor-Leste a reality.

Ramos-Horta also pressed the case for Tasi Mane – as the proposed megaproject is called – during his visit to Canberra last year,suggesting Timor-Leste could turn to China or other Western investors if the plan could not be realised with Sunrise joint venture partner Woodside Energy,which has a 33.44 per cent interest in the field and has favoured processing in Darwin.

Gusmao believes the wider economic benefits from piping the gas to Timor-Leste’s south coast could be a game-changer for one of Asia’s poorest countries,and said he trusts the Australian government will help facilitate it,in part as reparation for past exploitation of resources.

But the project faces significant difficulties including doubts about its financial and technical viability,with an undersea pipeline having to traverse the Timor Trough,a three-kilometre-deep trench.

Former Victorian premier Steve Bracks,who has also previously been an advisor to Gusmao,is a key figure in negotiations as the Australian government’s special representative for Greater Sunrise.

He has been to Dili on multiple occasions since his appointment to that role late last year,and on Saturday was one of several Australians honoured with the Order of Timor-Leste for services to the nation.

The other recipients wereBernard Collaery,the lawyer who helped expose Australia’s bugging of the Timor-Leste government offices during maritime border negotiations,and media buyer Harold Mitchell,who has been a longtime supporter of the country.

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