Evans ran into significant controversy on two major issues : relations with Indonesia over East Timor and French Nuclear Tests in the Pacific . Evans continues to be strongly criticised by many commentators – most prominently Noam Chomsky and John Pilger – for supporting Australia 's recognition of Indonesian sovereignty over East Timor following its military invasion in 1975 , negotiating ( and celebrating ' replete with champagne ' ) with then Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas the Timor Gap Treaty , and describing the 1991 Dili massacre as ' an aberration , not an act of state policy ' . Evans has replied at length to these charges in various forums , acknowledging that the Indonesian military 's behaviour had been appalling and conceding that Australia had been too optimistic about its capacity for redemption , but arguing , that de jure recognition by Australian ( and other ) governments had never denied the continuing right of the East Timorese to self-determination ; that he personally had worked hard ( as subsequently acknowledged by José Ramos-Horta ) to achieve real autonomy for East Timor as the only realistic option before the events of 1997 ; and that independent East Timor had fully inherited the benefits of the Timor Gap Treaty
Dili massacre
Santa Cruz massacre
Gareth Evans (politician)